It was Sunday, April 20th 2008. The sun at noon did not forgive and on my helmet I could have easily fried an egg. I peeked at the horizon in search of the crossroad that would lead me towards Sonsonate when I suddenly heard that someone called me by my name.Would they be hallucinations by the heatstroke? No, it was the people from the SOS Children’s Village that had came out to receive me on the road with frozen coconuts that returned me to life.  The local press was present and a mobile studio from 95.3 FM “Sky Radio” put a note of color to the 20 kilometers left filling the was with music. They even played the classic Argentinean songs that made me feel a little closer to home and that we sang loudly with the luxury escort that accompanied me: Walter with its bicycle and Cristian in-line roller blades, both from the SOS Youth Center Sonsonate.

After a brief stop over in the commercial center to take care of the press, we continued to the Village, where the children were waiting for our arrival with great anxiety. A great poster welcomed me and after the usual stroll with bike we improvised a talk it in which we shared the details of the trip. After a good lunch with the director of the Village, Samuel Carias, and after a mandatory and refreshing shower, I began my tour around the houses to be with each family for awhile.   

A Village with a rich history

The SOS Children’s Village Sonsonate is the oldest village in El Salvador. It was founded on April, 1972 and it was later transformed into SOS Youth Village, lodging exclusively young adults in the three houses that composed the village. In April of 1990 the children moved to a new SOS Children’s Village located in the outskirts of Sonsonate, on the highway that goes to San Salvador.

The Village is in beautiful estate that has numerous fruit trees that offer a refreshing shade. It has 15 family houses, the house of the director of the Village, as well as the facilities for the administrative area, services and numerous recreational facilities. One of the houses is in center of the city as part of a program of social development (Home in Community). Additionally, an area for sports and recreation was built and it is for the use by the children of the Village and the surrounding community.

Presently, it offers a home and family to 127 children, as well as 11 young adults who participate in the youth programs. These last ones live in houses rented by the institution and are assisted to study and to be inserted in the job market. 30 boys participate in the Scout movement and 18 are in the Soccer Federation.

The old facilities of SOS Children’s Village Sonsonate have become a Social Center SOS that offers day-care service to 175 children and babies, workshops about professional formation for women and develops programs of infantile care as part of the project for the strengthening of local families.

SOS Children’s Village in EL Salvador

The origins of the presence of the institution in the country go back to the beginning of the 70’s, when Franciscan Father Flavián Mucci got in contact with Hermann Gmeiner with the intention to take to practice in El Salvador the philosophy of the SOS Children’s Village. In April of 1972 the SOS Children’s Village in Sonsonate offered to the first children the safety of a family.

The deep social differences between rich and poor, as well as the constant threat of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions left concrete marks in the Salvadorian society. In the 80’s, the population of El Salvador underwent the atrocities of a civil war that cost the life to 75,000 people being the population that lived in the country the most affected. As a result of the long years of turmoil the number of orphaned and abandoned children in the country grew constantly. For that reason, SOS Children’s Village decided to construct more SOS Children’s Villages and other institutions. With the creation of Social Centers SOS where the children are taken care of during the day, SOS Children’s Village made an important contribution for the support of single mothers and numerous families

In October of 1998, hurricane “Mitch” devastated great part of El Salvador, originating floods to the east of the country. Until the end of November of 1998, SOS Children’s Village supplied more than 2,000 families with foods and medicines, within a SOS Emergency Program and 100 children who lost their relatives were taken provisionally to emergency shelters.

In year 2005 the Program SOS Strengthening of Families began, where it looks for children who are in risk of losing the attention of their family can grow in a familiar atmosphere.

At the moment there are in El Salvador five I SOS Children’s Villages (Sonsonate, Santa Ana, Santa Tecla, San Vicente and San Miguel), four SOS Youth Homes, a SOS Center for Professional Formation and six SOS Social Centers.

An exemplary mother SOS

Visiting the homes of the Village, I had the privilege to meet an exemplary mother SOS. Gloria Elizabeth Guardado has been working for the institution for 20 years with a trajectory of dedication and devotion that is remarkable. With pride she told me of the numerous boys who she raised in all this time and who formed part of her immense SOS family.

The exhausting visit ended just in time for dinner. With Samuel and some SOS aunts and mothers we went to a local restaurant where they invited me the best pupusas that I have tasted until now. The regional kitchen shined with all its luxury and I was more than thankful!

After returning to the Village and finalizing the visit, a bonfire was organized where the children of the Village showed their feelings in an endless demonstration of flatteries and gratefulness for my visit. In any case, the thankful one for the affection and love was me!

Collaborations

Everybody’s help is essential so that these boys and girls can grow up with love, respect and security. Would you collaborate with  donations so that this continues being possible? 

If you wish to directly canalize your contributions to SOS Children’s Villages of El Salvador you can do it by means of the following contact:

Lic. Claudia Ardon
Telephones: (503) 22 25 84 11
e-mail: claudia.ardon@aldeasinfantilessos.org.sv 

In advance, THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR CONTRIBUTION!

 

 

Acknowledgements

To Samuel Carías, director of SOS Children’s Villages Sonsonate: for coordinating and making this visit posible.

To all the personnel of the village and the volunteers: for working together so make my visit impeccable.

To all the press: for getting there to cover the instances of my visit, in particular to Malon Beltran and Victor Mendoza.

To Cristian Ventura and Walter Franco: for coming along with me during the las 20 km to the Vilage and for the enthusiasm demonstrated while I visited Sonsonate.

To all the aunts, mothers, boys and girls of SOS Children’s Village Sonsonete: for all the warmth and love that you gave me during the moments we shared.