Back to work after DANA: Néstor’s second chance

The impact of the DANA on October 29 is not only measured in mud, but in an unprecedented economic paralysis. According to reports from the Valencia Chamber of Commerce and the Generalitat, the catastrophe affected more than 54,000 companies and put at risk the livelihood of more than 190,000 workers affected by ERTEs, reduced working hours, and layoffs. With nearly 10,000 devastated local shops and businesses, the reconstruction of ground zero requires a specialized workforce that the current market cannot cover.

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In this context, the Sumando Energías por Valencia program by Fundación Naturgy acts as a bridge to employability and provides a new opportunity for people like Néstor, who saw how the water swept away his livelihood in just four minutes.

Like every day for months, Néstor goes to class. “I never thought I would go back to studying at my age,” he says. He is 56 years old. “And much less in this gas sector, which I wouldn’t have said was for me.” Before, he was a painter, cook, head chef, salesman, and photographer. He had a photography studio for 17 years and it remains one of his great passions. The other is learning and manual creativity. “I’ve always been creative and good at creating things with my hands.”

The photographer’s eye has always helped him see in perspective, and his touch has led him to understand that nothing is unchangeable in this life. The rudder of his life turned sharply on the day of the DANA. The flood swept away his job, the one he thought would take him to retirement.

When he remembers that day, Néstor’s memory works with the precision of an analog camera. The DANA forced him to traverse another darkness: that of unemployment at 56 years old. But “it’s all a matter of how you look at things,” he says. “I saw it as an opportunity to focus my life on another sector, to learn something new and train myself.”

Today, Néstor no longer works in the telemarketing sector, as he did before the DANA, but is studying at Fundación Naturgy’s allied training center in the battle against unemployment, with a blowtorch in his hands welding gas pipes.

“This is comprehensive training and there is demand,” explains Vicente Ángel Casal, trainer for Sumando Energías por Valencia. “Here, the objective is to train professionals in strategic sectors such as gas, solar panels, and energy rehabilitation. It’s not just assistance; it’s giving a real expectation to those who lost everything.”

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With Néstor, it’s easy. He is used to recycling himself, to reinventing himself. He has the grit of someone who has known how to climb slippery surfaces and overcome personal and economic crises. “In this life, you don’t have to be afraid of change,” he says. “It’s true you don’t have to be afraid, but you do have to like what you do,” he clarifies. “Photography captivated me from the beginning, and this fills me,” he says, proudly pointing to the weld he has finished, as if he were developing one of his photographs.

More than a year has passed since the DANA left Néstor without a job, and today he looks comfortable among pipes, blowtorches, and gas. But he still has a lot to learn. “The important things in life require time and proper light,” he explains. As of today, he already has his B license as a gas installer. He can stop there or continue training, it’s up to him. There are various training courses where one can learn to install photovoltaic solar panels and continue their studies with another course in energy rehabilitation of buildings.

“That’s what the market is asking for,” Vicente Casal, the teacher, reminds Néstor and the other students. Faced with the dilemma ahead of him, Néstor does not hesitate: he will continue learning. “You have to trust yourself. Try to bring out the best in you and train well. That’s the struggle.”