I Swimming Crossing of Gibraltar Strait to raise awareness on Attachments Disorders & PETALES Spain

The real main character of this story is you.

The story begins with the arrival of a  child, no matter what his name and age, or his nationality.

He had the bad luck to be born in a distant country, where the cold of his climate was an omen of the solitude and detachment that he was going to receive in his early years. Since conception and pregnancy, he missed the love of his mother, but instead, had many other experiences that are not to be told.

He could not enjoy the eyes of a loving mother looking at him, nor enjoy the smiles and caresses that guide the child to feel loved. He also lacked the caresses of a father, and the sympathetic and kind contact of grandparents, uncles, cousins, or brothers. He lacked, to cut a long story short, everything that even animals not deny to their offspring; That love, that calm that brings along learning unconditionally loved,  and learning to calm down in the comfortable warmth of the maternal embrace.

Abandoned by all, he was brought to an orphanage. There he learned to fight with his fellow men for a crust of bread or a cookie, or for a look of attention. Imagine how he must have spent hours staring at the empty, absent ceiling until he discovered that the tantrum was the only mechanism to feel accompanied and cared for. He became accustomed to demand (and obtain) the love of handfuls, cries and rales. And so he grew up in the cold of snow and loneliness with a huge hole inside.

One day, a strange-looking couple came to take him to a distant country, of diferent mores, where there was plenty of  heat of the sun and love. But woe to him, poor child. All the love and warmth of his new family could not fill the tremendous cold hole that was inside him, nor cancel the behaviors he had learned to survive.
So difficulties began to appear. First, the difficulties to obey their parents. In the School, after not a long time, the alarms went off. This kid is hyperactive, you have to medicate him right away! Neither was he able to establish deep friendships with his classmates. But soon afterwards he began to be argumentative and somewhat sullen, and he responded badly to his parents, teachers, and to anyone who dare to critizice his behavior. And on the other hand, intrepid to madness, and intelligent above average, all his virtues were put at the service of his unbridled mind, far from any standard.

He empathized with almost no one, and nobody sympathized with him.

He liked to provoke reaction on his fellow children, and
for that he frightened them with bloody threats, insults, or light attacks. And above all, he tried, to control each and every one of the situations of the day, becoming strong and dominant. And when the consequences came, he always found some way to blame others for their behavior. He had, in some way, the gift of getting out of all the people with whom he interacted the worst they had inside.
And of course, this did not make him very popular in his neighborhood, his school, or his family, nor his city.And when he realized the rejection, an immeasurable anger overwhelmed him completely. And he began to feel that life was shit, and that it was not worth living that way. He tried to kill himself several times.
And yet, if anyone could look into that whirlwind of fury, he could still see at depth a good heart desiring to love. The few who dared to call themselves friends knew that they could always count on him in a fight. And the dogs in the neighborhood knew that they always had a helping hand in him, prodigal in caresses and hugs.
At this moment, this narration has several possible endings:
A) the child became an almost adult young man and wanted to fill his inner emptiness through the impassable jungles of drugs, alcohol and crime. Increased social and family rejection, and after entering juvenile centers, and later, criminal, in the end, died young, in a spiral of violence and fury, taking ahead of all those innocent dared to face him in his path of violence and destruction.
B) Being aware of the impossibility of adapting to the world around him – or rather rejecting – the child – adolescent already – in an oversight of his parents, committed suicide to better blame the world for the pain that his original wound caused him , Leaving a trail of perpetual dull pain in his family.
C) Even with many difficulties, the family and the school maintained a coordinated effort to make him feel especially loved and good. He could finally have a friend making him feel, for the first time, worthy of the affection of his peers. A teacher dared to look beyond his sullen appearance, and managed to make a hole in his troubled heart. Immeasurable amounts of love and patience of all those around him helped him fill his inner emptiness and heal his wound with the love of his fellow men. And when he reached maturity, he was able to rise beyond his painful origin, to develop a functional life, to raise a family, and to create full affective relations with all those who surrounded him, and to make happy his fellow men happy.
It is clear that our protagonist would probably have chosen the (a) or (b), we already guess it. But that’s not the point. The question is …. And you….

WHAT DO YOU CHOOSE?

This challenge was born precisely in order to make each and every one of us choose the option (c).
Two friends, linked by that love to a child affected by Attachment Disorder, the son of one of them, came together to try to change the world. Taking advantage of their common hobby of swimming, they decided to swimm the Strait of Gibraltar to draw the world’s attention on Attachment Disorders
They are trying with this challenge to promote a kind, de-stigmatizing look on the people who suffer Attachment Disorders. They invite all of us to put on special glasses with which, instead of seeing misconduct, we can simply see people needing more help (or other help) than others.

And they want to do it, on the one hand, spreading the knowledge about Attachment Disorders . Let it be heard, let it be known, let it be spoken, let it be discussed, let it reach everywhere. This way, the people that suffer Attachment Disorders are given an opportunity to be different in a world of forced equals.

And on the other hand, raising funds to help these children and their families. Through PETALES España, NGO integrated in PETALES International, programs, services and supports are created so that these children can develop as people, and be true happy, healthy and productive citizens of our society. Even if we have to change the Society to make it possible …

So our friends Ivan and Javier, without previous experience in long distance swimming, decided to face the madness of swimming between 18 and 22 km of cold and chilly waters. With the highest maritime traffic density in the world, this brief stretch of sea between two continents presents large waves, strong winds, and extreme currents. Weather conditions that can change in a matter of minutes. And they will be swimming between 5 and 7 hours. And that without mentioning the marine fauna.

And the last week of April 2017, they will swimm the Strait of Gibraltar .

AND ALL FOR YOU.
SO THAT YOU LOOK AT THEM.
TO HEAR YOU TO TALK ABOUT THEM.
SO THAT YOU UNDERSTAND THEM.
SO THAT YOU DO NOT JUDGE.
FOR YOU TO ACCEPT THEM.
SO THAT THEY HAVE THE SAME OPPORTUNITIES.

Here our friends will tell their story step by step:
Http://petalesespaña.org/blog/

Support this challenge. Share on social networks. And donate here:

Ivan Olivenza: http: //www.migranodearena.org/es/reto/14429/cruce-solidario-del-estrecho-de-gibraltar-petales-espaa-y-trastornos-de-apego/

Javier Herrera: http: //www.migranodearena.org/es/reto/13908/cruce-estrecho-solidario-petales/

Our thanks to the sponsors and contributors to this Challenge: