Child sponsorship letter from Cordoba
29/11/2007
Buenos Aires, July 2007
Dear child sponsor,
We are halfway through another year and we would like to share with you some of the experiences of the children of our families at SOS Children’s Village Córdoba and thank you with all our heart for your generous contribution by sponsoring a child. This makes our work possible, and allows a lot of children to grow up in safety, love and confidence so as to achieve a decent life.
The 12 families who live in the village, have got at present 106 children and adolescents. They live with their SOS mothers and aunts, their biological siblings and their siblings of heart. Four of them have made a revinculation process with their families of origin and they are receiving our financial support and contention. And eight young women have started being part of the first Women Youth Facility in Cordoba, inaugurated on May 9, 2007 with a big party and everybody’s emotion and joy, especially the young women who start living a new stage in their lives.
As regards schooling, 3 children attend the initial level, as part of the learning process to enter school. Thirty-five children and some adolescents attend primary school, 35 students attend secondary school and one student attends a trade school. Of the rest of the children, some are not old enough to attend school and some have started working. Apart from that they attend workshops of skating, drawing, arts, music, trades or they practice sports, such as football, handball and volley ball.
In 2006 Mr. Rubén Nausneris, “Uncle Rubén”, as children call him tenderly and affectionately, assumed the Direction. Last June the village team gathered to evaluate together their first year of management; the result was very positive and enthusiast for everybody - mothers, aunts and the working teams, all the people who are accompanying him in this daily challenge. It was a simple meeting, sharing some sweet things and something hot in an autumnal breakfast, with wintry freezing temperatures.
The year started with great heat and a lot of activities for the children to enjoy their summer holidays. In January and February the children participated of summer camps in different periods. They were organized by the government of Córdoba Province. It was a nice experience for them and they came back very happy and with a lot of anecdotes and new friends. During the camping days, the village helpers and the SOS mothers went to visit them and they were very happy and entertained, with new friends, in a very nice site with a large swimming pool which they enjoyed in those very hot days. The young boys and girls also enjoyed their summer camp, accompanied by the youth leader Hernán and Etelvina, who organized them. They spent some miniholidays at Unquillo, a picturesque small village in Cordoba hills. This was a very positive and enjoyable experience too and the photos show the landscape and their enjoyment.
Some families were able to enjoy the possibility of travelling together to the SOS mothers’ native provinces, since some mothers live in provinces which are not very near Córdoba. Mother Fabiana travelled to Corrientes with her four children of heart, together with Mother Claudia, who also took all her children of heart on holiday. Both mothers are from the same town, Monte Caseros, which is well known for its carnivals the whole month of February.
Mother Fabiana tells that, when they were already in their seats on a long distance bus and the trip was going to start, she was watching Eliana, one of her daughters of heart; the girl was looking around restlessly and with a worried expresion. Mother Fabiana asked her what happened and Eliana asked looking very worried, as the bus began to move: - ¡¿Auntie, where is the bus driver?!!! And the older brothers started laughing and they finally explained that the driver was driving in the lower deck. Thus they began their long journey in a funny way. Their stay was happy with a lot of pampering and fun.
Among so many nice experiences, we wanted to tell you that during the Holy Week, a group of children accompanied by some of our staff enjoyed their stay at Las Grutas ressort, situated in Río Negro Province; this is one of the warmest beaches on the Argentine coast. They happily got to know the sea, the older and the younger ones, in a fine autumnal climate of about 24 grades, which invited them to enjoy those incredible waves for four days.
A lot of work is being done with the biological families of the children, not only when there is a possibility o reconnecting them with their family nucleus, but also to let them know about their origin and get in touch with their family in a positive way. Mother Marina has been with us for a short time, but she already has a lot to share with us about this. Since April 15, 2007, she has been in charge of a family house; she is very happy, but she knows that this is a strong commitment, a step in her life that will be filled of different experiences. Her children of heart are nine and she can describe truly something about each one. But she is particularly moved by Valeria´s history. It was difficult for Marina to meet her heart to heart. Valeria was not able to show her feelings; she was a clean girl but was not interested in the natural cares of her age. It was difficult for her to concentrate at school, and she preferred to be out of home with a friend. Marina asked herself, what to do, how to do something, how to reach out to her. She knew she had to be very patient.
