Volunteering has been and is a key element in the operation of the Pusol Project. Since the beginning of our journey, have been numerous/ as the collaborators/ as/ as have passed through here and have made it possible for us to continue in the gap. The social projection of the Project -from the school, in the community... - is the cornerstone of it, hence we have always valued the effort of those people who during all these years have come here and have dedicated part of their time, a time of his life to be with us/ so. In addition to their work, they gave us that not quantifiable of their friendship and those moments that we will never forget, with which we will always be in debt. We want to start this section on volunteering by recognizing those/s who did and do so much for the Project, especially those/s who are no longer with us/as, although their memory remains.

Today we remember Juan Galiano, a close friend and enthusiastic collaborator of the Pusol Project for a decade, in which he left plenty of samples both of his bonhomía and his knowledge of the traditional culture of Elche. Already in the first issue of El Setiet, in 1994, Juan was interviewed by María Dolores Peiró -one of the creators, along with Fernando García, of the School Museum-, an interview that showed the personality of our friend, faithful to his appointment in the school on Tuesdays and Thursdays to teach the/s to string chairs... The second issue of our magazine already incorporated the first of the many texts that John would sign in it, this one with a title that expressed a whole declaration of intentions: "Why I transmit my experiences to children". With his excellent prose, he himself answered this question when he stated that "I began to come to the Agricultural School Museum out of curiosity, I wanted to know the work of an original and romantic school teacher". And, later, it continued in these terms: "Since the beginning of my visits to the Museum I have collaborated in the restoration of various pieces; in some cases it was only a matter of cleaning and making some small repair, and already then the children came to me to ask aspects of the work I was doing, in most cases completely new tasks for them". Direct and concise, meticulous in his explanations, John was one of the fundamental pillars of the Project for years. From his pen came valuable texts for El Setiet, among which we will always remember the monograph on "El Costurer" which, illustrated by Antonio Ródenas -another prop of the School Museum- appeared in number 10 (1999) of the publication. Juan was a friend of all/as and was always generous with us/as and with Puçol. Through his writings, he told us about the past, his style, how he always was and how he lived, in a simple and sincere way. In addition, along with his unforgettable voice, his unrepeatable genius and his sometimes-unspeakable advice, the friend "Centella" -as he was nicknamed in his youth-gave us two magnificent books with which we can also talk when we miss him.

In the first of them, Through the paths of memory, John dived into his memories until he found a past time full of anecdotes and loved ones. With him we go back the course of the Vinalopó and we toured those places so expensive to all/ us/ as, as the Aigua Dolça i Salada, the molí Magros or the swamp, endearing milestones in the collective memory of Elche. Juan employed a skilful literary exercise to remember his Sunday excursions, placing the ascent to the swamp in the forties and the return home from those places on the threshold of the 21st century. He managed, with good reason, to blush us all when he brought out the best of his fierce criticisms and showed us the state of ruin and abandonment in which, then -the book was published in 2004-, a cultural landscape of singular richness was shipwrecked. Thus, he put before our eyes the decrepit spectacle of a polluted river, a mill disappeared and a Ditch Major cradled by trees as peculiar as ignored, a whole heritage, in short, that drowned in the garbage due to the laziness of society. 16 years ago this...

In the second of his titles, Desde la balona (2007), Juan took to that kind of metaphor that he knew so well and returned to the path, holding on to some memories that he wanted to share with others. And he told us about his childhood, about school, about hard work, about his family... And he introduced us to his grandfather, Uncle Tonico "Brosses", that mule driver from Algoda who, when they lived in Raval, bought him the TBO every Wednesday, his first textbook, as he said. And he spoke to us of the war and the maquis; and of his emigration to Uruguay in an Italian transatlantic, where he met a peasant from Sardinia with whom he understood himself speaking Valencian... And it is that John was always close to the people on foot, to the conversation, to the curiosity to understand life and not to forget to live it at every moment. Serve these lines as a memory and a heartfelt tribute to one of our collaborators, an unforgettable friend whom we will always remember with affection and respect.

This text reproduces part of the gallery that the author dedicated to Juan Galiano on the occasion of his death, published in the newspaper Información, (vid. «El pantano de «Centella»», in Información, nº 9.083, 28 August 2009, p.12).

Author: Rafa Martínez, director of the Pusol Project.