Since 1949, 100,000 lone children have found love at SOS Children

Since 1949, 100,000 lone children have found love at SOS Children - children just like Serge, who was was just five years old when he came to the SOS Children's Village Abobo in the Côte d'Ivoire. His mother was unmarried and he had never even met his father. Serge and his mother lived in extremely poor conditions: they were homeless and lived hand to mouth until the day Serge was found on a market and wound up in the SOS Children's Village. That was in 1975. Today, at the age of 39, he is one of Côte d'Ivoire's most successful caterers.

When Serge speaks of the SOS Children's Village, his eyes light up: “I found it easy to integrate into SOS Children's Village Abobo. We were all brothers and sisters and knew each other. We were happy to live at the SOS Children's Village. The SOS Children's Village was beautiful and clean. It had a small swimming pool, swings and a football field where we used to play. I was always happy when there were no classes because, to tell you the truth, school was not really my thing," he says, smiling. He preferred to do other things in his spare time, such as building toy cars, doing macramé (a form of making textiles by tying knots) and cooking. Not to mention sport: Serge loved table tennis. He even took part in the national championship, but he was knocked out in the first round.

“I had two SOS mothers before moving to the youth house: Mama Béby and Mama Zaratou. They were dedicated to their work and took care of us as if we were their own children. I was often ill, but Mama Béby never complained. She took care of me as if she were my real mother. Thanks to her care and her attention, I got used to life at the SOS Children's Village very quickly”. Serge also had contact with his biological mother, who would visit him at the SOS Children's Village once a year.

Serge remembers his family house: "Our house was very well equipped with nice furniture, a TV and a large radio. The family houses were built differently back then. They were homes with partitioned areas instead of rooms. Ten children lived in a home with ten areas and so each child had his or her own space and privacy. Every night, before she went to bed, our SOS mother would check that all the children were sleeping and that there were no problems."

Serge said that the children got on well, they played and ate together. They did of course have the odd little quarrel, which tended to be because one had eaten some meat without giving any to the others or "something that there was no way we could tell our SOS mother or the village director," he says with a wink. Serge says that the best moments of his childhood were during the festivities at Christmas, New Year and Easter because: "we were given clothes, shoes, presents and food as presents".

Serge lived in the youth house for the three years that he studied catering. He left the youth house a year after completing his training, when he got his first job. "When I left the village, I realised that it was time for me to stand on my own two feet. It was not easy because I suddenly felt all alone. I got a small flat where I lived without my SOS mother, brothers and sisters, which meant I was sometimes sad”, he says. It was not an easy time for him and there were disappointments and failed attempts. "I was a bit irresponsible of me not to take work seriously. That was why I lost my job." Nevertheless, the village director and his former SOS mother supported and encouraged him. He learnt to be realistic and think positively. The village director gave him a small amount of money so he was able to rent a little house, where he lived for two years. "I found a new job six months after I lost the first one. My first salary was 90,000 FRS CFA (around 140 euros). It seemed like millions to me. I did not spend it on leisure activities or entertainment because I had an objective. I wanted to be a businessman and I knew that I would need money to get things up and running." Serge started to save part of his salary each month and opened his first restaurant in 1998. "But the business folded after two years because I didn't manage things well and I started again a year later,” he says. This time things went much better. Within five years, Serge had managed to open four restaurants in the town of Abidjan and he now employs 20 people. “Cooking has been a passion of mine for a long time. When I was a younger I watched my mother, I looked to see which ingredients she used to make the best soup I ever ate,” he said, smiling.

Serge often visits the Village director, the SOS mothers, the SOS aunts (family helpers) and his younger brothers and sisters. "When I need to have a really frank discussion with someone, I go to the village because that's where my parents and friends are," he says. He also regularly visits his former SOS mother who now lives in Agboville, about 100km from Abidjan and she visits him when she is in Abidjan as well. Serge’s children love her and call her “grandmother”. Serge is proud that he grew up at an SOS Children's Village, even though he feels it is a pity that the villages are now smaller and there is less space for the children to play. "Life in the village allowed us to build up new friendships and to strengthen those which existed already. In the village everybody knows everybody. We get on very well irrespective of sex, backgrounds or religion. We are all brothers and sisters,” he says. “I think it is a privilege for a child to grow up in an SOS Children's Village because it is a very good place for children. They are well cared for, they are well educated and they have all the love and affection that they need for their development. That is why they tend to succeed in life," he adds.

Serge believes that the SOS Children's Village played a very important role in helping him to become a successful businessman and a good father. "The SOS Children's Village enabled me to go to school and did everything to support me in having a successful life," he said. Through his experience at the SOS Children's Village, he has realised the importance of love, responsibility and sharing things. "I learnt not to be beaten by fate, but to work hard to prove that everybody can find a good place in the society, regardless of his or her past and social status", he says with conviction. "I've got the SOS Children's Village to thank for my happy childhood. The relationships I had were so strong that I still miss the SOS mothers, my brothers and sisters, the village director, the educational staff and all the others. I often think of the wonderful moments I spent at the village. I am also thankful to my biological mother for enabling me to have a good education and to become the person I am today. I had everything I needed and I also leant social skills which are important in life. Even if we were slightly overprotected at the SOS Children's Village and I wasn't that prepared for work, I found my way in life. I can now proudly say that everything is going well, even if there are the odd problems".

Serge is married, has two daughters and is about to have a baby son. "I always encourage my children to study hard and stress the importance of having the right attitude towards work. I also remind them how lucky they are to have their parents to care of them”, he says. Serge doesn’t consider himself to be a rich man, but he does consider himself to be someone who has found his way in life. He wants to continue to extend his business activities. "Each year we are observing an increase in income and turnover and in the coming years I plan to set up an import, computer or furniture business”. Serge's ambitious goals are within reach.

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