A portrait of smiling girl in Children's Village Kotayk, Armenia…

A portrait of smiling girl in Children's Village Kotayk, Armenia

Veronika's Memories Veronika came to SOS Children's Village Kotayk in the spring of 2006. She quickly found her place in the family home and at the playground. Sociable by nature, Veronika also had the advantage of already knowing many of the children.

The first thing the little girl did, to the surprise of her SOS mother, was catch up with some old pals from the village. It turned out that while she was living in one local orphanage, Veronika spent a summer vacation at the same location and in the same time as the children from the village.

"I couldn't go on that holiday, so one of the SOS aunts went instead," explains her SOS mother. "I was really amazed with how much Veronika knew about our village, but also with how happy she was to come here. Usually children are distant and afraid at first." Not Veronika. Here's what she remembers from that holiday:

"Of all the children who were in the camp that year, I liked to play most with the children from the village," says Veronika. "I loved their clean clothes and nicely combed hair. I loved the interesting books they were reading and the songs they knew. I was so happy to play with them."

"Our educators allowed us to go in the pool only twice every day. The children from the village could go in the water any time they wanted," fascinated Veronika says. "There was always an adult who looked after them, handed them a towel when they came out of the water and helped them put on sun lotion."

Veronika shares her greatest impression: "All children from the village knew a lot of things about nature and music and science. They were polite to adults and said 'good afternoon' and 'good bye' and 'please' and 'thank you'. The adults were also very nice to the children. No one yelled or hit a child. When I was told I'm coming here, it was the happiest moment in my life!"