Mother's Day celebrations

"To be a mother is a great blessing but to be an SOS mother is a gift," says an SOS mother at SOS Children's Village Portoviejo in Ecuador. "The responsibility is so big that only a courageous woman can take it."

Here is how Mother's Day is celebrated at the SOS Children's Village Portoviejo, Ecuador

Mother's Day is surely the most important day at SOS Children's Village Portoviejo. As usual, it is celebrated with loads of joy that makes the SOS mothers of the village enjoy the coziest day of the year. Children congratulate their SOS mothers in their houses and several communal activities are carried out to honor these wonderful human creatures.

In this story, however, instead of describing the traditional activities of celebration of Mother's Day in the village, Mercedes Cedia, a senior "SOS co-worker" of the village, portraits a normally hidden fact around this celebration. This is her story:

Mother's Day is certainly a very special day for the community ... the SOS mothers are regarded as great examples of maternal care. They are admired and respected for their committed work and patience in the care of so many children, normally six to ten kids in a family.

For the kids of the village, the celebration has turned out to be twice as important. For them, it is not a common mother's day. Many have lost their biological mothers, others have no contact with them, and a few cannot live with them because their mothers and family are in trouble. In this context, the SOS mother is everything to them, and, of course, she receives all their attention and love during this celebration.

At school the kids prepare special cards for their mothers. Most of the time, they make them with their own hands, while other children, the more imaginative, add on a little flower, often taken from the garden of a neighbor. At the end of the day, though, no child forgets to give a present to his/her mother. They all love them and feel proud of having someone like her when Mother's Day arrives. At school, they shout out Mummy! in front of their school mates, kind of trying to underline that they also have a mother.

Right on Mother's Day, which is commemorated the second week of May in Ecuador, I came across Zoila, an experienced SOS mother at Portoviejo. And as I took the chance to ask her what it feels like to be an SOS mother, she answered: 'I am proud of being a mother, and I feel happy to have the chance to care for innocent, ingenious, and mischievous creatures: my sons and daughters. They are so young that they give me their love with total sincerity. They don't seem to expect anything from me but just an 'I care for you and I love you.' ... I don't have children myself, but these kids really make me feel like a mother: more human, fuller of life. This work is hard, but the recompense of my children is absolutely great'.

So, Happy Mother's Day to every woman in the world!

SOS Children has been working in Ecuador since 1963 and has unique children's villages caring for over 400 children in need. A further three thousand children and their families are supported in the community through SOS Schools and SOS Social Centres.

You can support children in Ecuador by sponsoring a child for Mother's Day