Boss with his SOS mum - Photo: SOS Archives
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Chiang Rai, situated in the far north of Thailand, has become the new home for two-year-old Jirayus, nicknamed "Boss" since August this year. Chiang Rai is representative of 449 other SOS Children's Villages on all continents, and Boss is one of more than 48,300 children who are growing up in an SOS Children's Village. His story is one of many; it is not unusual that he cannot live with his family anymore; there are thousands and thousands of children out there sharing the same fate.
Each child who has been admitted to an SOS Children's Village has come a long way, suffers from deep emotional wounds, has experienced loss, and feels uprooted. President of SOS Children's Village Helmut Kutin says that each of those children needs "true and actual love, no big words, but true acceptance, embrace, and the feeling of being given a home". Although Boss is one of many children, he is still unique like all the others, and will find a true home at house no. 6.
Friends and siblings are vital to children - Photo: SOS Archives
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SOS Children's Villages is one of a number of family-based child education models for providing long-term and all-encompassing out-of-home care to children, and it has been around for 57 years now. Back then, in the early days, caring for children in a family-based way (meaning not confining them to big institutions stripped of all individual dimensions) was considered groundbreaking in the sector of out-of-home care.
450 SOS Children's Villages in 2006 may be an impressive figure, but there is so much more to that. Currently, SOS Children's Villages is providing all-encompassing care services to children like Boss on all continents. The goal is to make a positive future for the children possible through a well-balanced mix of expert know-how, knowledge about children's needs, and loving support.
There are twelve family houses in Chiang Rai - Photo: R. Hemerik
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Socio-economic conditions in Chiang Rai are dire, like in many other regions throughout the world, where poverty, weak infrastructure and political indicators cause many families to reach the limit of their capacity. Boss's father's whereabouts are not known, his mother died of AIDs, and his relatives considered him a burden. Involvement of a welfare authority finally made placement with the SOS Children's Village possible, which has been up and running since February 2006. He had parasites in his small body, and his skin had become covered with scabs. He has recovered nicely in the meantime, and he likes to laugh and play. He will probably live at SOS Children's Village Chiang Rai, together with some 140 other children up until the point when school education and training will have made it possible for him to live independently. Then he will be one of 50,000 children who have grown up at one of the SOS Children's Villages in past decades.
Peerapong Vuttitamkanaporn, village director in Chiang Rai, extends his gratitude on behalf of all his colleagues to all those people who through financial help make it possible for children like Jirayus aka Boss "to grow up with an SOS mother and SOS brothers and sisters - in a real family!"