Child sponsorship update from Imzouren
28/07/2007
Update from Summer 2007
Dear Friends,
The Village of SOS children of Imzouren welcomes 94 children of which 45 girls and 49 boys. These children, aged from 1 to 14 years, live within 13 domestic houses where they are surrounded with the love and the affection of their SOS mothers and the domestic staff.
During the 1st 2007 semester there were neither new admissions nor departures toward youngsters homes. However, a girl has been sent to Casablanca for a medical follow-up and 2 small girls originally from El Jadida will be admitted in our Village but placed temporarily in the village of El Jadida until they can support the long journey towards Imzouren.
Nowadays, there are 27 children at the elementary level and 59 pupils in the SOS Hermann Gmeiner School. Eight, that are still babies, benefit from different activities suiting their ages, either at the level of the the village “mini crèche” or in their houses.
A particular interest is devoted to the education of our children to help those that show difficulties to pass. In the same way, a support is assured to those that have some school difficulties. These efforts allowed our children to get good marks and at the end of the 1st semester a ceremony is been organized to reward and offer gifts to the firsts of every class.
Eight pre-teens, who are in the 6th year, spent the 1st semester holiday in the orphanage of Nador and those of the spring holiday with families of Aïn Louh in the middle Atlas. These programs go in the setting of the pre-teen preparation to autonomy and social integration.
In the objective of maintaining children ties with their origins, we organized during the first school holiday a visit to Lalla Hasna Orphanage of Casablanca for the children originally from this city and another during spring holiday to orphanages of Agadir, Ouarzazate and Taroudant to the intention of children originally from these cities.
As usual, we welcomed during the occasion of the sheep feast youngsters living outside the Village, sharing with us, henceforth, the joy of this big feast.
April 27 was an unforgettable day that will remain engraved in the memory of our village : we celebrated the marriage of Jamila that grew in the village of Imzouren and that lives in Dar Bouazza SOS place for people with specific needs where the ceremony took place, in presence of her small SOS family and a delegation of our Village. Jamila was very happy and our joy, to see her take the path toward a new domestic life, was great
Dear godmother, dear godfather, we renew our sincere acknowledgments for the support and help that you bring to our children so that they can make their future safe with confidence.
Your sincerely,
M. EL HANI
Director of SOS Children’s Village
Of Imzouren
Sponsors update from Ait Ourir
Update from the SOS Children's Village Ait-Ourir
Dear sponsors,
It is with the greatest pleasure that we write you today in order to give you news of the life of S.O.S Children within our Village of Aït Ourir.
The latter, live with the song of the birds and at present accommodates 101 children and 5 preadolescents. We also have under our responsibility 24 young people, living in the area of Marrakech and the South of Morocco, who grew in one of the first three S.O.S Children’s Villages of Morocco.
Our children profit from educational activities favouring their entertainment and personal development.
This year the S.O.S Mothers ensured themselves the framing of these activities with the children and worked out various projects to their profit: The project "Health" aims at sensitizing the children to the importance of the prevention, healthy and balanced food, sanitation and existence of transmitted sexuality diseases.
Throughout the project "rules of life and welcoming families ", children think of the values: of respect, of courtesy and could put into concrete form a work of discovered social realities, thanks to stays within welcoming families during the school holidays.
The project "Club of Expression" makes it possible for children to express themselves by the means of theatre plays, songs, dances and all forms of oral or body expression.
Corresponding to these projects directed by SOS mothers under the framework of their educational projects, we continue to propose to the children other activities: martial arts, choreography, music, plastic arts... These activities are framed by monitors during the children’s spare time.
During the school holidays, certain children had the opportunity to acquaint new friends during vacation camp which was organized by the Village in collaboration with an Association of the city of Marrakech. The others remained at the Village, but our educational staff proposed a program on social integration and they could within this framework have activities outside.
During this semester, the Village lived various events. We organized a "Good Practices” workshop under the framework of the process of the establishment of the Handbook of the Villages of SOS children. We received two groups of directors of villages of the French-speaking countries of Africa who were in formation in Marrakech on April and December.
We celebrated the worldwide Day of the Woman, A celebration to pay homage to all women in the world and particularly to the S.O.S Mother of the village who was retired this year after devoting so many years to her children. An orchestra of the town of Aït Ourir celebrated this departure in music.
The pre-adolescents of the village organized a spectacle and a day animated for the occasion of the feast of the employment Day. They valorise the work completed in the various workshops during the year. It is also a manner to express their recognition to the S.O.S Mothers who do all what they can so that the smiles always light the faces of children.