Then her biological mother came to visit her and Marina realized that the link with her mother could be positive for Valeria. Between mate and mate (a typical drink made of herb basis), they talked about Valeria, trying to find new ways. Although the personal situation of the mother was not easy, Marina was able to see positive attitudes in her. She was a cultured and educated person and above all, each of her gesture showed how much she cared and loved her children. She wanted to help them with their studies. She was willing to try and the team thought this could be a way to get Valeria out of withdrawing into herself.
So she started to come and study with Valeria. Although there was some resistance at the beginning, soon she got her first ‘excellent’ at school. In twenty days Valeria has got four ‘excellent’ - we congratulate you- and she is completing her folder. Valeria’s eyes are bright and happy again, she seldom has asthma attacks and she likes to share with her SOS family. Our work has sense: we are healing Valeria and her mother’s hearts, trying to recuperate a tissue that has been torn for seven years. Now Marina is painting her house, and Vale’s mother says: “I want to help you, because my children live there”. And after the family mate and the meal, the two of them paint together.
A huge thank you with all our heart for your very generous help, knowing that this makes it possible for the children of our families to grow up within a family, in love, safety and confidence.
Our best wishes, yours sincerely,
Claudia Kurz
Sponsor Adviser
Sponsor's letter from Mar del Plata
Buenos Aires, July 2007
Dear sponsor,
we are halfway through another year, and we would like to share with you some of the experiences of the children of our families at SOS Children’s Village Mar del Plata and also to thank you with all our heart for your generous contribution. It is this what makes our work possible and allows a lot of children to grow up in safety, love and confidence so as to achieve a decent life.
The 8 families who live in the village, have got at present 60 children and adolescents. Nine young people live in the SOS Youth Community, eleven young people live in the project SOS Assisted Homes. In this way, several of our young people have started their process of independence. In these proyects they receive not only financial help and protection, but they also learn how to become autonomous. They start carrying out their project of personal life, and many of them are looking for a permanent job to become independent and start their own family.
As regards schooling, 3 children attend initial level, as part of the learning process to enter school. 35 children and some adolescents attend primary level, 18 children attend a special school, and 2 adolescents are going to secondary school. Five young people are finishing their primary studies, 8 are finishing secondary school, 3 are finishing special school and trades, and 3 are already working. There are also two children who are still too young to go to school. Some of these children, also atend workshops: cooking, bakery, carpentry, electricity or computers.
As you surely know, Mar del Plata is a coastal city, so that children, young people and SOS mothers were able to enjoy the beautiful beaches at the weekends. During the week, as they have been doing for two summers, the children participated of a summer camp integrated by children from Mar del Plata community. As every year, they participated of a monthly camp, where each one of them was able to share that wonderful experience, to learn new skills and to develop human values of solidarity, fellowship, integration and respect.
Mica, one of the girls of our families, prefers to stay at home, because her sister and her nephews and nieces come to visit her. Mica loves to play with them. She helps them to put up the swimming pool in the yard and she enjoys spending the afternoon with them. She has a lot of friends in the village, she is easy-going and friendly, she is always inventing games and laughing. Her favourite entertainment is to disguise herself. At the last fancy dress party, she dressed up as a hippy in a colourful dress, and she even painted flowers on her face. She was beautiful, with her loose hair and a hair band, such as women used to wear in the sixties. Micaela says that when she grows up`she wants to be an SOS mother, to teach nice things to children.
With joy and emotion we welcomed four little brothers: Juan, Pedro, Víctor and Arturo: together with their SOS mother, Estela, they shared the happiness of finding a new family who can give them a lot of love and protection. In March Macarena arrived at SOS mother Eva’s house. She comes from a coastal town near our city. When the children of the SOS family learnt that she was coming, they worked for several weeks before her arrival, to prepare everything. They were emotioned and everybody helped to prepare the room where she was going to sleep and they also helped to prepare a nice meal and a cake for the afternoon, to welcome her. Eva says that when Maca arrived, she opened her small rucksack and showing what she was carrying she said: these are my things...shall I have enough room?. Aunt Eva held her tightly in her arms, and after some minutes the little girl held her aunt too, with her little arms round her aunt’s neck . Her coffee coloured eyes are now two shining suns, happy and sincere, showing how happy that girl is for having found a place where to start again. She says: - How good aunt, there is a sea here too!
