SOS Chidren's Villages

SOS Children's Villages is a private social welfare organisation which offers orphaned and abandoned children a new and permanent home. The children stay with us until they are able to lead an independent life.

HISTORY

SOS Children's Villages of Pakistan was established in 1975. It is an autonomous organisation and managed by Board of Governors. The National Office is situated in Lahore and provincial associations have been established in Punjab, Sindh, N.W.F.P, Balochistan and Azad Jammu & Kashmir.The first project was the SOS Childrens Village in Lahore in 1977 and this has been followed by projects in many other cities.The goal is to continue expansion until there are sufficient facilities to reach children all over the country.

HOW IT IS DONE

We are a completely autonomous body in our financing, both for construction of new projects and maintenance of the children through donations from the public. We are proud of the fact that the community has responded possitively to our efforts and Pakistan is the only country, outside Europe, which is self- financing. The cost of running the projects is met through a sponsorship scheme with individuals and corporate groups undertaking to meet the maintenance costs of the children.

For construction of new projects we appeal for the donation of family homes, classrooms etc. All donations are suitably acknowledged. Land for all our projects has been donated by the respective provincial governments.

OBJECTIVES

The SOS Children's Village idea is an important milestone in the development of a modern approach to the welfare of orphans.

The objectives are to:

• Provide the children with an environment which is as normal as possible.


• Give the children every opportunity to develop to their full potential.


• Equip the child with the necessary skills to lead an independent life.


• Integrate the orphan child with society so that he does not suffer from lack of anormal family.

PHILOSOPHY
SOS Children's Villages are institutions established to give orphaned or abandoned children a new start in life by providing a substitute for the familiy they have lost. This is achieved by the formation of 'families' which are as natural as possible. The children are given security, support, love and understanding.

The resemblance to a natural family is achieved through four basic principles...

The Mother...
Every abandonded child is given a mother as a permanent contact person. An SOS Children's Village mother knows the same cares, duties and joys as every other mother. She is the head of the family and runs her own household. The Mother gives the children entrusted to her care, love, security and trust- things every child needs for a healthy development.

Brothers and Sisters...
An SOS Children's Village family consits of the Mother and eight to ten children. Natural siblings stay together. Boys and girls of various ages grow up in a family house.

The Home...
Every SOS Children's Village family has its own house which is a permanent home for every child. The SOS houses are designed for a large family with many children. At the heart of each unit is the living/ dining room, the centre of family life. The Mother has her own room and four to five children share a bedroom.

The Village...
An SOS Children's Village generally consists of fifteen family houses and are usually located in attractive surroundings, near a large town or city.

METHODOLOGY
The special feature of SOS Children's Villages is that they are not traditional orphanages; they provide homes for orphans and abandoned children with a warm family type environment. An SOS Village provides children with loving care and instills in them a sense of confidence so that they live normal lives and develop to their full pontential.

Each SOS Village consists of 15 to 20 family houses besides a community hall, administrative office, nursery school, grocery shop, mosque, dispensary, infirmary, workshop, essential staff residences, adequate playgrounds and vegetable gardens.

In each home, 8 to 10 children are looked after by a trained mother. Mothers are selected with great care. They usually are single women, often widows without their own families, and are thus able to commit themselves completely to the responsibility of living in a SOS Village.

A Village Director is responsible for the administration of each Village and is assisted by other well trained staff.

Youth Homes are established in conjunction with all SOS Villages and boys, on reaching adolescence, are shifted there. They receive professional education or technical training, according to their aptitude, and leave the organisation only when they are capable of earning their own livelihood. Girls continue to live in the Village until they are married.

Great stress is laid on giving the children a good education as this is what will make all the difference in their future lives. All children are encouraged to obtain higher education, if they have the necessary merit. Due emphasis is given to religious studies and a mosque is a part of every Village complex.