Children sleeping in Children's Village Cochabamba, Bolivia.…
To go with this peaceful photograph of children sleeping, I have been looking into the "SOS Communal Houses" in Bolivia. This is what I found out:
- Lisa
-
Children sleeping in Children's Village Cochabamba, Bolivia.
To go with this peaceful photograph of children sleeping, I have been looking into the "SOS Communal Houses" in Bolivia. This is what I found out:
The communal houses are just places where families who are stuggling with a few aspects of parenting can live and share experiences, with the help of our charity workers, when it is needed. The kind of help offered often falls into one of three categories: 1) Preventive health. This includes the training of children and their parents on preventive health care. The charity makes sure medical needs are met by local services, when needed.
2) Nourishment. Children receive three daily meals with fruit, vegetables and meat on a daily basis. The mothers are helped to make their meal plans and taught new cooking skills and given inspiration and ideas for their meals, which are prepared with local products. Children receive checks of their weight and height to make sure they are getting all the nourishment they need. Saddly sometimes the charity identifies cases of malnutrition.
3) Education. This is where the care workers ecourage children to go to school and engage the children in fun learning activites. In cases where children have learning difficulties, the care workers help in the identification and treatment of the child.
- Mary
-
Cherry blossom at Children's Village Daegu, South Korea.
Helena Gilyim Jin is an SOS mother in Korea. Helena and two of her brothers and sisters fell victim to a smallpox epidemic during the Korean War. Helena is the only one of the three who survived. She recovered from this terrible illness, but carries the scars for life. Some of the scars are "written on her face", others are not visible, but they all have an influence on Helena's life. She wants to work with children gets to know SOS Children's Villages. She becomes an SOS mother.
Today Helena is fulfilling a dream from her youth by studying psychology and education at university. She would like to continue to work in this area after she retires.
Helena tells the story of her life: "Three of us suffered from this disease and I was the only one to survive." I was born during the Korean War in 1951 in Namwon, in the province of Jeolabug-Do. Namwon is very famous for an old story - like Romeo and Juliet in Korean. I am the fifth of six brothers and sisters. I was very ill as a child. I had smallpox. My older sister and younger brother died of it. I was a delicate child and my mother was always worried about my state of health. My father was a farmer and, therefore, couldn't find a job in the city. We had difficulty earning enough money to keep the family and so my two elder brothers helped. We used to be very poor.
In those days you had to pay for all schools, whether it was primary, secondary or high school. I managed to go to school for free, because my teachers paid my fees. I always had good results and, therefore, received a grant so that I could finish secondary school. I wanted to study English and had even passed the entrance exam for university, but I couldn't pay the fees. I had a few jobs before I became an SOS mother. I was an accountant for a newspaper, worked briefly in a laboratory and spent a year working in the office of an orphanage. I gave piano lessons on the side and earned a bit of extra money.
When asked what she likes to do in her free time, Helena said "Since 1997 I have been studying psychology and so I read a lot. What I learn in education and psychology at the university also helps me in my work, of course. I used to listen to a lot of music. I love Johann Sebastian Bach the most. I used to play the piano and sing in a choir, but I don't do that anymore. These days I occasionally go to the karaoke evenings with my colleagues. I don't have time to play the piano anymore and so I have forgotten everything. Now I read textbooks. Reading is the only thing I do regularly. I don't receive any financial support from SOS Children's Villages for my studies and neither do they give me any time off. I do it during my holidays and on my days off. This university has been especially conceived for teachers and lectures are only held during the school holidays. That's very practical for me.
When asked about her experiences as an SOS Mother, Helena replied "I have become physically stronger. I used to ask myself a lot, whether I could live as peacefully and as happily if I were married and my answer has always been that my life here with the children is better and happier. My friends tell me that I have become more assertive and confident since I've been here. I also think that I've become jollier.
This profession is one of the most important and valuable professions in the world, if you can do the work. Our task is to live with the children, to love them, and to be loved by them. Bringing up children is a very active task and I believe it is an important role to play.
When asked if there a community within the SOS Children's Village, Helena said "Yes, the SOS mothers form a community. We are bound by solidarity. I don't sense this solidarity in everyday life, as all we think about then are our own children; but if we are having problems or organising an event, then the solidarity is there."
Share: