Sponsor's update from Beirut, Lebanon

Child sponsorship update from the SOS Children's Village Sferai (Beirut), Lebanon from Winter 2008

Dear Friend,

When writing this report, we mainly focus on some achievements at SOS Children’s Village - Sferai , over the last twelve months. As for our children, they are so enthusiastic when preparing the personal greeting card to their caring sponsors.

Currently 52 children live in 9 SOS Family Houses. During the year 2008, 8 children have been admitted among them two families of 2 and 3 siblings. They now feel secure in their SOS home and happy to be reunited. At the end of the school year in June, few of our children didn’t have a good school result. During the summer, they had a special reinforcement course to reach the required level. The SOS educational collaborator helped them to prepare the second chance exam they had to sit at the end of September. They made a good effort and all of them succeeded in the September exam and passed their class. The school success for the academic year 2007 - 2008 is 96.5%. For the current academic year, 4 children are attending a school for special needs.

At the SOS Youth Houses, there are 14 adolescents who are continuing their academic or technical studies. The SOS Youth Leader gives them a close and individual guidance as well as continuous educational support. 1 SOS Youth who is now semi-independent has succeeded in his official exam. He is attending his first year university in bio-chemistry. One former youth has obtained his university diploma in business administration and he has a good job as first assistant in the finance department of a well-known company. Our former youths are grateful to the moral support and financial aid they continue to receive to be able to finish their studies.

10 SOS Lebanese Youth, among them 4 youths from SOS Children’s Village - Sferai, were invited to visit Ireland by the Art for Peace Foundation whose mission is to build cultural bridges among youth from different countries. This youth program focuses on promoting team building, acceptance, and encouragement of peer support as well as conflict resolution. The organisers were greatly impressed by the SOS Youth behaviour and their respect for others in spite of their religious and cultural divergence.

Working in partnership in the community

The strenuous unstable situation that has been prevailing in the country for few years now has led us to enlarge the scope of our work, especially where the Family Strengthening Program (FSP) is being applied. We are now active all over Lebanon. In North Lebanon, where SOS Children’s Village is located, we support actually 40 families. These families face different kinds of difficulties that can potentially lead to child abandonment. The FSP program offers financial and social support to meet their most urgent needs, while an incoming generating project is developed within each family to lead it towards economic independence and social integration. Preventing child abandonment is one of our major priorities.

Summer 2008 was a peaceful time and our children were so happy to participate in various activities. An interesting summer festivity was organized in the village with neighborhood children. The participants were divided into four teams. Several activities were planned but the most interesting one was the treasure hunt. The children had to reach several checkpoints that were indicated by answering correctly to general questions on the village history as well as native well-known people. Riddles and interaction games were also part of the game. The rally-paper coordinator was impressed by the positive attitude, the good sharing and the fair spirit of the SOS teams that prevailed during this competition. At the end of the rally-paper, the SOS winning team was greatly applauded when it asked to share the treasure with all the children.

Children's events in Lebanon

“Together we enjoy a special SOS day” is the theme of an open-day that took place on June 28 at SOS Children’s Village - Ksarnaba, in the Bekaa region. The four SOS Children’s Villages in Lebanon as well as the seven SOS Youth Homes participated to this event. 500 children and collaborators spent the day together and the program was very interesting :
- In the children’s face painting room, a make up artist welcomed our little children who where so happy to become fairies, princesses, batman, butterflies, ….
- Our children, 10 to 14 years old, visited the well known historical temples in the city of Baalbeck located at 10 kms from the SOS Village. They were interested to know more about the beliefs and way of life of Romans. They were impressed by the magnificence of this most visited tourist place
- Each SOS Village has its own Basket Ball team. They participated to the Basket Ball match attended by a large audience. Each group encouraged its own village. The performance was greatly professional. Congratulations to the winner : the SOS Children’s Village - Sferai team

Organising such a special day for our children is essential. They do experience the solidarity of the SOS family and these family ties have a significant effect on their personal development. When returning home, one could notice the signs of happiness on every smiling face.

It is time to end the report. Kindly receive warm and joyful greetings from SOS Children’s Village - Sferai and our grateful feelings for your caring help during this Holy Season and all year through.