50th Anniversary of SOS Children’s Villages Canada

Dec 5, 2019 - SOS Children's Villages Canada and SoGerman Team

The charity organization SOS Children’s Villages is celebrating its 50th anniversary in Canada.

In this blog post, we introduce the organization and take a look at the history of the organization,

the work SOS Children’s Villages are doing in Canada and Germany as well as how they do it.

(L-R) German Ambassador Sabine Sparwasser, SOS Canada President and CEO Thomas Bauer, and Austrian Ambassador Dr. Stefan Pehringer

This year marks two very special milestones for SOS Children’s Villages— the 50th anniversary since its founding in Canada and 70 years of SOS Children’s Villages’ work internationally.

In 1949, Hermann Gmeiner, the founder of SOS Children’s Villages, had a simple yet visionary idea: Every child should grow up in a loving family home. Today, 70 years later, this vision has spread around the world and taken root in more than 130 countries. This includes SOS-Kinderdorf Ammersee-Lech (south-west of Munich) which opened its doors in 1958. It was the first of 15 SOS Children’s Villages currently operating across Germany. Together, with another 25 community outreach programs, many thousands of vulnerable children and their families are supported each year. Internationally, with over 550 SOS Children’s Villages and programming focussing on child protection, family support, education and health, SOS Children’s Villages have helped more than 2 million vulnerable children, adults and young people worldwide.

 

SOS Canada is part of this extraordinary legacy, providing the most vulnerable children with the love, care and support they deserve — here in Canada and abroad. From opening the first SOS Children’s Village in Canada in 1983 to helping a generation of children thrive in Ondangwa, Namibia, there is much to celebrate. SOS Children’s Villages Canada’s work has been possible and strengthened over the past 50 years thanks to the commitment and dedication of countless individuals. However, President and CEO of SOS Children’s Villages Thomas Bauer says there is still much work to be done to help the 220 million children who are growing up alone around the world; Bauer also reminds us that together, we have an incredible opportunity to reach even more children through SOS’ model of family-like care in the coming years.

 

Hermann Gmeiner: Every child should grow up in a loving family home.

Did You Know?

Here are five interesting facts about SOS Children’s Villages:

  1. SOS Children’s Villages puts an emphasis on youth participation. Their philosophy is to not only empower young people but to also learn from them.
  2. Where do the donations go? SOS Children’s Villages has a special plan to prevent corruption and to provide transparency.
  3. The strategy of SOS Children’s Villages aims to contribute to Sustainable Development Goals, for example by strengthening families.
  4. What if the child has no family? SOS Children’s Villages provides seven types of alternative care based on the Guidelines for the Alternative Care of Children.
  5. Even though most of the SOS Children’s Villages are in the southern hemisphere, there is also support for children in Canada.

 

 

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