The Story of Benjamín
30-11-2010 - Benjamín is an eight years old boy who had a heavy burden on his back. His mother has had three relationships which resulted in six children. She has broken up with all three men because they abused her and threatened to harm the children. One of them occasionally passes by to bring some money, but the others don’t even recognize their own sons and daughters. To have at least some sort of income, the mother washed other people’s clothes. During the whole day she left her small children alone. Benjamín is the eldest and he had taken over the father’s role. He felt responsible, not only for his five younger siblings, but also for his mum. Although Benjamín was doing his very best, their room was a big chaos, the children hardly attended school and they all had behavioral problems.
A teacher informed the Children’s Council of this case and they forwarded it to our Child ‘N Family center. During the therapeutic sessions with the mother, we focus on structuring her life and taking better care of her children. With the children we focus on how to deal with rules and limits and especially Benjamín is improving his self-esteem and becoming a child again. Within our social services, we are accompanying the mother in filing a request for child support, to which the fathers are legally bound. Once her economic situation improves, the mother will have more time to be more responsible in the upbringing of her children.
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