The El Cribo Mental Health Association celebrated the "30 years connecting with Health" gala on Thursday night in the theater hall of the Atlántida Cinema.
The event began with the intervention of Julio Santiago Obeso, psychiatrist, founding partner and advisor of the association. The doctor gave a tour of how El Cribo had been formed, and explained that everything started informally in the hospital cafeteria, in the break minutes where medical colleagues and some patients coincided.
Some meetings that little by little were acquiring a greater depth of acceptance, and one good day Mrs. Inmaculada Benasco Domínguez, owner of a warehouse on Cribo street in Argana Alta, altruistically provided them with the premises, locating there the first headquarters of the association. From that location, the association would bear the name of this street, Cribo, in its name.
Julio Santiago also explained how back then for a family having a patient with mental illness was, little less, "than hiding it with hardly any contact with society." Today much progress has been made with this disease, and it is considered like any other pathology. Julio Santiago also highlighted the work carried out by Radio Lanzarote, where he put the program "La Ovejita Negra" on the air, with the collaboration of medical colleagues and the experiences of some patients, a radio space with many followers in its broadcast hour.
The current president, Rosa González Betancort, a woman committed to the Association for nearly 30 years as a family member of a person with mental disorder, also spoke at the event. González valued "very positively" the family support and the rest of the environment, considering it key to the patient's recovery.
Rosa also explained that accepting that we have mental health problems "is one of the most difficult steps, since it is usually very complicated especially for the person with the health problem, but also for the relatives." The president concluded her speech by thanking and recognizing the relatives who have been "an example of claim, involvement, accompaniment and participation in the association, as well as their predecessors, presidents, for their dedication and work during these 30 years and all the workers" .
The vice president and first-person representative of the Pro-Mental Health committee in Lanzarote, Juan Gabriel Quintana González, also spoke on such a special night; Rita Romero Hernández, the vice president and member of the association's personnel committee, Ana Romero Hernández, and Sary González Betancort, as well as family members and members of the board of directors. The Gala featured the musical performance of Daniel Moisés, a young man committed and always willing to collaborate with groups and associations such as El Cribo.
The event was attended by representatives of commercial entities and public institutions such as the Government of the Canary Islands, the Cabildo de Lanzarote and the City Councils of Lanzarote. As a thank you, they were given ceramic sculptures designed by Alejandro González Betancort, a patient of El Cribo, and commemorative plaques, one of them for Radio Lanzarote, which was collected by Alberto Acosta.
The event ended with the presentation of the first album "Sueños", by the choir "El Cribo Canta", formed by patients, family members and collaborators directed by Arnold Bonilla. This album is dedicated to the memory of Graciela Villalba, a recently deceased member. For its presentation they chose the songs Reloj, Volver and La flor de Canela, performance that the public standing applauded thus putting the finishing touch to a very special day.
