A view of a classroom with open book in foreground at…
To go with this picture of a classroom I have a story about some talented young journalists who reported on SOS Children's Village facilities.
- Lisa
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A view of a classroom with open book in foreground at local primary school in Kotayk, Armenia.
To go with this picture of a classroom I have a story about some talented young journalists who reported on SOS Children's Village facilities.
SOS Children has partnered with the "School Newspaper of the Year" competition organised by German magazine "SPIEGEL". Last year, winners of the competition went to Belarus, Poland and Bulgaria; winners in the 2002 competition went to Bosnia-Herzegovina, Italy, Swaziland, Paraguay and Argentina.
This year again saw five winners "travel the world": Two each went to Gambia and Armenia, one to Ghana. They visited SOS Children's Village locations and prepared reports on what they had found out. Their reports tell us about the children, their biographies, their living conditions, their new mothers, and the many small steps taken which help lead the children to living independent lives.
Still, the competition winners also found powerful and empathetic words to describe the lives of the majority of the population in the country and how they are paralyzed by misery, decay and desperation. The children living in the SOS Children's Villages were once victims of these circumstances; today they are among those who have been saved from this plight.
What makes the reports so interesting and varied is, on the one hand, the brilliant language and remarkable perceptive faculty of the young reporters, on the other hand the people big and little at the SOS Children's Village facilities: For example, in Ghana we meet students of the Hermann Gmeiner International College and experience how they live their lives between discipline and social welfare - hoping for a brighter future to come one day.
In Gambia the young reporters also met children who are struggling for survival living on a garbage heap - they have not found a place in an SOS Children's Village yet. In Armenia, the young reporters were struck by how much patience and love SOS mothers must have in their hearts to win the trust of traumatised children.
SPIEGEL TV station XXP aired the reports prepared by the winners of the "SPIEGEL" competition on 14 December 2004 as part of the programme "XXP unterwegs" (XXP on the road).
- Mary
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A portrait of boy showing drawing, nursery school Pristina, Kosovo.
Heavy rain fell over the capital of Kosovo that spring day. There was nothing fun to do. Sad little faces stuck their noses on the window glass. For so long they waited for the spring, and now rain instead of the sun. It sure would've boring if the teacher didn't think of a way to bring the sun inside!
One Day of My Life, Illustrated One day, looking for a shelter from the rain, we went into one classroom of the SOS Kindergarten in Pristina. The random choice resulted with a peculiar coincidence. The children, all age five and six, were getting ready to draw one day of their lives.
"Choose a day. Any day you wish," said the teacher. "Can we draw yesterday?" asked Adea. "Does it have to be a nice day?" Bledan was curious. "Does it have to be a whole day including lunch?" "Can I draw tomorrow?" Once all the questions were answered, the children got busy.
Few broken colouring pencils and a torn paper later, everyone was done. The teacher asked every child to present his or her drawing and to explain what happened on that one day of their lives. Here's what we got:
They Got the Sun and the Flowers "There is a large garden behind my house," started Leonita. "There I can play football all day long and not bother anybody. My mother gets a little upset because she planted flowers in different colours. They really smell nice. I play carefully so I don't ruin them, I love the sun, the flowers and my red ball."
"Most of all I love my house!" exclaimed Elmedina. "I love it because there are lots of flowers in front of it. They make it look nice and colourful. I'm not the only one who lives in this beautiful house. There's also my brother, my sisters and my [SOS] mother Sedaheta. I really love my house and my family."
Xheneta relived her day: "I am playing ball with my friend Ron. We are laughing and rolling in the grass. My other friend Beata is calling me to pick flowers. This is a very special day for me because I am spending it together with my best friends."
"I drew my friend Lea and me in the backyard of my house," explained Rea. "We were there to pick flowers for our teacher. We chose roses and lilies and other yellow ones. You were very happy that day," smiled Rea at her teacher. "
What Makes the Blues Go Away Bledan's drawing told of a nightmare: "This morning I woke up terrified. I dreamt of a big man who wanted to take me away from my parents. I was very scared. I started to cry and I woke up. My mom heard and she came to my room to hug me. I know nightmares don't come true, still, I'm not in a good mood today."
"One day which I will never forget is when I had my tonsils removed," started Beneta. "That day my throat hurt a lot and I was very unhappy. I had to sleep in the hospital. Around me were many doctors in white coats. I was not scared because my mom was by my side."
Dren loves the near-by national park called Germia: "I was in the park one day with my parents. I love the trees and the big green meadows of Germia. I ran around and suddenly I fell. I started to cry because my knee hurt a lot. Then my mother hugged me and kissed me and the pain went away."
"I was very lonely in the yard that day," Lea said. "I didn't have anyone to play with. I went to the flowers and started talking to a tulip. The tulip didn't talk back, so I spoke to a lily. The lily didn't speak back either. None of the flowers talked back. Then I noticed a butterfly. I started running after it wishing I too was a butterfly. I watched it fly up in the sky and I wasn't sad or lonely anymore."
Wishes of One Future Day
Stina drew a wish, a simple one: "One day I would like my friend Rea and me to go with my parents and her parents to the park. There I would like to stay all day. Rea and me would pick flowers and chase butterflies and our parents can sit and talk."
"I like all my kindergarten friends a lot, but most of all I like Norik," Ron was honest. "I want Norik to come to my house one day so we could play with my toys. When we get tired of the toys we can watch TV and then in the afternoon we'll go outside and play football."
Fis drew one night of his life. In that night he had a dream and in that dream he was a star: "I was sleeping in my room one day dreaming that I was playing football. I played on a huge stadium crowded with fans. They were all calling out my name. It was a great dream. When I woke up I saw that I was hugging my football."
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