SOS Village: 15 minutes

1. Introduction:a. What is it?

b. History Hermain Gmeiner
i. Why? How?
ii. Legacy?
c. Vision
d. Objectives
2. How?
a. 4 Basic Principles
b. Living at SOS
3. Major Projects
a. SOS Childrens Village
b. SOS Youth Homes
c. SOS Hermain Gmeiner Schools
d. SOS Technical Training Centre
e. SOS Rural Support Program
f. SOS Emergency Relief Program
i. 3 cases
4. How to help?
a. Volunteer
b. Donation Online
5. End

Introduction
SOS Children's Villages is an independent, non-governmental international development
organisation which has been working to meet the needs and protect the interests and rights of
children since 1949. It was founded by Hermann Gmeiner in Imst, Austria.
According to the Financial Times, the 2004 turnover of SOS Children's Villages altogether
was US$ 807 million, and it was ranked 33 out of a 100 global NGOs for "global
accountability".[1] Its international umbrella organisation, SOS-Kinderdorf International, was
founded in 1960, after national associations had been established in France, Germany and Italy in
addition to the original Austrian association.
The organization's work focuses on abandoned, destitute and orphaned children requiring familybased child care. Millions of children worldwide are living without their biological families for a variety
of reasons including:

parental separation,

domestic violence and neglect,

they have lost their parents due to war or natural catastrophes,

disease - including, increasingly, AIDS.

Such children are supported to recover from being emotionally traumatised and to avoid real danger
of being isolated, abused, exploited and deprived of their rights.

SOS Children's Villages is currently active in 132 countries and territories. 438 SOS Children's
Villages and 346 SOS Youth Facilities provide more than 60,000 children and youths in need with a
new home. More than 131,000 children/youths attend SOS Kindergartens, SOS Hermann Gmeiner
Schools and SOS Vocational Training Centres. Around 397,000 people benefit from the services
provided by SOS Medical Centres, 115,000 people from services provided by SOS Social Centres.
SOS Children's Villages also helps in situations of crisis and disaster through emergency relief
programmes.

Hermain Gmeiner Why & How?

Having experienced the horrors of war himself as a soldier in Russia, he was then confronted with
the isolation and suffering of the many war orphans and homeless children as a child welfare worker
after the end of the Second World War. In his conviction that help can never be effective as long as
the children have to grow up without a home of their own, he set about implementing his idea
for SOS Children's Villages.
With just 600 Austrian Schillings (approx. 40 US dollars) in his pocket Hermann Gmeiner established
the SOS Children's Village Association in 1949, and in the same year the foundation stone was laid
for the first SOS Children's Village in Imst, in the Austrian state of Tyrol.
In 1960 SOS-Kinderdorf International was established in Strasbourg as the umbrella organization for
SOS Children's Villages with Hermann Gmeiner as the first president. In the following years the
activities of SOS Children's Villages spread beyond Europe. The first non-European SOS Children's
Village to be built in Daegu, Korea in 1963, and SOS Children's Villages on the American and African
continents followed.
Legacy:
By 1985 the result of Hermann Gmeiner's work was a total of 233 SOS Children's Villages in 85
countries. In recognition of his services to orphaned and abandoned children he received numerous
awards and was nominated several times for the Nobel Peace Prize.
Hermann Gmeiner died in Innsbruck in 1986. He is buried at SOS Children's Village Imst.
"Every big thing in world only comes true, when somebody does more than he has to do."
Vision

Every child belongs to a family

Family is the heart of society. Within a family, each child is protected and enjoys a sense of
belonging. Here, children learn values, share responsibilities and form life-long relationships. A
family environment gives them a solid foundation on which to build their lives.

Every child grows with love

Through love and acceptance, emotional wounds are healed and confidence is built. Children learn
to trust and believe in themselves and others. With this self-assurance, each child can recognise and
fulfill his or her potential.

Every child grows with respect

Each child's voice is heard and taken seriously. Children participate in making decisions that affect
their lives and are guided to take a leading role in their own development. The child grows with
respect and dignity as a cherished member of his or her family and society.

