The hand that rocks the cradle in various populations around the world is usually an immigrant. And the one that takes care of the elderly and the sick, too. Milagros Tejedor and some other people detected in the capital of Gipuzkoa, in the Basque Country, fifteen years ago, the need to listen and offer personalized training to caregivers. So they set up the Association for the Family Care of Dependent Patients.
"The caregiver often carries out his or her work alone, which is physically and psychologically exhausting." explains Milagros Tejedor. "Also, we all, at some point in our lives, become occasional caregivers for our families, and in these situations it is very helpful to know that there is someone who can guide us on how and in what way we can do it properly.".
The geriatrics seminars are prepared by Dr. Istúriz Marquina and Dr. Paisán Grisolía, who are members of the Board of Directors. "They are very professional, to cover the needs that our elderly may have, and that their caregivers can care for them at home with the help and follow-up of the corresponding medical services."he points out.
The Association also carries out "We listen to the caregivers and give them personalized attention and help them adapt to our environment, so that in a shorter rather than longer period of time, they can achieve family reunification and social adaptation".The president adds. It is about "The majority of the group is made up of Latin American workers, who live difficult situations until their definitive integration. We have from many countries, Central America - Honduras, Nicaragua... -, also Bolivia, now many are arriving from Colombia, Peru, some Africans, and from Nepal, this has been going on for some time"..
Professional quality and values
Where did this woman's concern for others come from? Let's dive a little into her life story. Milagros Tejedor González studied at the Jesuitinas and at the Valladolid School of Commerce, and graduated as a commercial teacher. She also recalls that she was a student of the writer Miguel Delibes.
In her family Christian customs were lived and was closely linked to the brotherhood of the Virgen de las Angustias. They were all members of the brotherhood, and she still is, even when she moved with her family to San Sebastian, for marriage and work reasons. "We went every year to participate in the silent and magnificent Holy Week processions of Valladolid, to bring our children closer to their roots, and to care for and enjoy our parents."he says.
Milagros Tejedor, who has three children and eight grandchildren, and a husband who is a medical immunologist, was a court officer by competitive examination, worked for many years in the Labor Magistracy, and then moved to a Criminal Court, where she was able to observe "the bitter face of life"which made him more humanized.
"Our task is a grain of sand".he says. However, after all these years of work, "numerous families in our environment contact us to ask for our help, trusting in the professional quality and values acquired by the caregivers who come to our association. For a while we were unique and pioneers in this, now also the Administration of Guipuzcoa gives training courses for caregivers".
The Association has been organizing annual cycles of seminars for the past fifteen years, followed by a month of internships in homes for the elderly. In this context, in December, it organized visits to the San Ignacio, Hermano Gárate and Zorroaga homes for the elderly, in collaboration with the Eskibel school choir.