As regards our young people of the youth community, they started with great strength the year 2007. Many of them worked during the summer season and in March they returned to their studies. It was wonderful to see that some of them who had given up studying, decided with great enthusiasm to finish their secondary studies, so as to enlarge their projects of independence. Lautaro and Miguel moved to the project SOS Youth Community last May. In 2006 they had been working on this, with the youth companion and their SOS mother Estela. You should have seen them the day they moved, they took even their pillows with them to the residence!! , said their mom happy and emotioned. The young boys visit their families at the weekend, and come to share the Sunday meal with the family. During the week they go to school and also have other alternative recreational and formative activities (football, computers, waiter training course) Their SOS mother visits them at their new house, and together with the youth companion, gives them advice on the queries they may have, and the steps they should take.
The boys and girls of our families also carry out recreational activities, outings with the family, holidays, outings with friends, Sunday meals, football, workshops on painting, art, dance, singing, skating- they choose according to their likes.
Marcelo is already the tallest in the house, and his doctor says he will keep on growing in his fourteen, he is still the only boy in the family. Marcelo is very healthy. He has started practicing sports lately, he got very enthusiast when his family gave him a ball for Epiphany day (celebration of the three Kings, or Magi). He started playing football with his friends in the village. When he saw his present, still wrapped up, he guessed it was a ball, and he said he did not like football and gave no importance to it. Some time later, he started playing little by little, and at present he puts it under his bed at night and he takes it wherever he goes.
Eduardo is an active boy, incredibly humorous and he very easily adapts himself to any situation. Bad moments go by quickly and he soon laughs again enthusiastically. He eats very well and has no problem with food, he likes everything and enjoys any food. He likes cooking, and his family always ask him to prepare corn flour with milk and sugar, a dessert his grandmother made, and that reminds him of his childhood his siblings happily share this dessert with him. It is always a feast.
The Family Strengthening programme intends to support the families and communities for them to develop their capacity of protection and development of their children, avoiding in that way child abandonment. We do not work alone at this. We make agreements with other organizations, and, on joining our forces, we duplicate our effort to change the sad situations we find around us. Since suffering of poverty is so hard, we approach it from a lot of different fronts this led us to incorporate Hermann Gmeiner Kindergarten as a Communitary Center, so that it may be one of the action poles against child abandonment . It is estimated that this programme will benefit about 400 children of the poverty neighbourhoods in Mar del Plata.
A huge thank you with all our heart for your very generous help, knowing that this makes it possible for the children of our families to grow up within a family, in love, safety and confidence.
Our best wishes, yours sincerely,
Claudia Kurz
Sponsor Adviser
Child sponsor's letter from Obera
Buenos Aires, July 2007
Dear sponsor,
we are halfway through another year and we would like to share with you some of the experiences of the children of our families in our SOS Children’s Village Oberá and also thank you with all our heart for your generous contribution. It is this what makes our work possible and allows a lot of children to grow up in safety, love and confidence so as to achieve a decent life.
The 12 families who live in the village have at present 81 children and adolescents. Five young people live in our SOS Youth Facility, fifteen young people live in the SOS semi-independent housing programme and two else in a project of advising. Several of our young people have started their process to become independent. In these projects they receive financial help and protection, but they learn to become autonomous. They start carrying out their personal life project and many of them look for a permanent job to become independent and start their own family.
As regards schooling, 8 children attend initial level, as part of the learning process to enter school. Sixty children and some adolescents attend primary school, eight adolescent attend secondary school and four adolescents are doing tertiary or university degree courses. Seven children are attending the special school and five children have no schooling, because they have some disability or they are still too young.
Leo, Daniel, María Fátima, Mirta, Adrián and César graduated at secondary school. Their SOS mothers were very proud and the whole family were present at the graduation party, This event was very touching, with the emotion of schoolmates, friends and teachers farewell, and the promise of a beautiful future, which will bring new reunions, new studies, a family and an adult life awaiting them.
Children and young people have started school with renewed strength and have also started attending sports lessons, specially football, drawing, pottery, hairdressing, computer, English or carpentry workshops according to their skills. Adriana, 15, Julio, 15 and Rosana, 13 are attending an English course which they like very much. There they listen to stories and songs that will help them to pronounce words better. They are very motivated and they are thinking of continuing the next levels.
