Child sponsorship update from Hohenau
14/02/2008
Update from SOS Children's Village Hohenau, Winter 2006
Dear Sponsors,
It is with great pleasure that we write to you once again to tell you about the activities of our children and youths. We would also like to use the opportunity to thank you for your support during the year.
I would like to tell you some of the things that happened during 2006. This year we had a total of 132 children in the Village of which 60 are girls and 72 are boys. Eight of our youths passed to the Youth facilities and 6 started their independent lives.
Our children keep busy during the day if they are not in school, there are different activities that they can do. For example inside the Village they can practice sports like basketball, soccer and volleyball. If they want to do something a bit more cultural they can take folkloric dance classes or join the Orchestra. There is also most of the time some workshop for the older children and they often invite a guest speaker to talk to the children about different kinds of topics.
There are also different activities in which they can participate outside the Village, 6 of our children study German and English, 8 of our children has computer classes, 6 girls are learning how to make teddy bears, 7 children are taking cooking lessons, 2 are learning to be orchestra conductors, one is learning to become a hairdresser, 2 are studying folkloric dances in order to become teachers of this, 4 are in the regions basketball teams, 10 are playing in different soccer clubs here in the area and 23 are participating in the group Sonido de Tierra which is a music Orchestra organised by the council.
During the year various activities took place, for example in January and February the children went camping at a nearby river. The river belongs to one of our neighbours and he kindly offered us to use it when ever we please. The children love going because during those months it is so hot here in Paraguay that it is great to cool of in a river.
Two of our children (Ruben Dario Rodas Alonso and Adan Maria Balmaceda) won scholarships to go to Spain and Portugal. They went for 45 days and participated in Music and artistic festivals. The group consisted in children from all over the world and they gave a show in each place they visited. They enjoyed it very much and are grateful for the opportunity that they received.
One of our children Sonia moved temporararily to Costa Rica where she will finish her high school studies. She is now in a school named: Colegio Internacional. She won this scholarship because she is such a helpful and active member of her town. She is always willing to help even if she will get no benefit out of the situation.
Two of our children got married. Both weddings where very nice and they invited their families and friends. On the day of Marisol’s wedding it rained so much that she could almost not get in the car without getting wet. But this did not stop the festivities from going on and she had a lovely wedding.
The children who are on the Band went to Caacupe where the Virgin Maria is to thank her for all the things that happened during 2005. The children had a great time and they stopped to swim in a river on their way home.
Our children don’t always just receive but they also give to those in need and a good example of this is this; in March some of the families here from SOS together with the council of Trinidad del Parana organised a meal for the poor families. To this meal assisted almost 150 children and each child received a pencil and book from our children that they can use in school.
They now take turns to organise this and every other Saturday they give a meal to these people.
Our Orchestra is also very proud of the Fact that the CD “Itapua canta al Pais” is now out in the shops. They also play together with other musicians from the area on this CD. Also one of our independent girls Mirtha Flecha - launched her CD (she sings more classical music) and we are all very proud of her.
Six of our youths are part of a Radio program that is broadcasted in Itapua on Saturdays. They talk about everything that happens here in the Village and in SOS Villages around the world. This is a good way of teaching the people about our Villages because a lot of them live close by but has no idea how it works or what exactly it is.
In August we had the honor to receive Princess Maertha Louisa from Norway here in Paraguay. She is a sponsor to our Children’s Village Panambi and she came to visit the people from that Village. Our Orchestra also went to San Ignacio and they had the honor to perform for her and the children from Panambi. Everything went as planned and our children came home very happy that they had to opportunity to meet a Princess.
Some of our children now living in youth facilities preparing for independance: studying and preparing for university entrance for accouting, training to be a nurse and construction training. Some children are now independant including one who is working in the Regional Hospital of Itapua and has started his own family; one who has become a mechanic; another who lives with her partner and is studying to become a Maths teacher - she often helps children in the village with their Maths!
Once again I would like to thank you for your support and on behalf of all the children, youths, mothers and co-workers I would like to wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy and prosperous New Year.
Yours sincerely,
Cornelia Truter
Sponsorship Office Hohenau
Sponsor's update from Panambi
Update from SOS Children's Village Panambi
Dear sponsors,
It is with great pleasure that we write to you once again. We would also like to thank you for all the help and support that we receive from you during 2006. This year has flown by and it is almost Christmas once again.
Panambi has a total of eight families; this gives us a total of 44 children. Every family has a Mother and “aunt” that are responsible for the children in their house, these Mothers and Aunts received more special training in how to take care of children with special needs.
Each family lives independently and the mother is the person who makes the decisions in the house. It is also important to point out the care, patience and responsibility with which each mother and aunt takes care of their family.
All the boys and girls in Panambi do some kind of rehabilitation activity; they have a fixed time that they go to their activities. Each mother decides when it best suits her family to go to the activities after all she is the person who knows her children best and know what is happening when in the house. Here are some of the rehabilitation activities that we offered this year; physiotherapy, therapy for the hearing impaired, we have recreational therapy like the woodwork shop where the children can make little wooden toys, paint and build them this of course depends on the ability of each child.
At the moment the woodwork shop is closed because they are deciding if they should open it and sell some of the toys and things made there or not.
We have also implemented for some time now the therapy of riding horses and we got very good results so far, this strengthens their muscles and helps them to balance. This is important especially for the children who have problems with their muscles.
During the summer we also have different activities in the swimming pool, this helps them to overcome fears and it is also recreational.
Other activities where the children take part, is in the occupational therapies, for example, they can work in the vegetable garden, there is also a flower nursery, we have the farm with the cows and chickens and it is the responsibility of the children to take care of these animals(always under supervision from a grown up). The vegetables, fruit, milk and eggs are used by the families here in Panambi and everything that is too much is sold in San Ignacio. These activities help the children to get in contact with their environment and this new knowledge might help them in the future if they are living outside the village.
Even though Panambi consists in children with different kinds of disabilities, this is no reason why we can not show our talent in Music and dancing. The children regularly take part in music festivals here in the community. We also have a library and a video library where our children can come and do research for there homework or school projects. Our video library is also used to give workshops for the mothers and aunts of Panambi and San Ignacio. There is also a computer which has a special program installed that makes it easier for blind people to use a computer. Two of our children, Eduardo and Edgar, use this program and it has been a great success until now.
Like in any community we have lots of happy moments and also not so happy moments, every family is different and they go trough different situations, like health problems, and some times the children has to be taken up in hospital. We also sometimes have problems with the children at school.
It has been very hard for the family from the house Mburucuya, because Fernando is in a clinic in Atyra. Atyra is very far from our Village and due to this we do not see him as often as we wish but we call every day to see how he is doing.
I would like to mention that here in our Village we do not have a specific age, where the children have to leave the village because our children are all very different and in some cases it will be impossible for them to leave the Village.
Geronimo-who is deaf mute- from the family Jazmin is giving his first steps towards his independent life, he is now responsible for his very own bakery that is called Panambi. The bakery opened in April this year and he has been working very hard to make it a success. Everybody in the Village supports him and there has been a great response and support from the San Ignacio Community.
Julia and Concepcion have also started working part time and as soon as they are ready they will also start their independent lives.
On behalf of all the children, youths, Mothers and co-workers I would like to wish you a very merry Christmas and a happy and Prosperous New Year. I would also like to thank you once again for your ongoing support.
Yours sincerely
Cornelia Truter
Sponsorship Office Panambi
Child sponsorship update from San Ignacio
Dear sponsors,
It is with great pleasure that we write to you once again. We would also like to thank you for all the help and support that we receive from you. This year has flown by and it is almost Christmas once again.
Each year a couple of our children will get a step closer to being independent and a good example of this is Inocencio Arce who is studying to be a physical education teacher in the Capital - Asuncion. He is doing very well and is now also looking for a job in the afternoon.
Blas Antonio Valenzuela also moved to the city where he joined the Navy and is training to be a Sub Official. Both these young men moved to the city full of hopes and dreams and even though everything does not always happen as we plan we have to make the best of everything. Blas Antonio will be finishing the training any moment now and will officially start to serve our Nation from January.
Ricardo Ramirez, one of our best Harp players even internationally known- has finished the first year at University with very good grades. Ricardo is also living in his own house that he build with the money that he received from his sponsors over the years! Thank you very much!
Maria Lourdes Gonzalez has been working in a Pharmacy here in San Ignacio since 2005. Even though Lourdes did not finish her studies she is now the manager of one of these chain Pharmacies.
Following in Lourdes’s foot steps is Hernan Dario Sarabia who successfully finished his studies in Management of a Pharmacy and is working in the SOS Mother Child Hospital here in San Ignacio. He has also had an offer of a permanent job from another Pharmacy here in the area. Hernan also studied to be a dentist’s assistant at the Instituto San Bernardo.
Genara Nuñez has been studying for the past 4 years in Asuncion at the Hospital Bauptista to become a nurse. She finished her studies with great grades and she is now doing her Theses, she has also received a job offer from a Hospital in Luque which she accepted. Genara received help from SOS to finish her studies but she also used some of the money she received from her sponsors and thanks to this she is now a fully qualified nurse and has a permanent job.
During the last days of August we received one of the sponsors of the Village Panambi here in our Village The Princess Martha Louise from Norway. Also her assistant Mari Sorli - is the sponsor to Andrea Guggiari one of the Children here from San Ignacio.
There visit included a tour through the Villages, we had a Artistic festival that evening and our children did great!
During the last lunch together the Princess the princess expressed her gratitude and said that she admires the work that we are doing with the children and urged us to continue doing so, she also left some gifts for the Village.
In the City Chapel together with Bishop Obispo Mario Melanio Medina we celebrated the confirmation of faith of the following children; Celso; Carlitos; Rafael; Ricardito y Juan Pablo. Afterwards each family celebrated with a special lunch at home.
We also celebrated the first communion of Gustavo and Ana Guillen in the Chapel Virgen de Caacupe that is situated very close to the Village. Angel David and Mabel Meza, Claudia and Laura Portillo and Aldo Aquino also celebrated their first communion together with their God parents. Aldo’s god mother came all the way from Asuncion to be with him on this special day.
Some of our youth leaders together with a few cow workers and also a Peace Corp member organize “educational camps” for the teenagers of the Village. There they talk about different subjects, such as; self esteem, values, preventing pregnancies and leadership. They often get a special guest to come and talk about a certain topic and a couple of times some of the SOS Mothers came to give workshops talking about experiences that they had.
This year on National children’s day we took our children to the theme Part Oñondivemi. We took 53 children and they loved riding of the horses and touching all the animals. There where also a wagon pulled by a ox, a canoe, they learned to milk cows, they went fishing and they could look at the different animals in the Zoo and museum. A couple of Mothers went along as well as the Village Director and his assistant. Also four of the Hermann Gmeiner Kindergarden teachers accompanied us and just when the children thought the fun was over we took them to see the movie “Rescate en Antartida” in Shopping del Sol. We received the entrances as a gift from the cinema.
On behalf of all the children, youths, Mothers and co workers I would like to wish you a very merry Christmas and a happy and Prosperous New Year. I would also like to thank you once again for your ongoing support.
Relevant Countries: Paraguay.