Child sponsor letter from Lubango, Angola
30/11/2007
Dear SOS Friends,
Here to present you all the events and developments that has been happening in our SOS Village during the six months past. At this time we bring much news for all of you
Firstly I am going to present the economic situation in the country: Although the recovery of the Angolan economy is becoming firmly established with GPD growth expected to increase further to about, 26 per cent in 2006 and 20 per cent in 2007, mainly due to recent developments in the oil sector, the Angolan Government continue to be faced with enormous social challenges. 2.34 million Internally Displaced people, out of the 4.1 million estimated at the end of the hostilities, had returned to their areas of origin, primarily in the provinces of Huambo, Benguela, Kwanza Sul and Bié but are facing enormous integration challenges.
Our village has been growing in term of numbers now we are dealing with 157 children among these 44 are living in youth project and the 113 children are under the care of SOS mothers. Following our attempts to fill vacancies created by the 11 youth who moved into youth facility in Lubango last February 2006, we noticed that child admission has been to decrease in the last quarter partially due to some ineffectiveness within the social welfare department during the investigation process and also for the new procedures within the government childcare framework that encourage the exploring of other possibilities to keep children in their natural environment before they are considered for admission into an SOS village. As a result, 12 new children found a permanent accommodation in our Village. Concerning on the activities of SOS village we have to mention the valuable visit that we get on earlier August consisting of two colleagues from the promoting and supporting Association in Norway and 11 representatives from “Fagforbundet” or The trade union in Norway, the purpose of the visit was to finance the third Village construction in Huambo.
Knowing that the cholera outbreak is mainly affecting the country’s poor slums where the overcrowding and appalling sanitation help the water born decease to spread quickly, the SOS youth in Lubango embarked on a hand on cleaning activity to drive a home awareness campaign on the risks associated with poor hygiene within the surroundings.
The SOS youth in Lubango is celebrating success with their pig production oriented to self-consumption and selling. They have so far managed to produce 30 pigs, the SOS youth raise and sell pigs, chickens and cultivate a small food garden.
SOS Primary School
Our principal participated in the national Education For All (EFA) forum in Luanda invited by the Open Society Initiave for Southern Africa (OSISA), in collaboration with World Education Inc., and the UNESCO Cluster offices in Southern Africa. (regional secretariat based in Johannesburg with a Sub-office in Angola). The purpose of this conference was to promote joint consultation and reflection on EFA themes specific to southern Africa, and to enhance EFA partnership among civil society, governments and donors in formulating, implementing and evaluating education strategies to contribute to EPA goals. OSISA’s Education programme is carved within the frameworks of Education For All and the Millennium Development Goals.
A thank you letter was sent to the local department of education showing our gratitude for the 11,7% increase on the overall monthly subsidy for the 20 HGPS teachers who still hold labour relations with the ministry of education. This increase represents an unexpected extra income amount of USD 10,567 for 2006.
Clinic
Our clinic is doing all the best in order to end over to the cholera outbreak and still operating with 1 nurse and 1 doctor. A major awareness campaign was initiated in our SOS village in Lubango by the SOS health personnel for our SOS families and employees to be informed and guided about the preventive measures and help fighting the cholera outbreak. In Benguela, a similar activity was conducted in the village with a joint participation of the medicines san frontier and the local department of social welfare.
To sum up, it’s always good for us keeping in touch with you and we are thankful for what you have done for the children in care. On behalf of SOS Lubango staff we would like once again to thanks you so much for your generous support and contribution, now we would like to wish you a big Merry Christmas and all the best for the New Year coming soon.
May Good Bless You
Maria dos Santos
Sponsorship Secretary
SOS Children’s Village
Lubango-Angola
Relevant Countries: Angola.