On May 4, at 6 in the morning, the director of the Colombian Family Welfare Institute (ICBF) in Antioquia, Selma Patricia Roldán, received a painful call.
“They told me regarding Bryan. They told me that the boy was in an ambulance, that he was beaten, malnourished, with alleged sexual abuse. Then I arrived at Pablo Tobón and I might see the sadness of the medical team for not being able to do anything because in the end they never reacted.”, said Selma in dialogue with SEMANA, referring to the aberrant case of the child under 1 year and 7 months who died following fighting for his life in the Intensive Care Unit, ICU, of the Pablo Tobón Uribe Hospital.
The director said that in the case of this mistreated little boy, apparently by his stepfather, she mourned him like others in which he worked during the six years, during which time he remained in office. However, Bryan’s affected her too much.
“I cried a lot and I admit that it affected me so much that it defeated me. So much abuse in such a small body is unbearable and I didn’t think twice regarding giving up. It’s just that I still can’t believe it, because a child like Bryan is not autonomous,” he sadly told this medium.
His fight for minors
“My office was open doors. We managed to install childhood and adolescence tables and I leave them as one of my best legacies. I complied with the institute’s guidelines in terms of hiring, I can say that the resources were very well managed and well audited. I had respect for the contractors, we helped many children”, he recalled.
However, he says that his heart cannot resist one more vain struggle such as seeing that children are used for begging and that citizens sponsor this practice with money. “Society does not pinch itself, it is indolent and sick”assured in SEMANA.
She also confessed that she is sick because of all the fight she undertook. She now wants to watch over her husband and her two college kids.
“My body took its toll on me, I began to suffer from pressure, tiredness, fatigue and I even have stress determined by a doctor”, revealed.
In turn, she added that one of the problems that grows in childhood and adolescence, which even touched her as director, is the affectation of mental health.
“There are no quotas, nor more hospitals to handle the mental health of children. There are no offers and that leads one to rethink oneself and the final point has arrived. I don’t want it to be up to me to look for a quota later because my body and my sanity reached the limit of health “said.
His decision was also made when he felt that the employees are apparently tired, something that has even generated stoppages. “The work has increased since the pandemic, the abuse has skyrocketed in homes and they did not give more,” she said.
“We work like machines in times of the norm, the cases are more and more aberrant, the blows are more and more for our children. They are increasingly abused. Impressive data such as girls from 10 to 14 years pregnant and It seems to be the daily bread”, he assured.
She says that she still does not know what path she will follow in labor matters. What she is clear regarding is that wherever she is, she will work for the little ones.
“I will continue from the academy and my knowledge in the health sector, I want to find solutions not to administer pain and manage it, but to create public policies and think regarding how to reach society and the community. For example, from consulting”, he told SEMANA.
It had a budget of 572 billion pesos for the provision of services in Antioquia and more than 400 thousand was invested in helping early childhood. His resignation has already been accepted.
“They have already accepted it and, as of September 1, the new delivery and the splicing process will be carried out. For this position there must be a contest for the election of a new regional director”, highlighted.
This 56-year-old lawyer, a specialist in public administration and with a master’s degree in law and international business, came to work with the children because of her mother, it was always her who instilled in her the desire to serve and help the little ones.
She believes that the challenges of whoever replaces her range from human talent to improving the organizational culture.
“I hope there is a stronger employment plant because we have high levels of stress due to these situations. Better infrastructures for the zonal centers. I leave with the pain that people moved more around the children and reconsidered. Hopefully the good work of the ICBF will be made more visible”, he highlighted.
Through this medium, he thanked the Government, mayors of the department, collaborators of the institute, senior management, NGOs and institutions that work for children and without expecting anything in return. As well as the Catholic and Christian churches.
