People who want to and can live with children in need are the most important element in giving such children a home. It is, after all, they who give the children love, and a sense of belonging and stability, so that they can deal with their pasts and have a positive outlook on the future.
This is why around 5,000 SOS mothers across the world play a central role in SOS Children's Villages' educational work. As part of the process of developing new strategic initiatives, a study was carried out on the work, concerns and wishes of 300 SOS mothers from 27 different countries. What are their greatest concerns? What do they need to enable them to form a new family for children and, in doing so, a community?
Support in becoming an adult - Photo: SOS Archives |
When you talk to SOS mothers, one thing quickly becomes clear: the work of these women is their life. They share their lives with the children and consider themselves and the children they look after to be a completely normal family. They fully believe in the SOS Children's Villages model and its basic principle that children need a family and a specific person they can trust and turn to for advice.
This means that the decisive factors for them are how they treat each other and their basic attitude towards children. The SOS mothers describe their own philosophy as: "being reliable", "appreciating the positive aspects of each individual day" and "showing love". They feel that the training programme for SOS mothers that lasts at least two years has stood them in good stead for their work as SOS mothers. They also would like to have the opportunity to receive further training so that they become even better at supporting the children in their development, understanding them and listening to them.
Just as a "real" family stays together, the SOS mothers want to remain in contact with the children they have looked after when they have grown up and become adults. They manage the everyday life of their family as normally as possible and pay great attention to areas in which SOS families are different to other families. They feel that it is important to invest in working with the children's biological parents, even when this involves dealing with difficult issues, as is often the case. The SOS mothers are convinced that if the children know about and recognise their own backgrounds and roots, this will give them a foothold and help them to develop.
We're a family - Photo: B. Neeleman |
"I think that the children should be conscious of their origins. It is important for them to know where they come from, who their biological parents are, where their siblings are and where they still have roots", explains SOS mother Constanze Lucke from Germany, about their work with biological families. SOS mothers strongly value the support of specialists such as psychologists or educators who specialise in children who have had particularly harsh experiences. They would always like to be able to fall back on this support.
The SOS mothers have both a professional and personal interest in the future of the children they are caring for; they are therefore very concerned that their children find work. They all agree that education is essential for the children to become independent. That is why the SOS mothers would like more educational support for their children, such as with extra tuition, more teachers or internet access.
What is the most important thing for SOS mothers? Where do they get their strength from every day? In addition to the ability to look after themselves, for their own welfare, the SOS mothers need a village community and solidarity; the SOS mothers need each other's help as well as that of others at the village. Subhashini, an SOS mother from India, describes her relationship with her colleagues: "If we are down, we talk about our problems and concerns and we share our happiness".
Despite the fact that the SOS mothers work closely together in their village, they emphasise the importance of being well integrated into their surroundings. Many are concerned about poverty, the poor economic situation and the lack of education opportunities in the neighbouring communities. They are happy that SOS Children's Villages is helping families in need through its family-strengthening programmes and many would like that support to be extended even further.