Rafa, Isaías, Jonathan and Miguel Angel have been training at the Municipal Sports Centre since the beginning of March and they are looking forward to start competing and travelling to other towns to show their football skills, together with their trainer and their mates. Several adolescent work at the greenhouse, in the production of plants for gardens. They also prepare fertilizers which they commercialize in the town and they work at park designing and looking after gardens. This project has given very good personal as well as financial fruits for the young people who work there, and has helped them a lot in their process of maturing and entering the labor market.
Sandra, Amalia and Cristina celebrated their 15th birthday. This celebration and the great traditional party had been her dream since she was a small girl. She dreamt of making her dress herself and celebrate together with her family, her friends and some people from the community. Some months before her birthday she attended sewing lessons and she herself made her dress, helped by her teacher. So at the party she wore a beautiful dress and she welcomed and treated her guests with her beautiful smile.
Boys and girls prepared poems, plays and dances and they performed at school for the 25th May celebration and also in the centre of the city. Nancy, Belén, Isaías, Maxi and Fabián showed their skills when they danced a ‘zamba’ and a ‘gato’, typical folk dances of our country. They danced so well that everybody clapped and they smiled looking very satisfied and happy. Franco and Carolina were also applauded when they presented a play showing how people dressed in 1810, when the first national government board was proclaimed ladies and gentlemen, street vendors, servants and cooks, were all present, in their multicoloured clothes, lovingly prepared by their mothers.
Almost every afternoon, after finishing their homework or after coming back home from school, the members of the families meet to talk, to drink tereré (a typical drink made of herbs) and also to organize football matches where both, boys and girls participate, according to ages and their relation. Mothers also come to watch the matches and enjoy the afternoons with children and adolescents sometimes the young people of the adjoined projects. Don Marcos, the man in charge of maintenance, cannot miss the occasion, the children ask him to play for a while. Everyday, at 5.15 p.m. the teams are organized. It is fun, says Victoria, a 10-year-old girl who loves playing football. And while she waits for her turn to play, she watches carefully all the moves they do with the ball. Maxi, 8, also likes to do creative moves like the ones of the players he watches on television.
Besides, we welcomed happily the visit of some of the children’s sponsors, who travelled from different European countries (Germany, Austria, Norway) to see by themselves what life in the village is like and to be able to talk to them. The children were too happy with that visit. They felt really loved and they still tell anecdotes.
Our school SOS Hermann Gmeiner opened its doors once more for the children of the village and of the neighbourhood. The kindergarten is attended by 105 students, primary level by 582, secondary level by 119 and 38 students attend the Professional Formation Centre.
For the children of initial level, the most important activities: May 28th a party for children was organized, where parents dramatized some traditional stories; they dress up as clowns and they end with sweets, cake and chocolate, for the children. They were also present at San Martín Square at an interchange with all the schools of Oberá. They enjoyed the artistic shows prepared by the prospective teachers of Physical Education and the Kindergarten Teachers. For the nation’s birthday there is a colonial courtyard, a huge ‘cabildo’ and carts, and the children perform scenes based on history.
The students of primary level had their activities and event, as part of the teaching. The students of sixth year are in charge of the programming and technical operation of the school radio. On the journalist’s day their schoolmates give them a card and a ballpen as a present. In the area of Physical Education, fourth, fifth and sixth year participated of the interschool games. All of them keep visiting the reading corner and they are preparing for the school festival as reading and the national marathon of reading. The students of first year visited Oberá town on an urban bus. First and second level carried out research work using the scientific method, to carry out the science fair on the second term. Some students of the second cycle take part in the school choir in the music area; the birthdays of the students who celebrate it on the first one and all the national dates. The students carry out the presentation and exhibition of works of active history. A group of students participate of the volleyball interschool and in the Geography olimpiads. Students of ninth year visit the old people’s home, taking cards and sweets for the grandparents. Others participate of full day’s meetings at the children, and there they strengthen their values and their interpersonal relations.
The students of secondary level have their centre of activities for the youth: the recreational activities continue, as well as the sports and cultural activities and experiences of living together. A group of students participate of interschool sports meetings; there is also a centre of professional formation and participation in research and fairs, such as sports and cultural events.
Once again we thank you with all our heart for your very generous help, knowing that this makes it possible for the children of our families to grow up within a family, in love, safety and confidence.
Our best wishes and yours sincerely,
Claudia Kurz
Sponsor Adviser
Relevant Countries: Argentina.