Ariadna, Sergio, Marcos, Patricia, Joan, Airan, Nacho, Jesus… Thus, up to 40 children between the ages of 8 and 13 who have arrived in the south of Tenerife from different islands of the Archipelago. They stand out for their yellow shirts and the desire to have fun. They are part of the expedition of the Fundación Canaria Pequeno Valiente, which fights against childhood cancer, “to the sister island”, as the group announces on its social networks. They participate in the first of the two phases of the VI Camp A Canarian summer that takes place this week at Camping Nauta, located in the municipality of Arona. Enrique Arriaga, Vice President of the councilis received during his visit with the hubbub typical of some boys who enjoy a few days of play, meetings, coexistence and with many surprises.
This edition will bring together a total of more than 100 children and adolescents together with the group of adults that accompanies them. In two calls of seven days each. On the one hand, the one that takes place now, from 22 to 28, aimed at children between 8 and 13 years old; on the other, the one aimed at boys from 14 to 18, from August 29 to September 4.
The objective of the initiative is to offer a meeting and exchange space that minimizes the effects of the disease on minors and their families. In addition to developing a leisure opportunity between people who share life experiences. The Department of Education, Youth, Museums and Sports of the Cabildo de Tenerife and the City Council of Tías (Lanzarote) collaborate, as well as private companies, Athletes without borders and the Lenovo Tenerife Canary Basketball Club.
The program includes activities inside and outside the camp. Among the latter, excursions to Siam Park, Loro Parque or the Castillo de San Miguel stand out. Among those that take place inside the facilities, the sports and leisure activities stand out – DJ, gymkhana, cinema…-, as well as the scheduled visit to the Lenovo Tenerife. A team of volunteers and a group of professionals make sure that everything goes smoothly.
“This group promises”
Among those responsible is the psychologist Olga Díez, who attends this newspaper surrounded by boys and girls eager to swim in the pool. Last July she celebrated five years in Little Valiente. She explains that “every group is different and this one promises. I am sure that they will spend a magical week because it is essential that they leave the hospital environment and even the family environment to live together ». She adds she who works both with these little ones and with adolescents who “brothers also come because the patients are undergoing chemotherapy treatment and cannot.” Most of the participants in the recreational space in summer go through the follow-up phase. She summarizes: «Here they are in pure essence. They share, they play and it is endearing how they help each other. They are very supportive, they offer everything to the other.
The professional highlights «the naturalness and self-confidence with which they talk about the disease. They ask what their cancer is, for example leukemia, or they explain that they have a valve because a tumor has been removed. They disarm those conversations, it is something brutal, but the truth is that these boys mature before their time due to the problem that affects them.
Olga assures that “we give everything so that they have this respite once a year. And also her parents. It is a delight to see them enjoy and we have to learn a lot from them.
For his part, the president of the Fundación Pequeno Valiente, José Jerez, who was unable to travel to Tenerife yesterday for personal reasons, explains: «This is our sixth edition. We started in Gran Canaria and then we have gone to Tenerife, La Palma, Fuerteventura and now, again, to Tenerife». He considers that «summer camps are the icing on the cake of a year of work. The children share the experience and see that they are not the only ones to suffer from this damn disease. Making them happy is what fills us the most. This is a song to hope and to life».
Jerez thanks “the support of the Cabildo” and adds: “Boys and girls from all the islands and two from the peninsula participate between the two phases.” He explains that “we will work to make it a success and come back to Tenerife next year.” Ariadna Díaz Vera, 12 years old, from San Isidro (Granadilla) will spend the week with her classmates and on Sunday she will return to her house. She knows many from other occasions, but hopes to “make new friends.” She appreciates that she is having a “great” time.
the fellowship
In the pool, in yoga, in petanque or on Treasure Island, a game of detectives. Ainara González Álamo, 14 years old and from Gran Canaria, considers it “very difficult to solve and nobody managed it”. She values as “the best” of the camp, in which she is a repeater of other years, “companionship”. Eloy Serna Machín, a native of Lanzarote, turns 11 on Saturday and his party is awaited with some anxiety by the group and himself. It is the first time that he attends the summer camp. His summary: “I’m having a great time and so far I like everything.” Like the rest, he loves to swim in the pool. The three respond immediately with exquisite politeness to “How are you? And you?” Enrique Arriaga is accompanied on the tour by the Island Director of Education and Youth, Isabel Bello. She details the vice president that the Cabildo fully finances the initiative for the first time. He also explains that “we support it because it is very positive for both minors and their families.” He believes that “children deserve, especially after the pandemic, whose restrictions have affected them more than most children, a camp with all the guarantees of health care that offers security and tranquility.”
Arriaga qualifies the project: “This is a meeting and exchange space that aims to minimize the effects of the disease on minors and their families, as well as offering leisure opportunities between people who share life experiences.” For the Cabildo, he concludes, “it is very important to promote the coexistence of children, so that they can feel autonomous and carry out activities like any other minor of their age.”
A consolidated structure three decades later
In 2006, a group of families whose sons and daughters were hospitalized in the Pediatric Oncohaematology Unit of the Hospital Materno Infantil de Gran Canaria decided to join forces to improve the lives of children during their admissions. Thus, Pequeno Valiente was born, a regional non-profit entity whose main mission is to improve the quality of life of all children with cancer and their families, in such a way that the process is as bearable as possible. The president of the Fundación José Jerez, values: «From that moment we set out to grow every year, improve and offer families all the services they may need at any stage of the process». From the beginning, with the social care project, to the expansion of the programs in such a way that the areas that are affected when the minor is diagnosed can be covered. The general assembly is the supreme body of the association, while the board of directors manages and represents the interests of the group. The positions are exercised voluntarily and do not have any remuneration. The tasks are distributed in four commissions formed by parents or workers: Health, Psychology, Social Work and Education.
