Portrait of a little girl with some ice cream at Children's Village Los Aromos Santiago, Chile.
Despite many difficulties faced everyday by the families in Limón, they have hope because of the SOS Social Centre Limón. The SOS Social Centre Limón welcomes 35 women and their children to a safe place for the children to be taken care of and the mothers to develop skills. 90% of these women are bringing up their children alone. Even when the centre has only been running for a few years, there have already been successful results. This is a report about those results, it is a lovely read.
- Lisa
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Portrait of a little girl with some ice cream at Children's Village Los Aromos Santiago, Chile.
Despite many difficulties faced everyday by the families in Limón, they have hope because of the SOS Social Centre Limón.
The SOS Social Centre Limón welcomes 35 women and their children to a safe place for the children to be taken care of and the mothers to develop skills. 90% of these women are bringing up their children alone. Even when the centre has only been running for a few years, there have already been successful results. This is a report about those results, it is a lovely read.
In one of the families that attends the center live in the slum called "Los Lirios". The mother has six children, and to provide for her children she sells snacks in the local community school.
One of the first ways the social center supported the family was to take care of the children while the mother was working, and give them good nutritious meals.
Fifteen days after joining the center, the house the family was living in collapsed. No one was hurt and the neighbours ran to help and support the family.
With the support of the social centre and the principal of the community school, the mother started selling fruits in bags. She started a training at a local college. She graduated in a business programme for women and nowadays she is working to finish her secondary studies.
Other good news is that the children attend school and their grades are improving all the time. They live happily in their new house, raised by their mum with the help of neighbours, the social centre and a governmental bond of housing.
With her training, the mother offers a better service and her sales reflect this. Since she has what it takes: she is a proud woman and an excellent mother!
Article written by Greta Bennett Bennett, SOS Social Centre Limón director.
- Mary
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Child from Children's Village Sucre, Bolivia
This is a story about a special trip the children at Sucre were treated to, to celebrate the birthday of the village:
Finally, the day of the trip had arrived. It was 7 o'clock. Most children of the village were already hanging around at the point of departure. The buses had not shown up yet, but the children were so excited that they didn't want to wait for them at home.
SOS mothers and other village co-workers had organized everything for the holiday trip. One group had set up the food and drinks, another had arranged the buses, and the rest had prepared various fun games for the children to play.
The destination for the trip was the river "Las Palmas", which is just a few kilometers from Sucre. Famous for its quiet waters and its beautiful surroundings, the river is an ideal place to relax, and have a barbecue.
On the riversides, when we arrived, you could see trees, bushes, flowers and flocks of sheep passing by. The air was fresh and the sunshine warm. We set up our tents and relaxed and the children had lots of fun.
Then, the next day, when the children were asked to pick up their things and pack. Some children packed their things and were ready to go home. The majority, though, took quite a bit longer for a good reason.
When the children had thrown off their shoes and to go swimming, one of them had lost their sandles, but hardly noticed at the time becasue of the excitement of the sun and swimming.
The children looked for the sandals all over the river banks; they even checked 'hiding places' in the surroundings, but without success. Then we realized that a very special thief had stolen the sandals: the river.
Everyone laughed and we had a hilarious journey home.
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