Every child grows with security

Children are protected from abuse, neglect and exploitation and are kept safe during natural disaster
and war. Children have shelter, food, health care and education. These are the basic requirements
for the sound development of all children.
Objectives
The idea of the SOS Children's Village is an important milestone in the development of a modern
approach towards the welfare of children.
Deprived of their natural parents, children are placed in an environment which is as close as possible
to a natural home. SOS Children's Villages meet this need by providing them with loving care,
security, higher education and job-training. This allows them to live normal lives and a sense of
confidence is instilled in them that develops their full potential.
The organisation is working towards the goal of one day being able to provide shelter to every
deserving child in the country. This is a realistic target as the organisation admits only those children
who are either complete orphans or, categorised as 'social' orphans. Social orphans are the result of
the mother being remarried or having an incurable disease or mental illness and, as a consequence,
being unable to provide for the children.

4 Basic Principles
A Mother
The Mother is the person with the ultimate responsibility for meeting the child's physical and
emotional needs, as well as providing essential love and care. In the final analysis, the quality of care
provided by the mother determines the success of our efforts. The SOS 'mothers' are selected with
great care. They are usually single women, often widows without their own families and, are
therefore able to commit themselves completely to the responsibility of being in an SOS Village. By
employing such women SOS also contributes towards their rehabilitation and provides them with a
congenial and secure environment to live in.
Brothers and Sisters

The essence of a family is an essential part of an SOS Village. This is the reason why a group of
children of various ages grow up together as brothers and sisters in order to achieve a family
atmosphere. Real brothers and sisters are not separated and are accommodated in the same house.
On reaching adolescence, the boys are shifted to a Youth Home.
A Home
The home is the focal point of the Village. It is in the home that the children find security, a feeling of
'belonging' and having their own place in the world. An SOS home is a self-contained unit and is as
close as possible to a normal home in all respects. Every house consists of a living area, kitchen,
separate bedrooms for girls and boys, and a room for the mother.
A Village
An SOS Village is the community in which the child lives and finds shelter and support from other
members of this extended 'family'. An SOS Village is generally comprised of 15 family homes, a
community hall, administration offices, mosque, director's residence, grocery shop, workshop,
dispensary, essential staff residences and large playgrounds. The village presents a sense of society
and a structure that integrates the mothers, children, social workers and volunteers in an attempt to
provide every opportunity for the child to develop into a happy, confident and productive person.

Living in SOS
Religious instruction is an integral part of the children's routine. Extra-curricular activities are also
organised in which the children enthusiastically participate. Sports and musical events, scouts and
girl guides, games, cooking and art classes are just some of the many diverse activities available to
them. Children are also periodically taken on trips outside the Village and take part in many
community activities with other local children. Since a number of children have experienced difficult
situations in life, coming from neglected and sometimes violent backgrounds, there is psychological
counselling available for them as well.
The organization takes responsibility for the children in its care till they are able to support
themselves. After matriculation both boys and girls receive career counselling. Higher education is
provided to those with merit and, otherwise, technical education is available. The boys remain in our
care till they are capable of earning their livelihood and girls are also encouraged to train for careers.
The marriages of the girls are arranged by the organization.

Major Projects

SOS Children's Villages

The Village facility is the core of our Organization and serves as a home for orphan and
underprivileged children. This is where they make new friends, develop family bonds, and are given
a house which is as close to a natural family as possible.
Each Village consists of 15 house units, and each house unit can accommodate up to 10 children.
The house is run by a mother who looks after the children and serves as a house keeper. Growing
up in such an environment gives children a sense of a belonging and creates family ties where there
might be none.
The first Village facility was established in the city of Lahore in 1977. Since then, SOS Childrens
Villages Pakistan has expanded considerably. The Village facilities can be found in over 12 Districts
of Pakistan covering every major city, including Quetta and are even serving the orphan and
abandoned children of of Azad Jammu and Kashmir.
Dhodial, Faisalabad, Islamabad, Jamshoro, Karachi, Lahore, Multan, Muzaffarabad, Quetta,
Rawalpindi, Sargodha, Sialkot.

