Sponsor's update from Santa Ana
11/03/2008
Update from the SOS Children's Village Santa Ana, 2007
Dear Friends:
Receive a warm greeting from El Salvador. It is a pleasure to write to you and tell you more about the life at the SOS Children’s Villages Santa Ana. We hope you enjoy reading and knowing more about the families and their lives at the Village.
It is pleasing to send you this information regarding the events happening in the program and the development of the children and teenagers. To be able to transmit you the compromise of every collaborator, the satisfaction and the mystic with which we all carry out our responsibilities.
Among the priorities for 2007 is to expand the coverage of our attention to children. By the end of august we are hoping to open two new SOS homes. This will allow us to embrace 18 new boy and girls. Currently there are 128 children. In early March 3 teens were moved to the SOS Youth Facility. The preparation for this process lasted 3 months in which we worked with budget management, and the detachment from the family. It has been a success, however. The teenagers have responded with much responsibility and the SOS mothers have been attentive to their performance in the programme.
During the year we have started a campaign to train candidates to SOS aunts. In the first trimester 4 new SOS aunts have joined. In January the mother specialisation process began with 5 candidates, 3 of them already have the responsibility of a family. In three months two SOS aunts will be concluding the preparation process and will be accredited with the highest honor, name them SOS mothers.
As a Village we are participating in a law network about children and teenager’s rights. There are many initiatives that have been carried out to support the prevention of abuse in its many forms in children and teenagers. In this forum we have the participation of government institutions. It has been an interesting experience since as an organisation we feel very proud of the efforts that have been carried out. We must have in account though that most of this is done through your unconditional help.
Last February 15 of our children participated in a Children’s Rights Forum. A document with the criteria of the children was signed. The satisfaction of the SOS children and the quality of the services that are being provided was also evaluated.
Another satisfaction that we have had is related to results in the job that the Village is making. The Village committee is formed by a group of collaborators that participate with the Director and watch out for the family’s welfare and of the community as a whole. This committee has helped the stability and the family contact and also gave more interest to the interest of the children. It was also essential in the decision making processes. Next Month there will be the election of the people that will form the committee for the next two years.
January 6th is also an important date for the Village. On this day we celebrate King’s Day. This activity was organised by fans of FAS, a Salvadorian soccer team, from the city of Santa Ana. These fans get together to provide tickets throughout the season so the boys and girls can go to the stadium and watch their team play. There is a sport in the stadium called “The Magical Corner”, in honor to “Magico” Gonzalez, the best Salvadorian soccer player.
In our program we have many teenagers whose favorite hobby is to play soccer, and have great potential to play. This group of people is promoting sports all across Santa Ana. This has motivated many children of our program.
One of our greatest prides is Silvia. She is 14 years old and she suffers from a rare disease in which she is gradually losing her sight. Despite that, she is an energetic and tenacious girl. She competed in a tournament for blind people across Central America. She won first place in a 400 meter competition and second place in the 500 meter. Even though she suffers from this illness she is always succeeds with the support on her loved ones. She is very brave and determined to overcome any obstacles in life. People like Silvia motivate us to work harder every day.
We want you to know that we are very happy and thankful to you because of your help and support to the Village in Santa Ana. With your help we are able to give all these children a life full of happiness and love among their SOS families. Thank you for making all this possible. God bless you always.
Yours sincerely,
Norma Elizabeth Ayala
Village Director
SOS Children’s Villages El Salvador
Relevant Countries: El Salvador.