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| Mothers from the Mothers Training Centre Rionegro |
In 1999, SOS Children's Villages set up an SOS Mother Training Centre in Rionegro, a rural municipality located about 40 minutes from the city of Medellin, to offer ongoing professional training and provide support for current and future SOS mothers.
SOS Children's Villages has set up centres such as these around the world for trainees to develop the necessary skills before taking on the responsibility of being an SOS mother. The course consists of a strict training process which entails several months of both theory and practical lessons at the centre and at the Villages themselves. The training is carried out in educational modules and an emphasis is placed on the development of children and adolescents.
Among the many things they learn at the centre are how to manage child care procedures, intervention projects, cooking, cleaning, and they learn many other skills aimed at giving the children the most opportunities. Furthermore, the trainees also learn to cooperate and learn values from each other.
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| Mariela, an SOS mother and her children |
The full course is completed within two years, at the end of which the fully-fledged SOS mothers are awarded a diploma. During the course they normally work as SOS aunts. In this role, they help the families with the housework and help experienced SOS mothers at the different Villages throughout the country with child care.
SOS Children's Villages Colombia is growing considerably; the former school for mothers has undergone a transformation over the last two years and has begun a new era. Training has been modernised and there is now a concentrated effort to provide a broader education. The main focus is on the quality of the education, to have training courses that meet the requirements of the Columbian government, which are recognized at a national and international level. The new SOS Vocational Training Centre in Rionegro thus contributes to fulfilling the goals of the organization in terms of the care of children and adolescents. It is now a training place for all those who work at the organisation. However, for the mothers it will continue to be their "house".
A new and different educational focus
The current education at the centre is based on the development of tools which women that work in the organization can use to become more independent. Regarding this matter, Mariela Torres, from SOS Children's Village Bogotá, comments: "I apply what I learn at the training centre at home." The lessons have very valuable for her. "The knowledge that is acquired at the training centre is then put into practice in the village."
The centre is also a space where the different cultures of the country can be found. "Coming into contact with the country's other cultures is something beautiful. We can learn about the cuisine and the vocabulary of all regions of the country. This is useful; this helps us to understand and to accept the different cultures of the children, who come from all over the country", says Mariela Torres.
Change can be positive
Mariela Torres sees the changes at the training centre as follows: "The change has been very positive. Everything is more practical now. We develop tools for the village, there are problems that you don't know how to solve and at the centre, we are helped to analyze and solve our problems."
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| SOS mother Luz Marina and her children |
And Luz Marina Leon, an experienced SOS mother from SOS Children's Village Rionegro, adds: "All change leads to uneasiness but this is related to the policies on quality. We have to move on with the world. I find this very positive because we participate in the educational and social needs of the world. We not only listen to someone who knows a lot, but we talk about our own experiences, we work with them, it becomes more relaxed and the training is more flexible. We make the dynamics and that makes us feel that we are really being listened to."
Building up stable relationships and family bonds - this is the objective of SOS Children's Villages, with an emphasis on the SOS mother: she takes on the duties of the biological parents on their behalf and becomes the person the children she cares for can relate to and rely on. At the same time, she is a childcare professional who, based on her educational knowledge, is able treat the children with care and consider their specific backgrounds.