"If we do not succeed in integrating our young men and women to the greatest possible degree into society in their respective countries by helping them to build an appropriate existence where human dignity has its place, then the entire SOS Children's Villages Movement has to be called into question", as emphazised by Helmut Kutin, president of SOS-Kinderdorf International.
Standing on your own two feet. Being independent or even going independent. Familiar expressions all of them but: what is the actual definition of "independence"? Is it financial independence, the start of a career? Your first flat? Am I independent once I take responsibility for my own actions? Once I can distinguish between "right" and "wrong"? What does "independence" mean to me, the son or the daughter and what does it mean to you, mother or father? What does it mean to me, the employee and what does it mean to you, my "boss". If I am supposed to become independent then YOU have to allow a certain amount of scope for that.
In FORUM 16 authors from five continents pursue the question of "independence" and what it means in their respective culture. Their contributions make it very clear how complex and often difficult the process of becoming independent can be for the girls and boys as well as for their carers in our SOS facilities.