The mayor of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Jose Manuel Bermudez, yesterday began a campaign to mitigate the unwanted loneliness of the elderly users of the Home Help Service of the Municipal Institute of Social Care (IMAS). And he did it through the delivery of a book. The first of 500 that will be given to the elderly in the capital to accompany them through reading.
The mayor, accompanied by the councilor for Social Action, Rosario González, approached the house of Urbana Hernández Bello, 87, to whom he gave the book The bronze fire of the chicharrero writer Jesús Villanueva Jiménez. A novel about the Gesta of July 25, by which King Carlos IV granted Santa Cruz the title of exempt town or independent municipality.
During the visit to Urbana, she was “delighted” before Mayor Bermúdez, who read several of the work; both chatted on different subjects, among them, of music and sport. And it is that Urbana revealed that he loves to listen to the singer Camilo; that she is very fond of the Tenerife Sports Club, whose shield she wore on her mask, and that she does not miss any of the tennis matches of the Mallorcan Rafael Nadal, whom she praises and admires.
Urbana admitted that she did not know how to write and read well because at home “there was a lot of poverty.” He said that there were nine siblings in his family, that there was no money for all of them to go to school, and that the important thing, at that time, was to eat, but that he was “very excited” and that he would ask the young woman to He accompanies and helps her every day to read to her “a little bit every day.” “Dear Mrs. Urbana, I hope you enjoy reading this book, just as I did in its day. It is a historical book, which reflects the fictionalized story of the Gesta of July 25, which contributed so much to the city, and of which we are very proud. Happy Holidays”. With these words, the mayor dedicated the book to this neighbor in the Avenida de Venezuela area, to which she responded with a warm hug and tears in her eyes.
Urbana was grateful and wished the councilor to be “very lucky and healthy.” In addition, he made a request; to leave, permanently, Yosmari, the girl who takes care of her at home. “She takes care of me very well and I’m crazy about her. He gives me a lot of affection, which is what I need right now, ”said Urbana, who brought a smile to everyone who was present.
Without a doubt, a very happy day and meeting for this neighbor of the capital, who is one of the 2,500 elderly people to whom the City Council provides help at home. The City Council allocates almost five million euros a year to this program.
