SOS Children’s Villages celebrates the women of the organisation
SANDTON – “It’s not a job to me. I love being a mother to my SOS children and love them as my own”
SOS Children’s Villages has been operating for more than 35 years.
The non-profit organisation assists many children in South Africa who have lost their parents or are on the verge of losing parental care due to poverty, neglect, illnesses and death.
The driving forces behind the organisation are the SOS Children’s Villages mothers. The mothers are the women who have devoted their time to taking care of the children who have lost their families.
Even with the presence of mothers displaying love and affection, there are challenges which both children and the women of the organisation face. Children from broken families usually carry emotional and behavioral issues from past traumatic experiences.
Rebuilding trust can be seen as a major challenge and mothers of the organisation handle the challenge by providing physical and emotional support which ensures a healthy relationship between both parties.
The organisation has 11 programmes across the country and consists of 107 mothers who currently take care of 700 children of all ages.
The head of communications at the organisation Lebo Phaweni said, “Our vision is to see that every child belongs to a family and grows with love, respect and security. This cannot be done without the women at SOS Children’s Villages. The mothers, aunts, social workers and programme directors all contribute to raising the children and youth in our villages, so that one day they may become contributing members of society.
“We celebrate all these SOS women, and South African women who are building a society that loves, develops, advocates for and protects children.”
The organisation celebrates Women’s Month by paying homage to all the mothers who have been rebuilding broken lives and raising children without any parental care. The mothers are referred to as the backbone of the organisation as they continue to show their love and support to the children.
Sarah, one of the mothers of the organisation in Ennerdale said, “It’s not a job to me. I love being a mother to my SOS children and love them as my own. This is a calling for me and the best decision I could have made. Today, I can say that the children I have raised may not be mine in a biological sense but they are mine in every other respect.” Sarah has been rebuilding the lives of children for more than 10 years.
SOS Children’s Villages is an independent non-governmental organisation that has eight Children’s Villages and three social centres across eight provinces.
The organisation’s head office is located in Woodmead.
