When 17-year-old Mohammad Mougdin gets on board a plane early this morning, he will be starting a journey that will reunite him with his only living relative - his grandfather.
Although seeing his mother and five siblings drown in front of his eyes in one of the tragedies of the Mediterranean will never be erased from the Somali teenager's mind, today will mark the start of a new life for him.
Mohammad is one of 15 Somali refugees who are leaving the island to be resettled in different cities in the US as part of an "ongoing and continuous" programme.
Tragedy has hit the youngster more than once in his life and not even leaving a country for another is a new experience - when he was just a toddler his nine-month-old sister was shot dead by thieves and the family fled to Libya where they lived for some 12 years.
But when Mohammad spoke to this paper a year ago, he had admitted life there was not a good one and the family wanted something better.
However, dreams for a better life ended at sea when the unstable boat loaded with migrants overturned in the rough waters in July 2006.
"I still see them in my dreams, crying and reaching out to me to help them, not to let them go down. But I could do nothing for them," he had said.
Although not a good swimmer, Mohammad managed to keep his head above water and fight for his life until he was picked up by a passing ship.
Today he will be leaving the island again, hoping for a better life in the US with his grandfather. "I have nobody. I have no family. He is all I have and I want to be with him," he said about his grandfather who lives in Seattle.
The teenager had caught the attention of American Ambassador Molly Bordonaro, who yesterday said she was pleased he would be reunited with his grandfather.
Mrs Bordonaro, who met the group of refugees last Monday, said it was "heart-warming" to see their joy and excitement as they prepared for their journey after months, and sometimes years, of hardship and danger. "Their sense of hope is absolutely infectious," she said during a press conference to launch the programme to resettle in the US refugees living in Malta.
A second group of the 260-odd refugees which are in the process of being resettled in the US are expected to leave the island in the coming weeks. They will join around 70,000 refugees that make it to the US every year.
"This is just the start and we hope to resettle hundreds more over the course of the next few years and months," she said, adding that the resettlement programme will be "ongoing and continuous" and applies to asylum seekers who are given humanitarian or political refugee status.
She said this announcement demonstrates the US's continuing commitment to help Malta on this issue and help make a difference in the life of these refugees.
Foreign Affairs Minister Tonio Borg said this programme should send the message that Malta needs assistance to other countries.
"This is burden-sharing in practice," he said, adding that one of the solutions to Malta's immigration problem could be the free movement of protected persons within the EU, which could also lead to Malta rethinking its detention policy.
In fact, detention centres were mentioned by UNHCR Representative George Okoth-Obbo, who visited the centres. "There are some of the most difficult conditions that one could witness," he said.
He said the UNHCR's objective was to work with everyone to ensure that those who need and deserve protection get it, but that for this to happen a system of shared responsibility needed to be put in place.
Asked whether the resettlement of refugees in the US could bring more asylum seekers to Malta, Dr Borg said he did not think the numbers would increase because of this possibility. He added that this was a convenient argument that some countries put forward to avoid burden sharing.