Photos: Sergio Betancort
The Agustín de la Hoz House of Culture in Arrecife was the stage chosen by Braulio Betancort Tejera to present his book 'Braulio, the story of overcoming Down Syndrome', a project promoted by the non-profit associations Creciendo Yaiza and AFOL, with the support of the La Caixa Social Work, the Cabildo of Lanzarote and the town councils of Arrecife, Haría, San Bartolomé, Tías, Tinajo and Yaiza.
On such a special day, coinciding with the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, Braulio was very supported at the presidential table by the first deputy mayor of the Arrecife City Council, José Alfredo Mendoza, the president of Afol, Carmen Arrocha, the coordinator of Creciendo Yaia, Ligia Andrea Molnar, and the editor of the book, Tomás Pérez Esaú Editor of the book.
The objective of this publication is to be part of conversations and illusions of a particular person, Braulio Betancort Tejera, who wanted to narrate his life and express his commitment to the AFOL and Creciendo Yaiza Associations with the purpose of reaching, not only the little ones, but also the reflection of all those people who may think that difference is not at odds with values, feelings, strength and hopes of continuing to fight in life.
In the presentation, very simple but very emotional, Braulio was the center of attention of the event. The rest of the speakers were very brief so as not to detract from their prominence, reserving for him the last intervention, in which he left numerous members of the public speechless with a speech written by himself and which we reproduce for our readers.
"I am here with you, with great emotion, because I want to present my book in which I expose important aspects of my life and what I have learned throughout it, this book was born from the ideas that were going around in my head, after having given some talks in schools and seeing that the children were interested in knowing things about me, it has given me great satisfaction to do it, capturing in it my experiences, my knowledge and my personal growth. In my book you will find summarized what I am from the day I was born until today, how my childhood, my adolescence and my youth were and how I lived them. I loved going to school and training centers to learn, like all people I have sad and happy days which help me to mature and make me stronger in the face of adversity. In my book you will be able to see a boy with difficulties for many things, but special because I have focused on discovering my inner world, which most of you do not see and do not know that there is the happiness of each one because it is there where our feelings and emotions live, above all you will discover in me that I have a lot of life, effort, struggle, perseverance, hope and love, that is how I have come to be what I am. As you can see, I am a boy like any other, with some limitations, but with my effort, love and enthusiasm I have achieved what I have been and what I am, all of me, all my being, is in this book. Thank you very much for listening to me".
At the end of his speech and before moving on to the signing of books, Braulio received a warm and prolonged applause as a prize. The book, which has a prologue by the pediatrician J.Esquíroz, can be purchased at AFOL offices, Creciendo Yaiza and the bookstores of Lanzarote. All the money raised from its sale will be used entirely for the family support programs of AFOL and Creciendo Yaiza.
