Sponsor's update from Malleco, Chile

Child sponsorship update from the SOS Children's Village Malleco, Chile from Winter 2007

Dear friends:

Without noticing it, the year 2007 comes to its end and so the time to send you a short report about the news that happened in our SOS Children’s Village Malleco.

We finish the year with 129 children in the village and 18 youngsters in the Youth Residence and 3 young people are in the modality of Assisted Housing as Preparation to the Independent life. Jaqueline graduated last September as elementary school teacher at the university in our town and is waiting for a vacancy in a school when next March the new school year beginns. She doesn’t wait passively, but she works part time in small educational projects to earn some money. María Paz concluded last year the Commercial Secondary School as accountant and works in a near farm. Claudia, Camila and Alejandro started to study at a Professional Institute. Claudia studies bussiness administration and Camila with Alejandro will be lawyer’s assitants. The three youngsters work part-time as secretaries in an office and help to cover the costs of their studies.

During the year 2007 we received nine new children aged one month to eigth years and in the same period six children or younsters returned to their biologic families or started their independent life.

As you can see, our big family is growing. For this reason another family house was built this year and at the end of August the new family of mother Nora moved in. So, we have 15 families now. Mother Nora is taking care about five children (a girl and four boys) aged four to eigth years. But the need of a substitude family in our region is unfortunately very high and also this family will count in a short time with nine or ten children.

Almost ten years ago Carolina and Carlos started their independent life. Both are technicians in computation and live in Temuco, capital of our region. Carolina works in the regional hospital and Carlos in a big beer company. During all these years they didn’t cut the contact to their village families. Fortuitously, both got married this year. And both invited to their wedding party not only their nearest village families but also several village co-workers - aunts and uncles who saw them growing up.

Growing up at Malleco, Chile

We are proud to inform you that our village became 25 years old. We celebrated this anniversary with a ceremony in the town theater and a presentation of all groups that make up our folklore ballet. The theater filled up with our guest among them we could count authorities, teachers of the children or simply friends of our work.

In the daily life there is normally not enough time to make big evaluations, but now when we sit down to prepare this report for you, our loyal friends, we could realise that we can be happy and proud of our children.

We want to finish this short recount with one of the stories that form part of this pride. It is the story of four siblings in ages between ten months and 5 years, who came to our village three years ago. They lived with their parents in extreme poverty very far away in the Andes and in a big distance of other neighbours.

Apart from food they lacked of every social stimulus for a healthy growing up. When they came to our village, they had no idea about cohabitation, hygiene or intelectual development. We knew that we had a long and hard work to do. Pancho, the oldest of them, had to repeat twice the obligatoory pre-school class with the goal to learn speaking correctly, to know colours and forms and to share with his friends.

Mother Raquel, with help of many co-workers, put all her forbearance and love and today we can tell you that these siblings are very sociable, cheerful, they sing, dance and play with their friends all the time. And that Pancho, who was not able to express himself in complete sentences, is now the most enthusiastic reader of his family. Every week he asks for new books about animals in our library and reads them again and again until he knows the stories by heart.

We say Good bye and thank you again for all your help and support and send you our best Season’s Greetings and wishes of health and success for the year 2008.

Ramón Torres Cerna
Director SOS Children’s Village Malleco