The first Salvadorian SOS Children's Village was built in the small town of Sonsonate in the early 1970s. Later, this SOS Children's Village was transformed into an SOS Social Centre. In 1990, the children moved into the newly built SOS Children's Village on the outskirts of Sonsonate. It is situated on the road to San Salvador and can easily be reached by bus. The new SOS Children's Village Sonsonate was inaugurated by Helmut Kutin, president of SOS-Kinderdorf International, in May 1991. It is situated on a beautiful area with many fruit trees which provide refreshing shade.
There are 14 family houses, the village director's house, an aunts' (family helpers') house, an administration and service area and a community building. In addition to that, a playground and a sports field have been laid out for the children.
Furthermore, SOS Social Centre Sonsonate offers a child day-care centre and three workshops for vocational training (dressmaking, handicraft and typing courses). Up to 200 children and babies can be looked after at the day-care centre. Since 2005, the SOS Social Centre has been supporting local families to develop different measures of family strengthening, for example to organize childminding programmes.