Benny is a former full-time carer for his 75-year-old mother who had Vascular Dementia. Benny cared for her for almost eight years, until she was transferred to a residential aged care home in Western Australia.
Benny describes his caring journey as both eye-opening and bittersweet. His mother, who he called “Mamay”, was from the Visayan Region in the Philippines, and part of the nature of her dementia progression was that she returned to her native language.
Benny is very active in the Filipino community in WA. He is the Artistic Director for PETAWA (Philippine Educational Theatre Artists of Western Australia) Incorporated which he founded in 2014. Benny is also a writer, poet and identifies as member of the LGBTQI community.