Argentina working with emigrants to the Canary Islands

Moroccan teenagers arrive alone on the Spanish island of Gran Canaria in search of a better life that they do not always succeed, in a process that brings them to meet each other an Argentine psychologist, pbadionate about Africa, where she goes to observe the Senegalese women who expect their children to leave for "the chosen exile".

During a visit to Buenos Aires, where he came to seek "care for family and friends," Fabiana Lifchitz shared her professional experience with migrant children and adolescents and with women in Senegal.

Lifshitz He works in Gran Canaria, Spanish island located off the North West coast of Africa, where he arrived with his diploma of clinical psychologist and psychobadyst of the National University of Buenos Aires. Over there He began his work in 1995 and lived through the process of reform that led to the closure of Spanish shelters "Thus, people with mental disorders have the same rights as, for example, a diabetic treated at the hospital.It is not necessary to lock him up if he is treated properly. in a community, "he said during a dialogue with the agency. Télam. The result, according to Lifchitz, is that the system "works because there is health, social and legal support of the state, with a psychosocial approach to the community".

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She explained her work 11 years ago: "I went from working with psychotic adults in a psychiatric hospital to a mental health unit.I also interested in the world of children and research. And now, my patients are under 18 years old. " It is here that Moroccan migrant teenagers arrive first and foremost, that after spending days on unstable boats (rafts), crossing the sea, be accommodated in crèches.

Contact with these teenagers "It's very loud, exciting and complex"explained the professional. Children and young Muslim migrants meet a blonde woman "who come to tell their story, they do not know me, they are brought by the Center's educators for their violent attitudes, they do not choose to be there "he explained.

He describes them with "A very penetrating look. And as they do not master the language, the nonverbal side is very impressive. The tone, the utterance matter a lot, "he said, adding that it was inevitable that an Arabic translator participated or that this presence impeded the confidentiality of the patient-professional connection. do not want to talk too much about this sea trip, in general, they stay silent, others can say it and when they say it, the word they say is: the fear"he explained.

"Sometimes they cry and say that they have arrived to try to build a better future and that they have dropped out of school. I understand that Europe is sold as a panacea. If they really knew what they were going to find, they would be fewer in this way, "he said.

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For the psychologist, now is the time to work with them and the educators "Generate pacts to end aggressive attitudes, leaks, violence and difficulties in adapting to standards" local

For Gran Canaria, by geographical proximity, many also arrive Senegal male teenagersin conditions similar to those of Moroccans. Lifchitz began studying and practicing African dances and was involved in the Senegalese community of the island, with which he felt. "dressed in the sense of community, family" that they have

He went to Senegal three times. The first with an NGO with whom he contacted through dance. Then she came back alone. His eyes stopped at the Senegalese because "in them I saw the other part of the reality of the boys who arrive by boats with Gran Canaria".

"I would like to investigate this polygamous society, for men, in the eyes of these women." They can not mourn because of the absences of their men because they do not know if they are alive, or even where they live. Sometimes their husbands return married with a white woman and only come back for a while, "he said.

"With adolescent patients, I want to continue working to get closer, build their self-confidence, make their lives easier," he said. And about Senegalese women, he wants to write on the basis of his observations because "They do not talk about their pain and their depression is disguised". "You have to listen to them, I would like them to speak," he concluded.

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