A little boy holding a candle at Children's Village Valmiera,…
The training of the future mothers for Latvia's second SOS Children's Village in Valmiera - held in the first village in Islice - shows that exchange of knowledge is not a one-way street.
- Lisa
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A little boy holding a candle at Children's Village Valmiera, Latvia.
The training of the future mothers for Latvia's second SOS Children's Village in Valmiera - held in the first village in Islice - shows that exchange of knowledge is not a one-way street.
This is an interview with five SOS mothers who will live and work in SOS Children's Village Valmiera, and are on three-month training in SOS Children's Village Islice to learn how to care for so many children. One prospective and one experienced SOS mother tell what they learned during the first month of the training.
How does your daily life look like at the moment?
Inita (mother trainee for SOS Children's Village Valmiera): In the mornings, we are studying subjects such as medicine, psychology and social work - everything we could need in our future work - in the town of Bauska [Islice is a suburb of Bauska]. We spend the evenings here in the family houses, experiencing what life is like in the village.
Iadviga (long-serving mother at SOS Children's Village Islice): For me, the training makes life easier; Inita is a [biological] mother of four and sometimes I can ask for her advice.
How does the training affect daily life in the SOS family?
Iadviga: I think it's also useful for the children that we have the trainees here - they see that there is somebody else who demands the same things; it's not only me. Maybe they realise there is a reason why we tell them those things. After one month of training, the kids are used to Inita. In the beginning it was like this: when she left in the evening, everybody let their feelings out. Now she is like a member of the family.
She is the second trainee I have here and I must say that both of my trainees will love their job. Inita has raised four children, so she is realistic when it comes to bringing up children. For prospective SOS mothers who do not have children of their own this is much harder; I know that because I do not have any biological children. Mothers with children remember that children are not little angels all the time, but for mothers without biological children it's difficult to accept children's deficiencies.
We are talking about various topics very openly, but I think it is good that she also watches everything by herself.
What did you learn so far?
Inita: It's really useful to be here - you can't see into life here in the village from a book.
Iadviga: The longer I am working here, the more I think about my own childhood and I understand my children better because I see myself in them.
If there were no trainees, I would probably plan my time differently; but for me it's important that I can discuss various topics with Inita. Based on comparing my ten-year experience here in the village with her experience as a mother of four, I realised that I have not made any major mistakes so far.
- Mary
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Flowers from Children's Village Sarajevo, Bosnia
Did you send your letter to Santa Claus? Still plenty of time to do so. Even if it's late December or early July, even if you have forgotten your toys or your childhood is years behind, it's never too late. This Christmas he sends you an early present from SOS Children's Village Sarajevo.
A Gift from "SOS Neverland"
How long has it been since you wrote your last letter to Father Christmas? How long has it been since he personally came down the chimney and left you a present under the tree? You don't think you're on his naughty list just because you grew up?!
In the spirit of the season, the children of SOS Children's Village Sarajevo will merrily say "no, no, no!" And they know because, see, this Christmas Santa Claus asked them to prepare you a special gift. Their budget was tight, still the resources were plentiful: a whole year of children's smiles, colourful days and happy thoughts. Best part is that you don't have to wait till Christmas morning to unwrap it.
Flowery Gift
"Say it with a flower" just got a whole different meaning. Many flowers grow in our village in Sarajevo. Their blossoms make a rainbow on the ground every day in springtime. We captured these colours for you and are sending you a bouquet of bright red, shining yellow and sky blue.
Some flowers that grow in our village have not been discovered yet. These flowers have happy smiling faces and they stay fresh and beautiful all year round. It was us that put the smiles on their faces to make a cheerful gift for you this Christmas.
Smiling Gift
Our flowers are not the only ones smiling. We smile all the time too. Oh, except when our SOS mothers make us eat our vegetables and when the teacher hands out homework. Those no-smiles we will forget, and our smiles we will wrap as our gift for you this Christmas.
We spent an entire year packing smiles. We packed the smile for the new toy, the one when we enjoyed the chocolate, when the tooth fairy visited, span the top, jumped in rain puddles, hugged our SOS mother, scored a goal, taught the parakeet to say hello, played out in the sun and whenever we simply had happy thoughts.
Happy thoughts made Peter Pan and the Lost Boys fly, you know. All the way to their home in Neverland. We were also lost once, but not anymore. We flew on our happy thoughts to our SOS mothers and to our homes in SOS Children's Village Sarajevo. Happy thoughts to you for a Merry Christmas!
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