At present, we prepare to ensure a good end of the school year and we mobilised ourselves to help the children to multiply their efforts to obtain satisfactory results. We also hope to organise vacation camps for the children and the families of the Village. We foresee one week of personal development for the S.O.S Mothers which will take place in the town of ESSAOUIRA during the annual festival of the Gnaouie music.
Last but not least, allow me to tell you the story of our young Anouar (16 years old) who took part in a vacation camp with others preadolescents of the area. On his return to the village, he showed me the addresses, the telephone numbers which he collected from his new friends. He did not cease speaking about his good reminiscences and asked me whether he could follow a formation on the animation of the vacation camps. I answered him that it was possible and I encouraged him to keep on in this way.
I address to you my immense thanking for your kindness and your assistance. It is thanks to your engagement and your solidarity that we say to Anouar and all the others that ALL IS POSSIBLE!
Ali EL HANI
Director of SOS Children’s Village
Aït Ourir
Morocco
Child sponsorship update from Dar Bouazza
Update from May 2007
Dear Sponsors,
SOS Children’ s Village of Dar Bouazza has started this year with new needs and new objectives, without neglecting the ordinary and necessary tasks which guarantee a serene life within the family cells and the village. Thus, in accordance with the socio-educational space that they live in, the children at Dar Bouazza village have experienced a life that is rich in activities during this first semester of 2007.
This year started with the celebration of the religious feast “Aid Al Adha”, which coincided with the Christians’ New Year. « Aid Al Adha » is one of the most important feasts of the Moslem world, and is amply expected by all the children and families of the Village. After the sheep was bought, and the preparations completed, the day started off with the prayers of the « Aid », and the ritual of the sacrifice of the sheep, the families organised a big meal and exchanged visits with the neighbours to wish each other a happy feast.
Then, there was another occasion for rejoicing that is very dear to the children, and that is “Achoura”. This year, the company DHL, faithful to its tradition, organised a great reception for the children, but unlike last year, when the reception was held in the village, the children were taken by bus to a vacation centre. Each child received a gift and spent a wonderful day laughing, singing dancing and playing games.
During this first semester, and within the framework of its strategy of opening up to the environment, Dar Bouazza SOS Children’s Village organised the circumcision of 40 boys from the poor families of the immediate neighbourhood. Gifts were given to the families who benefited from the operation.
Another important event took place during this period, and consisted in the participation of three children from the village in a TV movie, which was produced by the second Moroccan TV channel, 2M. These children were very happy to show their artistic talents and to approach the far away world of showbiz and the cinema. They were very proud to attend the preview of the TV movie in a large movie theatre in Casablanca, in the presence of actors and journalists. The day when the movie was shown on TV, all the families gathered in front of the television to admire their young prodigies.
On another level, the optional activities for the development of our children’s potentialities were continued during the first semester of 2007: swimming, football, music, plastic arts, computer, horticulture This year, the educational team of the Village tried to improve the childcare programme for the children with a handicap with the collaboration of specialists. We also gave a lot of importance to collective preparation programmes for the preadolescents and the adolescents’ individual programmes to better help them achieve autonomy.
Keeping ties with the origins of the children is also of great importance in the strategy of Dar Bouazza SOS Children’s Village. During this first semester, we have organised visits for the biological parents of the children in the Village, and also visits to the places of origin where the children had lived before they were admitted in the Village (Al Amal Centre in Fes, Lalla Meriem Orphanage in Rabat, Charity House in Tit Mellil Casablanca.), so as to maintain links with their origins and their history.
On the health side, it is worth mentioning that vigilance is always obligatory in the family houses. Thus, we have continued to work in collaboration with specialists in psychomotor, speech and psychiatric therapy within the framework of the follow-up of the children with difficulties. We would like to draw attention to the fact that our main difficulty this semester has been to take charge of two cases: a boy who suffers from renal insufficiency, and a deaf-and-dumb girl, both cases necessitating a special follow-up, long and especially costly, due both to the frequent visits to the specialists and medical laboratories, and specialised centres. Add to all this, the cost and quantity of medicines they are bound to.
In order to ensure an adequate accompaniment to the children in the village, in-service training sessions have been organised for our co-workers, in areas such as artistic activities, computer, and French language improvement. The Village also received the applicants to the function of SOS Mothers for the fifth SOS Children’s Village in Morocco due to open in Agadir in 2008.
We thank you for your support and encouragement. All the children in our Village are grateful to you for your admirable efforts, and wish you a good continuation in your laudable action.
Thanks to all of you.
Mustafa YACOUTI
Director Of SOS Children’s Dar Bouazza
Relevant Countries: Morocco.