Celebrating an anniversary at times when the financial crisis seems to be omnipresent is a challenge. However, I am sure that today it is more important than ever to have a look at what SOS Children's Villages has achieved during the past six decades, to focus on what we can do at present and to bear in mind what will be required for the future.
In 1949, the year of foundation, the economic situation wasn't any better, in fact, the opposite is true. Misery, material and moral destruction as well as the number of needy and abandoned children were huge, especially in Europe. In view of these dismal conditions, Hermann Gmeiner attempted to offer an answer through the SOS Children's Villages. What happened was amazing. People who sometimes had little to live on themselves made the destiny of the children their personal mission - with little donations which had a big impact. While struggling to survive, people took on the responsibility for society's weakest. Today's crisis has once again drawn attention to fact that it isn't a gain in material wealth, but growth in humanity and empathy what we should be striving for in the end.
Hermann Gmeiner and those who helped him at that time were guided by a personal inner need to create peace and to give sense to a life badly affected by the destruction of the Second World War. And what made sense then, still makes sense today: to work together for a world of peace and justice and to continue believing in change without, however, whitewashing the alarming and insupportable conditions under which millions of children still have to grow up. Yet we need to concentrate our efforts on what we can change! That's the lesson we learned from the past six decades.
SOS Children's Villages has grown from year to year - from one SOS Children's Village in 1949 to 500 SOS Children's Villages in 2009. From a handful of children who found a new home in the SOS Children's Village of Imst to hundreds of thousands of children and families that we are supporting through our facilities and programmes today. From a few hundred donations and sponsorships to six million SOS friends who are supporting the SOS Children's Village idea financially and emotionally. This is a huge success we enjoy together with our children, our SOS mothers and co-workers, with our friends and donors.
The work of SOS Children's Villages has also become more sophisticated and complex over the years. The growth in numbers went hand in hand with an "inner" growth in order to better respond to the needs of the children. Today, SOS Children's Villages does no longer exclusively take action for children who can not grow up with their biological families. The same importance is now given to the work with children who continue to live with their natural families but due to adverse living conditions are in severe danger of being abandoned. Both family based care and family strengthening programmes are closely interlinked and are aimed at providing children with a loving home.
We would be more than happy to notice a decrease in the need for our support. Unfortunately, the need for it is as great as ever. This is why we should never stop trying to do our best for the well-being of the children. It is unacceptable that children keep being abandoned, mistreated and abused, that they have no possibility to develop in a healthy manner or to go to school, that there are children who have no one to turn or to talk to.
For 60 years, the mission of Hermann Gmeiner's SOS Children's Villages has always been: to identify what children need, to listen to them, to create a safe environment in which they can recover and develop, to take action where necessary and to enjoy the big and little miracles we are able to perform with our help. In this spirit, let's celebrate the past six decades within our big SOS family and continue to strive to fulfil our vision which is: a loving home for every child.