Sponsor's update from Montevideo, Uruguay

Child sponsorship update from the SOS Children's Village Montevideo, Uruguay from December 2007

Dear sponsors,

Greetings from Uruguay! Yet another eventful year full of challenges has gone by. It marked the point of take-off and strengthening of the Village Committee, made up by four mothers, who in the line of their task of co-direction of the village, participated in establishing the planning and the follow-up for the year’s activities, as well as in the taking of decisions concerning current issues of the village’s life.

The village lies in a suburban, predominantly rural environment, which the deteriorating socio-economic conditions have converted into a difficult and complex area. Therefore most of the activities this year were aimed at solving the problem of the social insertion of our youngsters, once they started their pre-independence process. This poses a challenge for each family, as they search for possible alternatives. We have 13 families in the village and one living in a nearby neighborhood, where youths go to live as an intermediate step between leaving the village altogether and living independently. This is a pilot project and may in future become a new option for our older teenagers, where we can accompany them on their pre-independence process, which each has to master on his/her own, while still needing supervision.

We’ve taken in 12 new children, who were all in sorry need of everything, from education, stimulation and acquiring daily living habits, to having limits set to them and in the few months they’ve been with us, they experienced such an incredible change, that it makes one marvel once more, at what difference growing up in a protected environment, receiving love and dedication and being integral part of a family, makes.

Activities in the community in Montevideo, Uruguay

There were organised activities like the choir and the football team, coached by a young man from the neighborhood, who also organized weekly recreative events, combining sport with informal chats, educating through the upholding of values as mutual respect, non-violence, healthy competition, etc.

As to the children’s scholastic performance, those in elementary school have done well and the problem remains being the results of those in high school, where we continue to encounter difficulties in keeping them motivated, which we try to counteract with more differentiated extra coaching.

The former Social Centre has been substituted by Community Programmes, giving the whole project a new orientation. A larger number of families are integrated into the now 3 Community Centres, attending 196 children in all, strengthening local families to prevent child abandonment, minding the children, providing meals and health care. Groups of mothers assist us in each centre and we cooperate closely with the community and a government project to improve living conditions of families dwelling in shantytowns, thus still expanding the outreach of the programs. The Health Ministry has recognized our Polyclinic as a referential service in the area, augmenting the working hours of the professionals assigned there and all these joint efforts and networking with other organisations have made us a reference in the community.

At this point we’d like to express to you our sincere thanks for the trust you are placing in us and our work here, as well as for your constant and generous support. In the name of the children and the staff in the village, we wish you a Merry Christmas, much happiness and all the best for the New Year!

Alvaro Vignola, Village Director and Andrea Heimann, Sponsorship Coordinator