November 21, 2011: Now in its sixty-second year, SOS Children’s Villages and SOS supporters continue to give precious gifts to thousands of children in need around the world. What are these invaluable gifts? Beyond a warm home, which is the foundation for a healthy life, these gifts are love, health, education, and a bright future.

Read below about how these gifts have turned around the lives of children whose unique qualities and talents were nurtured once they entered the embrace of SOS Children’s Villages. Your gift this holiday season can help us do more for special children like these.

Arnol and Karen Find a Loving Home

Arnol and Karen found a loving home at SOS-Juliaca in Peru

When his mother died a few months after Arnol was born, he was separated from his older sister. Arnol was taken to the Peruvian countryside to live with his grandmother, while Karen went into town to live with an aunt. Karen’s situation was especially dire. Despite good intentions, her aunt was unable to feed her well and she developed chronic malnutrition. Fortunately, her physician knew about SOS Children’s Village in Juliaca, in southeastern Peru. Both siblings were rescued by SOS-Juliaca, where they found a warm place in the heart of SOS Mother Norma and their three new SOS siblings. Karen gained weight and both children are now thriving.

Giving Baymone a Healthy Future With Her Own Family

Many malnourished children receive a nutritious diet at the SOS Malnutrition Intervention Program in Laos

Seventeen-month-old Baymone, the daughter of poor farmers in Laos, was severely malnourished when her distraught mother brought her to SOS’s Malnutrition Intervention Program at the SOS Children’s Village in Savannakhet.  Her mother’s decision to make the 125-mile trip to SOS saved Baymone’s life. The program is designed to support the health of babies like Bayome while keeping them with their families. After reaching normal weight and height, the children return home. At SOS, fifteen-pound Baymone received medication, vitamins, vaccines, and a healthy diet. After a month she gained weight and began playing with the other kids. In two months she’ll return to her relieved family.  

Lighting Up Abida’s Life With Education

Abida receives a scholarship from SOS which enables her to continue her education

Forced to drop out of school in sixth grade because her parents could no longer afford the fees, today shy Abida, an eighth grader in Bangladesh, dreams of becoming a doctor. Why might her dream come true? Thanks to an SOS scholarship, Abida is now enrolled at the SOS Children’s Villages school in Bogra. The teenager’s life changed when her mother met an SOS staff member who told her about the scholarship opportunity for needy children.  Today Abida manages the family budget, keeps a record of income and expenditures, and pays the grocery bills. “I can’t believe this smart young girl is my timid Abida,” says her mother. “I am so happy she’s back in school.”

Charles’s Bright Future

Twenty-six year old Charles joined SOS Children's Villages Asiakwa in 1994

“I don't know where I would have ended up without SOS Children's Villages,” says Charles, who will soon graduate from medical school at the University of Ghana. Charles arrived at SOS’s Children’s Village when he was nine. He and his two brothers had become orphans after the death of their father. Forced to live hand-to-mouth for a year before coming to SOS-Asiakwa, 60 miles northeast of Ghana’s capital, Accra, Charles and his brothers found two great treasures in the SOS Children’s Village—freedom to play and the love of an SOS mother. But SOS also gave Charles a bright future. From SOS Mother Elizabeth, he learned why studying was important. After excelling in school he entered the SOS Hermann Gmeiner International College in Tema, where he discovered a love for biology and the desire to be a doctor.