SOS Youth Homes

SOS Childrens Villages understands the importance of local customs and traditions. While it is
appropriate for young children both boys and girls to live and grow up together as a family, it is also
important to enable both boys and girls to become more mature and independent, especially during
adolescence.
When our children reach the age of 11- 12, Boys are sent to a specially built Youth Home. Creating
distance and separating the boys and girls at this stage is important, both, for cultural reasons as
well as for their healthy mental development. The Youth homes are an essential part of SOS and are
maintained by a Youth Home director.
In the Youth Home, the boys start to live more independently, like brothers among one another. New
bonds are built where the older boys mentor and even tutor the younger boys, helping them in their
studies and other issues. The boys also understand that soon they would be grown-ups, with a good
education and a job and that they would eventually go into the world to live on their own and build
their future.
Constant career counselling, sports events and other extracurricular activities help towards the
development of these boys into young successful adults. Even though a distance is created when the
boys are moved to a Youth Home, they are allowed to regularly visit the Childrens Village to meet
their siblings and mothers.
Currently, the Youth Home facility is functional in the following cities with plans for further expansion.

Abbottabad

Faisalabad

Karachi

Lahore

Multan

Quetta

Rawalpindi

Sargodha

SOS Hermann Gmeiner Schools

We believe that a good education is the greatest gift that we can give to our children and for this
purpose we establish schools in conjunction with every SOS Children's Village. These schools
provide quality education, not only to our children but also to underprivileged children from the local
community.
These children far outnumber the SOS children and thus these schools serve a dual purpose- they
enable our children to integrate with the local community as well as contribute to the vital sector of
education. List of SOS Hermann Gmeiner Schools in different cities across Pakistan
Urban: Lahore, Dhodial, Karachi, Rawalpindi, Faisalabad, Sargodha, Multan, Sialkot, Islamabad,
Muzaffarabad, Rawalakot
Rural: Kasur, Dhoop Sari, Chanda Singh Wala, Kamal Pura, Rohe Wala, Kharaper Hither

SOS Technical Training Institutes

The SOS Technical Training Institutes provide deserving boys and girls in the community with the
opportunity to engage in vocational training in a field of their choice. Demand driven technical
education and vocational training is provided by experienced instructors, using state of the art
teaching and practicing equipment and laboratories. High rates of unemployment amongst the youth
put them at a great risk of self-destruction, violence and crime. SOS Technical Training Institutes
equip and train hundreds of disadvantaged children every year in order to help them break the cycle
of poverty, earn a decent and dignified living and develop themselves into productive members of the

society. A reliable and honest source of income helps build new lives and strengthen families and
contribute towards overall prosperity and stability of the country.
There are 4 Technical/Vocational training institutes across the country:

Karachi

Abbottabad

Rawalpindi - Technical Training Institute

Rawalpindi - Automobile Technical Training Institute

Karachi
A joint project with INFAQ foundation established in the year 2000, where various 4-6 month courses
comprising of 20% theory and 80% practical training are offered. All courses at the institute are
approved by the Sindh Board of Technical Education & Trade Testing Board. Training is provided for
trades such as, automobile mechanics, general electrician, motorcycle mechanic, Diploma in IT and
even an English language course.

SOS Rural Support Program

SOS Childrens Villages (CVs) Pakistan initiated its work in Kasur Districts rural villages in 1990 for
rehabilitation of flood victims which created a great impression on the local community.
The project area is situated in Kasur District, Punjab. Kasur has been identified as an impoverished
area, desperately in need of rural uplift and support as a result of number of factors including:
continuous flood devastation, unhygienic water supply resulting from the disposal of the polluted
tannery waste, lack of medical and educational facilities, and the generally low income population.
Education
SOS CVs Pakistan continued its Rural Support Program (RSP) in Kasur with a three year project in
collaboration with UNDP under which 25 home based schools were initiated and 1000 students were
enrolled. Subsequently Home Schools closed down and separate schools were supported through
various donors in the later years:

Pakistan Governments Trust for Voluntary Organization (TVO) supported 10 of the 25

schools for one year. (1993-1994)

SOS Childrens Villages Pakistan supported 4 schools with donation from general public.
(1995-1999)
Action Aid gave funds for 5 schools. (1998-2004)
Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund (PPAF) grant fund for a project also included education
therefore improveing the quality of schools.(2005-2014)
Samsung gave 30% of the funds for the construction of Samsung Grammar School in 2010

SOS RSP work in collaboration with other organizations and local Pakistanis, further
collected funds for construction of school buildings

SOS RSP linked Association for Development project for community school of Village
Chabbar in Union Council (UC) Gohar Ather. (2013)

Currently five schools are owned and managed by SOS Childrens Villages Pakistan RSP.

Volunteer