Shadows of two children standing on pavement winter at Children's…
Here I've found some background on SOS Children's Village Ulaanbaatar, a place we have many beautiful photographs from.
- Lisa
-
Shadows of two children standing on pavement winter at Children's Village Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.
Here I've found some background on SOS Children's Village Ulaanbaatar, a place we have many beautiful photographs from.
In May 2000, the construction of SOS Children's Village Ulaanbaatar started. It was completed in summer 2002, and the first families moved into the new family houses soon after. Due to the large number of orphans and destitute children in Mongolia, it was decided to build a second SOS Children's Village. In April 2006, the foundation stone for SOS Children's Village Darkhan was laid.
There are several hundred orphans in Ulaanbaatar alone, who are not provided for through the extended family system and are living either in orphanages or in the streets. That is one reason why it was decided to build the country's first SOS Children's Village in the capital. A suitable, 2.7-hectare plot of land was found on the eastern outskirts of Ulaanbaatar. The SOS Children's Village consists of fourteen family houses and a multi-purpose hall.
The children from the SOS Children's Village attend the community nurseries and schools. Additional English classes for children and mothers are taught at the village. Tutors help children who have problems at school. The village hall is always busy with activities, there are classes for gymnastics, chess, checkers, table tennis, accordion, dance and folk songs.
In 2008, an SOS Youth Facility became operational in a rented building and construction of an SOS Social Centre started. The centre consists of training workshops, a room for medical treatment, two rooms for child day care, a kitchen and an administration area. The aim to build parental skills and to help the targeted families to be self-sufficient and to provide their children with a proper education.
Within the village premises, there is also an SOS Vocational Training Centre for mother and staff training. The training room has a capacity of up to 30 trainees per course.
- Mary
-
Children and their mother sitting at the lunch table at Children's Village São Paulo-Poá, Brazil.
Here is an example of how care is given intelligently, by listening to people in a community during the planning of SOS activites:
A hugly important part of the family and community support offered by SOS Children's Village in Sao Bernardo do Campo involves listening to the families needs and developing activities for them. This was how the activies for 2008 were planned.
Needing an efficient plan for 2008, the family support team organised a discussion for the boys and girls, adolescents, and the families that have recieved support. Several activities were carried out at the SOS Social Centre with a total of 104 participants, all with the aim of how to develop the service in 2008.
During the meeting, the leader of the programme, Eliane Cristina de Olveira, gave some background on the story of SOS Children's Villages and described some of the help given to boys and girls who cannot count on their parents' support. She also underlined the importance of the family support for the community and, as such, the importance of listening to people's needs.
Later, the participants were divided into four groups: boy/girl, woman, family, and community. The groups discussed their common needs and chose a representative feed back to everyone involved.
It was very interesting because, among other things, under the "woman" component, a male representative was chosen. He did very well in his feedback and pointed out certain needs such as the generation of income and the supply of vocational courses in areas like, for example, hairdressing, computing, etc. He finished very simply by saying: "It is very important for a woman to have a career; indeed, not only to help with the expenses but to be more valued."
Among other subjects touched upon in the feedback was the need to have socio-educational workshops about the health and upbringing of children; workshops about women's health; family planning, couple relationship, and so on.
"It was very good to participate in this activity because besides opening up a space where the community can speak about their needs, the group was able to interact as a team, contributing to the search of actions that will improve the quality of life of the community," said Maria Aparecida, Educational Assistant of the village's family based-care programme.
Mrs. Patricia also felt very excited with the dynamics of the work. She is the representative of the Salvador Arena Foundation, one of the many alliances of SOS Children's Villages Brazil. Teary eyed, she said: "It is one thing to see it on paper but something else to feel the experience of participating and listening."
Share: