Child sponsorship update from Paraiba, Brazil

Update for child sponsors from the SOS Children's Village Paraiba, Brazil from Winter 2008.

We have an enormous pleasure to share with you news on SOS Children’s Village Paraíba, now under a new focus based on integral approach, which means both programmes working together: Family-Based Care and Family and Community Strengthening, aiming to improve actions to make children, teenagers, and families protagonists of their own life and autonomous.

Sports are present in child and youth’s life being a factor of transformation. We can point out some of our athletes’ success, for instance 9-year-old José who has an excellent performance in karate taking part in regional and national karate championships, and had the opportunity to take his talent to Pan-American Championship of Karate held in São Paulo, where he disputed in his class. Every year a mini marathon takes place here, and some of our children could highlight this year and won medals and bicycles. 9-year-old David was one of these winners for the second time in a row.

Some children are starting to have interest in sport, attending football school, and others in theatre and body expression, improve there artistic skills.

As a good result of a SOS mother protagonism in the school community within their children study, she is taking part in the Parents Council and does some volunteer works, in which she involves their children too.

13-year-old Natália has been taking part in meetings promoted by Juvenile Protagonism, a local network of institutions. With her outgoing behaviour, she has done a very good external representation.

Our activities are developed from a theme proposed by children, teenagers, educators, and families. This term the theme is environment, so children and teenagers took part in a contest to choose the name of this project, being the winner SOS Mundo Amigo (something like SOS Friendly World), and the drawing that will be stamped on the t-shirts.

We have strengthened Community Centres through involvement of families, creating Family Committees. They are created taking into consideration protagonism and autonomy perspective for these families, in majority head by women, aiming to make them feel responsible and pursue changes to turn them partners on the actions that will bring well-being to children, families, and community.

We hope to continue on optimizing our actions on guarantee and promotion of children’s and adolescents’ rights, as well as empowerment of their families regarding to autonomy and protagonism.

We wish you a great Christmas, full of happiness, harmony, and everything else that our Dreams’ Box makes us believe. May New Year bring an open door for our dreams, renovations of faith, and peace for our World. Happy 2009!!!

Ana Lúcia Félix do Nascimento, Director for both Village and Social Centre and Márcia Bertoletti, Sponsorship Department