A Future and a Hope:

SOS Children's Villages Philippines

By: JOSE F. SARSOZA JR.

Opportunities beckon. Challenges abound. And in between serendipity, being loaded with these qualities, spreads its wings and perches itself on the abode of children at SOS Children's Villages Philippines, there to abide to give these children a future and a hope of a bright tomorrow.

The children in these villages—a motley group of orphaned, abandoned and homeless children—experience the joys of being members of a regular family. Here, each child performs his or her assigned task, and all learn the import of becoming morally, socially, mentally, spiritually sound, enabling them to face life's realities—and absurdities.

Central to the children's workaday world is their mother, more fondly called, "Mama," who is everything to them. It is Mama who makes them relish the magic of childhood, stamping a band-aid in a bruiseless knee, tutoring a struggling chap with his math homework, giving that little lady a hand as she fixes and adorns her prom dress, encouraging, rebuking, counseling and helping her young wards grow into responsible and concerned members of society.

Bienvenido L. Delgado, national director of SOS Children's Villages Philippines, encapsulates the principles of this institution when he says, "Children who have lost
the care of their parents are robbed of their childhood. They have little time to be
simply children. . . . But with SOS Children's Villages, they again become part of a family and grow up in the most natural way possible."

But the vision of the founder, Hermann Gmeiner, holds. Today, SOS Children's Villages International helps children in 132 countries become part of a family and eventually turn out to be productive members of society. Here in the Philippines, this non-governmental institution has 8 branches with SOS Lipa, Batangas, being the oldest. The rest of the branches are: SOS Mariveles, Bataan, SOS Manila, SOS Iloilo, SOS Cebu, SOS Calbayog, Samar, SOS Tacloban, Leyte, and SOS Davao. Being an NGO, this institution receives donations from stouthearted men and women who believe that homeless, abandoned and orphaned children have the right to live normal lives. Boys and girls in these villages who reach their teen years are separated. The young men have their quarters and the young women have theirs too. Besides the children's mothers, these villages have a staff consisting of social workers, and each village has a director. Visiting SOS Lipa in Barangay Banay-banay, Lipa City, Health & Home staffers had the privilege of meeting the first director, Cesar Vales, now retired but still actively takes part in the village's activities as one of its board members. Johnald Lasin now takes the helm of leadership.

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Jose F. Sarsoza Jr. is editor in chief of Health & Home.