Child sponsorship update from Poa

19 Nov 2008

This was the update sent September 2007 for child sponsors and now for general release

Dear Sponsors,

Our children, SOS mothers, and co-workers thank you from the bottom of heart for your support and care. SOS Children’s Village of Poá is very pleased to share with you some moments which happened this year.

Currently we assist 144 children in 13 SOS houses in the village and 2 SOS houses placed in a nearby neighbourhood, plus 314 children assisted by our Community and Family Strengthening Programme thought the SOS Social Centres, aiming to assist families at risk and offering to their children psychosocial and pedagogic extracurricular activities. Assistance to these families is done guiding them to resources available in the region and socio-educative meetings.

January is one of the summer school vacation months for our children and teenagers. During this time many of our children went to spend vacation together with their biological family, others travelled together with their SOS mother and siblings, going to the beach or other cities.

Our daily routine came back to normal in February when school started. Besides school, children take part in many extracurricular activities. Also through a partnership with another NGO we could enrol some teenagers in courses which prepare them to the job market, courses like cabinet-making and tapestry.

We had some visitors who could see the day-by-day of our children, giving to children and visitors quite outgoing moments. One of these visits was done by an Italian magazine, which came to Brazil to take photos and do a report about children from SOS Children’s Village. Another visitor was an Australian photographer who came to capture through pictures the everyday of our children and SOS mothers, as well as children assisted by the SOS Social Centre.

Events to delight the children

Two English pilots visited our village: Jennifer Murray and Colin Bodill who were crossing the planet from North to South with the Polar First project, taking advantage of this crossing they are presenting SOS Children’s Village work too. As they arrived here by helicopter, children were delighted to see it so close. Also ARD German TV stopped by to make a documentary, interviewing children and SOS mothers and shooting the entire village. In April we celebrated Easter with a beautiful ecumenical service and distribution of Easter-eggs to the children.

Within this same month we welcomed our new director Mr Aguiar and his family. Mr Aguiar showed us his proposals and ideas taking into consideration the organisation’s proposals and aims, as well as the new National Plan on Community and Family Based Care, a rereading of the Children and Adolescents Act - ECA (Estatuto da Criança e do Adolescente do Brasil), understanding that “every child needs to live together with her/his biological family”.

Mother’s Day was celebrated differently this year, of course with SOS family had its own private celebration, but our SOS mothers could also participate in TV talk-shows and newspaper articles to show the beautiful work done. In June, celebrating Saint Anthony, Saint John, and Saint Peter’s day, SOS Village, Social Centre and community centres had the June Parties with typical food and dance, tournaments with distribution of giveaways, bingos, and raffles.

Supporting the community

As August is the month in which we celebrate Father’s Day in Brazil, SOS Social Centre worked the male figure in the life of each child, focusing on love, care and affect showing the importance of bloody bonds. This work was done by the educators taking into consideration those children who do not live together with their fathers.

Children from social centre and community centres gathered together to do activities during Childhood Day. There were lots of games, snacks and tidbits. Also within this month Town Councillor’s Chamber of Poá paid homage to us for the wonderful work we have been doing for children.

Talking about SOS Social centre, it was re-opened in January as part of our Community and Family Strengthening Programme. To be able to assist the demand, we have been in touch with community leaders who point out to us the most vulnerable regions and ways to get into there. Also we would highlight that at the very moment we are gathering efforts to expand the number of beneficiaries through partnerships that could support us with divulgation and leading to make us be known by other advocacy and assistance organisations for children.

Our activities offer cognitive and sensorimotor development for children between 4 and 6 years old, as well as activities aiming the socialization and basic notions on rights and duties (citizenship), and leisure (games, plays, films, music, dancing) addressed to children up to 6 years old. Community Centres, which comprise partnership with neighbourhood associations, have the same proposal of assistance for children.

Nowadays we have two community centres where this first semester had their infrastructure expanded and an increasement of the number of volunteers who are profoundly touched by our cause and since than have been offering their help, awakening children interest in reading and text interpretation. Also we have started two new workshops on ballet and capoeira in one of the two Community Centres, which has called attention of the local community.
Between August and December we aim to strength our external position through our presence as elected delegates in Children’s and Adolescents’ Rights Council and Social Assistance Council, therefore we are able to take part in the conferences and meetings of both councils. Some of our teenagers got a job through professional learning programme held by JUCIP (another NGO).

School year ends in the middle of December, time to do all arrangements for Christmas and soon after summer vacation.

This way SOS Children’s Village Poá has been performing its role as an organisation integrated into the civil society and through its Community and Family Strengthening Programme aims to act on the children abandonment prevention, offering a range of services and actions which goal is make their beneficiaries play as a protagonist exercising their citizenship and promoting social justice.

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a Prosperous 2008!

Rogério Lima de Aguiar, Village Director & Josiane P. de Oliveira, Social Centre Director & Elena Soboleff, Sponsorship Department

Relevant Countries: Brazil.