SOS Children's Villages in Asia Offer Respite for Japanese Families 

South Korean SOS Children's Village
There are three SOS Children's Villages in South Korea.  
March 23, 2011: The SOS Children's Villages network in Asia has offered sanctuary to children and families affected by Japan’s earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear power leak. According to Mrs. Junko Otani, executive director of Children’s Village Fukuoka, about a hundred families can be housed in SOS Children’s Villages in China, South Korea, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam.

These sister villages in neighboring Asian countries could accommodate families in need of safe homes and food for about three months. The main target group for this temporary respite from Japan’s multifaceted disaster would be single mothers with children as well as large families.

Children’s Village Fukuoka, a village associated with SOS Children's Villages, will be consulting with Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare and discuss the details of this offer. Ministry staff members have been visiting children’s centers in the disaster areas. According to Mrs. Otani, they are starting to systematically assess the situation of affected children.

SOS has extensive experience providing temporary haven for victims of earthquakes, tsunamis, radiation leaks and other disasters. Since the 1986 nuclear spill at Chernobyl, SOS has helped several thousand children and their families at the Village in Borovljany near Minsk.

Opening its Doors to Families in Need

Philippines SOS Children's Village
A garden path in the Davao SOS Children's Village in the Philippines.
The Children’s Village Fukuoka will be caring for disaster-affected children until their family situation has been clarified. The village will offer a long-term home for children without relatives to care for them.

At the same time, Children’s Village Fukuoka will work with the National Association of Foster Parents to help increase the number of Japanese foster families and other families willing to provide needy children with temporary care.

In Japan, children in foster care or other family-based settings make up only about ten percent of children in alternative care. The majority of orphaned or abandoned children live in large residential institutions.

Thailand SOS Children's Village
The SOS Children's Village in Phuket is just one of five SOS Villages in Thailand.
Helping Child Victims

You can help children who have been victimized by this tragedy and others around the world. Please make a donation to SOS Children's Villages now.