The Marina and Resort Marina de Denia hosts one more year the celebration of the Turkana Regatta, organized by Náutica Cork and Aproache Yachting. The XXI edition of this solidarity test is celebrated the next 19 and 20 days of October. “For Marina de Dénia it means a lot to be able to support this type of event in which our passion for the sea and the social responsibility we have as a company are perfectly combined”, says Gabriel Martínez, director of Marina de Dénia.
The solidarity initiative Surgery in Turkana is held in Marina de Dénia from 2009, with two annual races. "The purpose is to raise funds for our surgical project in Kenya, with which we manage to operate 250 people every year, who have no resources and who otherwise would not have a chance to improve", says the doctor of the Clinical Hospital San Carlos Office from Madrid, Carmen Hernández. “From 2004 we serve all people without resources who need an operation in the African region of Turkana. For this we need to get 90.000 euros every year and as we do not have government support, we came up with this race ”, says Dr. Hernandez. The idea of the event came from Joaquín Vázquez, marketing manager of Aproache Yachting.
"We have managed to spread our enthusiasm to many people who like us enjoy the sea and many others who, without knowing it, have become fond of the world of sailing", says Vázquez. In the latest edition of the regatta, registrations, 21 boats and more than 140 sailors have been broken.
Turkana
Turkana is located in northern Kenya, near the border with Ethiopia and South Sudan, has an area of 77.000 km2 and a population of 1.200.000. The Turkana are a tribe of semi-nomadic shepherds who live according to their ancestral customs. The lack of water, the shortage of food, the geographic isolation and the climate with temperatures around 40/45 degrees all year round make Turkana a very poor area, with a high rate of infectious diseases (malaria, tuberculosis, AIDS, etc. ). As a consequence of all this, the life expectancy of its inhabitants is shortened (which barely reaches 55 years) and cases of maternal and infant mortality skyrocket. “Added to this situation is the lack of resources to combat diseases. The Hospital where we work barely has the material means and there are hardly any doctors. That is why we decided to embark on this adventure, more than 15 years ago. And so Cirugía en Turkana was born, ”says Carmen Hernández.
The healthcare group is made up of general surgeons, anesthetists, gynecologists, maxillofacial surgeons, endocrinologists and traumatologists. In addition, they are accompanied by several people who are in charge of the logistics of the project, among them Joaquín Vázquez.
