Benjamín is an eight years old boy with a heavy burden on his back. His mother has had three relationships which resulted in eight children. She has broken up with all three men because of their alcohol problems, because they abused her and above all because they threatened to harm the children. One of them sometimes 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 washes other people’s clothes. She is gone for the whole day and leaves her children between 3 and 9 years old alone. Benjamín is the eldest of the kids who still live at home and he has taken over the father’s role. He feels responsible, not only for his five younger brothers and sisters, but also for his mum. Although Benjamín is doing his very best, the room they live in is a big chaos, the children hardly attend school and they al have behavioral problems.
Neighbors have reported the situation to the Children’s Council and accused the mother of neglecting and maltreating her children. Our center was asked to accompany this family in structuring their life. During the sessions with the mother, we focus on upbringing, good discipline, responsibility and affection. We teach the children to deal with rules and limits and how to improve their self-esteem. Within our social services, we accompanied the mother in filing a request for alimony, to which the fathers are legally bound. Furthermore, our social worker joined the mother to get the children admitted at a school and our interns give the kids assistance with homework.
Of course, this problematic family is not all of a sudden the best family model. But step by step a situation is created where the children live in a better home environment, because the mother learns how to take care of them in a more responsible and healthier way.
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