Miguel Martín Alonso I Almería, (EFE) I swam the Strait hand in hand with the ‘Sara Allut Plata’ association.
In front of them is Antonio Huete, ‘Curro’ for friends, the neurologist and neurosurgeon who launched this association that bears the name of his mother, and whose purpose is direct help, without intermediaries of any kind, to the women and children of the poorest countries in the world, with special dedication to those of Africa.
‘Curro’ is one of those who undertakes this challenge together with the lawyer and writer Amós Milton, Carlos del Amo and Alejandro Fernández, with Manuel Carlos Peña, founder of ‘Swimming around the World’ – a group of sports professionals who teach swimming in countries like Tanzania-, reserve.
“We are from Almería who love nature, swimming and solidarity. We thought that it was the best way to visualize a problem that we have 14 and a half kilometers away, such as the problem of children and women in Africa who do not have health care, an education, “explains Antonio Huete in an interview with EFE.
Between five and six hours of challenge
Thus, this June 24, after many months of preparation and if “time permits”, they will move to the province of Cadiz to begin an adventure that can take more than six hours in the water. A task they face thanks to “long and extensive” training sessions.
“The challenge can be five or six hours, but behind it there is much more. What we want is for that time to transcend, for it not to remain only on that morning of June 24, but for it to remain in everyone’s memory”, adds ‘Curro’.
Because the idea is to demonstrate that “when human groups come together, very beautiful things can be achieved” and that a “more just world” exists. “What we want to convey to public opinion are those values. There is no money in the world to pay for it, ”he asserts.
The lawyer Amós Milton, a writer as well as books such as ‘El abogado de Indias’ or ‘Mar de tierra’ (Almuzara), adds to EFE that “making this bridge between Europe and Africa” will allow the “medical needs of that such a vast continent and that, thanks to people like Huete, with that altruism and generosity that he has”, are faced by health volunteers on the other side of the sea.
Milton acknowledges that the preparation can be hard, although for him it has been “pleasant” because “we have been dosing it and continuing to progress”.
For his part, Carlos Manuel Peña, assures EFE that together they have achieved a “tremendous brotherhood” and stresses that this “wonderful team” will allow the African reality and the humanitarian project promoted by Huete to be known.
New campaign in Africa
“It is a personal satisfaction to carry a grain of sand. Between all of us we should make a mountain of those pimples ”, adds this swimming professional, who already overcame this challenge three years ago and who therefore knows well what it means for those who accept it.
Just a few weeks ago, the Maestro Padilla Auditorium in Almería hosted the ‘Queen Sinfónico’ charity concert, to benefit the ‘Sara Allut Plata’ association. Money that will serve to support the new mission of the NGO in the Central African Republic.
“This year, professionals from the Torrecárdenas University Hospital in Almería will go from July 1 to 14 to the Central African Republic, which is one of the countries with the lowest GDP in the world, and we will be operating and treating children and women all those days” Huete explains.
Women’s health in general and gynecology in particular will be emphasized, as well as that of children and the importance of simple actions such as hand washing or dental hygiene. And they also want “a new module to be made in the hospital so that it can operate properly,” he adds finally. EFE