SOS mother cooking at Children's Village Tomilino Moscow Russia.…
I found a lovely interview with an SOS mother called Vera from Russia.
- Lisa
-
SOS mother cooking at Children's Village Tomilino Moscow Russia.
I found a lovely interview with an SOS mother called Vera from Russia.
Vera Jegorowa has been working as an SOS mother at SOS Children's Village Tomilino in Russia for 12 years. She is a very generous, patient lady with a heart of gold for children. In this interview, she talks about her own motherhood and her wishes for other mothers.
How many children do you care for at the momement?
I've got three girls and three boys. There are four biological brothers and sisters. The children are very compassionate about each another and share their trouble with me. Even if they argue occasionally, they are still a family. If they have been apart for a long time, they miss each other and look forward to seeing each other again.
How would you describe your task as an SOS mother?
You have to have a great love of children, and you have to be good at teaching practical things. There is a lot of physical work involved, especially with household chores. There are more and more new tasks with the children getting bigger. What I like about it is that I constantly have to learn new things.
What do you wish for the girls and the boys?
I hope that my girls and boys will be good mothers and fathers. They already practice for that when they are around small children.
How do you celebrate Mother's Day?
Mother's Day has only recently been introduced in Russia, and we are not used to celebrating it yet; however, we celebrate Women's Day on 8 March. On that day, we all come together; the older children who live independent lives bring their fiancés and girlfriends, the grandchildren and children-in-law with them. The children prepare presents and learn poems by heart. You can hear a lot of congratulations, and the house is decorated with flowers and children's drawings. It is a good and merry festivity.
- Mary
-
A sunset in Sanothimi, Nepal.
This is a very touching story about a family in Nepal who lost their mother, and how SOS helped the family through this most difficult time:
A traffic accident took the life of Jeet Bahadur Tauri's wife and left him alone with their three children. "I fainted when I heard about it. My wife was the single earner in the household when she died," he tells.That was four years ago. Eight years before that, 37-year-old Jeet Bahadur himself was involved in an accident that left him with broken bones in his right hand and a broken left leg; and he had neural damage that left him with lack of sensation in both limbs.
Before his accident, he could earn around 3,000 rupees a month (approx. 46 euro), enough for him and the family to eat three meals a day. During festival time, they could afford to travel back to their home villages and visit family and friends. Ever since his injuries, he has not been able to work properly. His brother-in-law tries to help him find some work on a day to day basis, but in a month he only manages to work four or five days in total, making a meager 1200-1500 rupees.
The eldest son has left school and now works in a modest hotel. He is not paid any cash though, but receives food and shelter. The two youngest girls aged twelve and ten years are both still in school and stay at home with their father in the 3x2 meter rented room they call home. Old newspaper, darkened by smoke from the small kitchen stove, is peeling off the walls. The girls sleep together in one bed, their father in another. When the elder brother is home, one of the girls sleeps on the floor. The rent is about half the monthly income Jeet Bahadur gets from his day labour jobs. When both parents were alive, the children did not have many responsibilities. Now the girls cook food and fetch water from the village tap and have lots of household responsibilities.
Jeet Bahadur did not get much education when he grew up - something he is keen to change for his children. "We were three brothers at home but only my younger brother got to go to school - to seventh grade. I had to work and help out my parents and could not study, as my family was too poor," Jeet Bahadur explains.
He does not want his daughters to face a situation similar to his own. "I would work very hard for the sake of my children's education - if I could," he says. "It is difficult for me to feed the children and get clothes for them but I somehow manage," he says, as he sits on his bed in the little room, the only seating available.
Following the death of their mother, the girls lost schooling for a year because their father could not afford sending them. Neighbours then told him about SOS Children's Villages.
As it is, they live only a few kilometers away from SOS Children's Village Sanothimi, just outside the Nepalese capital of Kathmandu.
Staff from the SOS Social Centre came to visit the family and immediately provided support so that the two girls could secure their school attendance. Fees and uniforms, stationary and books are paid as part of the family support of SOS Social Centre in Sanothimi in Nepal.
The girls are pleased to be back in school. The oldest girl wants to become a teacher and to be a good person who can take care of her father, she says. Currently she attends class six in a local public school two kilometers away; her younger sister attends class five.
Their father is happy for the support. He knows he is not able to fulfill their basic needs on his own. "I only manage to keep us alive," he says.
Share: