 SOS Children's Village Nairobi was constructed 35 years ago on bush land donated by the Kenyan government. Since then, a whole suburb has sprung up around the village and little recreational space remains. The village is now doing its bit to keep its compound green. More... The family strengthening programme of SOS Children's Villages Guatemala not only means that the families of children who come to the community centres make improvements to their lives. Mothers from the community are also part of the programme, which raises the quality of their lives and the others who are involved in the programme. Amparo Donis is an example of how someone can get back their life with just one opportunity. More... There are two posters on the wall in George's classroom: One is of a young man dreaming about his future and the other shows a young lady in a graduation gown. Slowly, George realizes that he could also achieve a lot if he only worked hard in school.  The SOS family strengthening programmes are a way for SOS Children's Villages to reach the many thousands of children who have lost the care of their parents or are in vulnerable situations but need to stay in their communities. In Sekhukhune, South Africa, over 177 families benefit from the services being provided. This programme is a lifeline to many parentless families, like Tombi's.  Learning how to milk a cow and feed goats is part of the training, as is planning the yearly crop cycle, farming fish and shrinp and being able to repair your own farming tools. The SOS Vocational Training Centre Bagerhat in Bangladesh prepares youths for a future in farming.  The flat-sharing community BIWAK is the latest project, which has been in operation since 2004. The social services being offered by SOS Children's Villages Austria have become more extensive and varied in the past years. This is an attempt to react to the different needs of children, youths, and families, and to the deficiencies of the care systems providing for different target groups.  Since 1933, SOS Hermann Gmeiner School Concepción in Chile (founded in 1986 as a technical school), has been awarding its students professional technical certificates, and more than 600 of them have successfully entered the labor market. They are now working for companies and in the service industry throughout the country.  The housing programme, one of the services offered by the family strengthening programme of SOS Children's Villages Benin in Abomey-Calavi, provides families with a decent place to live and therefore helps them to stay together and break the cycle of poverty. Léocadie and her three daughters were among the first beneficiaries of the housing programme.  "The family is a 50,000-year-old institution and it works!" National Director of SOS Children's Villages Poland Elzbieta Janczur says light-heartedly. Securing a family and a home for children lies at the core of SOS Children's Villages work. In Poland, a recent pilot project has brought couples to its children's villages.  What do when you want to read a book? Do you buy one from a bookshop, order one online or borrow one from a library? But what do you do if none of that is possible or if you are so poor that you can not afford to buy a book? Then education has to come to you, which is exactly what has happened with the mobile library at SOS Children's Village Flores in Indonesia.  The SOS family strengthening programme in Georgia is often the only glimmer of hope for socially disadvantaged families that are on the verge of abandoning their children. |