Child sponsorship update from Brasilia, Brazil

Update for child sponsor supporters from the SOS Children's Village Brasilia, Brazil from October 2008.

Dear sponsors

Year’s end is coming and our children are looking forward to Christmas and summer school vacation. Some of them will spend this time together with their birth families, which make them happier for sharing this joyful time together. However, it does not happen to all, which makes us a little sad.

This year many children returned to live with their birth family, as we continue on following their progress, we can see that they are very well in their birth-family-environment. On the other hand, we housed other children that were in a vulnerable situation and we are working to guarantee their rights to live in a good and safe environment with all protection need to their full development. During all year long our technical team has been linked to social services network, Childhood and Youth Judgeship, and other actors from the rights guarantee system to discuss childhood situation in Brazil, trying to formulate new support policies and strategies that strengthen community and family development on children’s care.

Physical structure of our village is every day more beautiful. Houses refurbishment is ready, now we have 14 SOS houses full of children and teenagers. Moreover, we got a donation of a playground that all of our children can enjoy, now we just need to tidy up our garden and a little rain. It has been four months with no rain and the low humidity is a factor to worry about. Cold days were gone, now summer is coming with hot and dry days, being indispensable for SOS mothers’ double care with their children.

Community and Family Strengthening Programme, placed in Ocidental city nearby Brasília, is improving every day, we are investing on it and believing that it will work fine. Several activities happened this year for over 200 children at the Social Centre. Children are involved in many activities: artistic, sportive, and talking circles aiming to develop their creative skills and to express their own point of view on matters that are common in their community.

Another action was focused on families, orientating them how to get services that aid their children’s development, for instance public healthy service, social service, leisure, and education. To do that, we did meetings with beneficiaries’ parents or guardians. With these meetings, we have got some touched mothers to be volunteers at the Social Centre, aiding educators to make snacks, cleaning, and organizing activities room.

Social Centre technical team was present and taking into touch with several government agencies, like National Council on Children’s and Adolescents’ Rights, Municipal Council on Children’s and Adolescents’ Rights, Tutor Council, and other NGOs to start partnerships to work for children’s protection.
Besides these activities, we are doing a survey in nearby cities to identify places with high rate of vulnerability, in which ones we will be able to enlarge our actions increasing the number of beneficiaries, assuming this way that families get support to develop their capacities to protect their own children.

Thanks for your important help, we know that our work will not be possible without your support. Thanks God we can count on generous people like you, who fights for children’s rights and for a strengthened community.

We wish you a blessed Christmas. A world with love and fraternity, peace and justice, where all children can live sheltered and protected within a caring and loving family. And happy New Year 2009!

Nelson Peixoto, Village Director; Arlete Bogdanovicz Nunes, Social worker and Márcia Bertoletti, Sponsorship Department