Beauty for Ashes

My name is Ana Maria, I am 14 years old, I have a brother, Luis, who is 13, and our younger brother, Mateo, turned 6 years old.

My parents had several problems about 4 years ago, it didn't take long for them to separate. I thought that the problems would end there, but my dad began to neglect us. Everyone told us that he was sad, of course I knew it, but I didn't know what to do. I tried not to worry him anymore, and we took care of my little brother Martín and I. My father began to drink a lot of alcohol and that affected his health, even at his age, he is 48 years old.

At school they reported our problems and well, no matter how hard I tried, sometimes we skipped class or didn't do our homework. Then they came to visit us from the Intervention Program, at first I was scared, I didn't know what it was about.

They patiently explained who they are and how they would accompany us in the coming months. They talked with us, we realized that if we didn't do something for ourselves soon, our family was going to be lost.

Until my father recovers from his alcohol problem, they dictated the measure that our older sister Mónica would have custody of us, who also helped us. By these measures, my father began to have control over his problem, recovering from this he began to work in various places in Cayambe, without going far from us. We had meetings with the ladies of the Intervention Program and they recognized that we were doing better, I and my brother no longer missed classes, Danilo began to study initial education. In addition my brother and I were recognized as outstanding in the sports area , something that helped us enter a soccer school.

At first, everything was wonderful. Unfortunately, the coach of this school, he began to behave strangely with me. He spoke to me in an overly affectionate way, he asked that we always take photos together and tried to call me on my cell phone. The situation began to get stronger, I no longer wanted to go to sports reviews. The ladies from the project talked with me and with the Rights Protection Board they did the entire complaint process so the man cannot come near me, nor call me. They explained to me that what was happening is called harassment and that it is, in fact, a crime.

I feel a little safer now that I know that the ladies help me and if something happens I can tell them. Of course I am afraid that this person is looking for me or hurting me, because I have seen that these complaint processes in our country take a long time. Meanwhile, the ladies help me from the emotional area, with psychological therapies, with super nice and creative activities to discover our strengths, that we are strong and that, my brothers and I, we are not alone.

They even went to my Educational Unit and with my course, they held a workshop to inform us what to do if someone else goes through this situation, that they should not feel guilty, notify someone immediately and remember that we are not alone. Several of my friends were encouraged to talk about these issues of cyberbullying, which sometimes seems that no one experienced it, but it is not like that, many of them or they do not know it and better keep quiet.

Now, my father has changed completely, he takes responsibility for us in the educational area, he goes to meetings asking for us, he attends the foundation meetings with my older sister and they are always analyzing what else they can do to have a better home. I understand that there are some things that are not yet finished, but I feel better and more confident, now I understand what I can do and who I can count on for support.