Four years Hajira Abdallah living at the SOS children’s village in Dar es Salaam was born to mother who lived at Mbagala Kuu Dar es Salaam, innocent in her eyes now living at an orphanage centre.Her eyes ray with innocence but a sense of happiness hangs around her lifestyle and playing as she the environment kept conducive for her as a young child who seems knowing nothing.
Her mother Ms Havijawa Omary is relieved that Hajira was sent to SOS orphanage centre when she was two years old as her mother died leaving her with a neighbour grandmother who then because of economic hardships, surrendered her at the village centre.She became the first child to be received by the SOS orphanage centre where she is leaving with 122 other children as a family in a village of 13 fully equipped houses.
At the centre, every house is given to a someone who takes care of the children’s whom they call her mother, the children’s know no one than the mother and among themselves they call brother and sister. “I feel home as mother is taking care of me every time I need her and everything I need, my life is good and I go to school every day,” said Ms Hajira who is not also aware that she is served by someone who is not her mother but a mother of the house who is used to take care of her.
She became the first child at the start of the SOS children’s village in 2007 here in Dar es Salaam; she is comfortable and with good health and well dressed every time people visit at the centre.At the centre, all the children’s are happy and full of hope as the future of their lives are well planned and living in a small paradise inside the orphanage village as the houses are of high quality, they east standard and balanced diet served by their mothers who house ten children’s in every house.
With an increasing number of orphans centres in the country, securing a decent and well equipped centre is getting harder in Dar es Salaam orphans especially children’s needs special care to mould them to become responsible citizens ion future.Many orphanage centres survive in hard conditions to provide needed care for children’s especially food, shelter, health and education.SOS Children’s Villages International is an independent non-governmental and non-denominational social development organization; which focuses on long-term family- based childcare approach to orphaned and abandoned children. In this approach children are cared for on a long-term basis in individual family houses, which together constitute a village.
Herman Gmeiner founded this organization when he established the first SOS Children’s Village in 1949 that is 60 years ago, in Imst, Austria. In SOS Children’s Villages we are committed to the welfare of children –often throughout the whole of their childhood- and to strengthening families and communities as a preventive measure in the fight against abandonment and social neglect.“In SOS our desire for the children of the world is to see that each child belongs to a family and grows with love, respect and security. We want to build families for children in need, to help them shape their own futures and to share in the development of their communities,”
Our desire for each child coming into our care is to see them becoming successful and contributing members of society. We respect varying religions and cultures and we work in the spirit of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Currently, SOS operates in more than 132 countries in the world and it has more than 470 children’s villages, it operates schools, Social Centers, Medical Centers and Vocational Schools. Thus for over fifty years those who follow the footsteps of the founder have spread the SOS idea to different countries, cultures, religions and ways of life; and like all weather plants that it is, it has flourished every where.
Apart from the SOS Dar es Salaam which was established in 2007, the first Village was established in Zanzibar in 1991 and the second being in Arusha. In Dar es Salaam, the Village has a total of 13 Family Houses able to accommodate 130 children at full capacity. At present we already have 122 children in the Village, in 13 houses. Our plan is to reach the maximum capacity of 130 children by early 2010.
Her mother Ms Havijawa Omary is relieved that Hajira was sent to SOS orphanage centre when she was two years old as her mother died leaving her with a neighbour grandmother who then because of economic hardships, surrendered her at the village centre.She became the first child to be received by the SOS orphanage centre where she is leaving with 122 other children as a family in a village of 13 fully equipped houses.
At the centre, every house is given to a someone who takes care of the children’s whom they call her mother, the children’s know no one than the mother and among themselves they call brother and sister. “I feel home as mother is taking care of me every time I need her and everything I need, my life is good and I go to school every day,” said Ms Hajira who is not also aware that she is served by someone who is not her mother but a mother of the house who is used to take care of her.
She became the first child at the start of the SOS children’s village in 2007 here in Dar es Salaam; she is comfortable and with good health and well dressed every time people visit at the centre.At the centre, all the children’s are happy and full of hope as the future of their lives are well planned and living in a small paradise inside the orphanage village as the houses are of high quality, they east standard and balanced diet served by their mothers who house ten children’s in every house.
With an increasing number of orphans centres in the country, securing a decent and well equipped centre is getting harder in Dar es Salaam orphans especially children’s needs special care to mould them to become responsible citizens ion future.Many orphanage centres survive in hard conditions to provide needed care for children’s especially food, shelter, health and education.SOS Children’s Villages International is an independent non-governmental and non-denominational social development organization; which focuses on long-term family- based childcare approach to orphaned and abandoned children. In this approach children are cared for on a long-term basis in individual family houses, which together constitute a village.
Herman Gmeiner founded this organization when he established the first SOS Children’s Village in 1949 that is 60 years ago, in Imst, Austria. In SOS Children’s Villages we are committed to the welfare of children –often throughout the whole of their childhood- and to strengthening families and communities as a preventive measure in the fight against abandonment and social neglect.“In SOS our desire for the children of the world is to see that each child belongs to a family and grows with love, respect and security. We want to build families for children in need, to help them shape their own futures and to share in the development of their communities,”
Our desire for each child coming into our care is to see them becoming successful and contributing members of society. We respect varying religions and cultures and we work in the spirit of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Currently, SOS operates in more than 132 countries in the world and it has more than 470 children’s villages, it operates schools, Social Centers, Medical Centers and Vocational Schools. Thus for over fifty years those who follow the footsteps of the founder have spread the SOS idea to different countries, cultures, religions and ways of life; and like all weather plants that it is, it has flourished every where.
Apart from the SOS Dar es Salaam which was established in 2007, the first Village was established in Zanzibar in 1991 and the second being in Arusha. In Dar es Salaam, the Village has a total of 13 Family Houses able to accommodate 130 children at full capacity. At present we already have 122 children in the Village, in 13 houses. Our plan is to reach the maximum capacity of 130 children by early 2010.
Mr Vitalis Mboya the village administrative officer said “Hajira is from Mbagala Kuu, her parents passed at the age of two years; she was taken by a neighbor and brought to us in early days of the village.”Mr Mboya said the village receives under six years old children’s and affords to accept not more than 14 years but only if they accompany those children’s under six years.
Upon reaching here, we guarantee children’s education, accommodation, health services and build them until they reach a period when they can stand alone as adults, “we take them to best schools, we give them parent care of high standard for them to feel at home.”
There are over 2 million AIDS orphans in Tanzania and the number is rising at a frightening rate. Keeping orphans at school is crucial for their future as education provides a safety net in a child’s life and schooling also helps break the cycle of poverty. In this village, Children are empowered by regarding themselves as active members of a community rather than just victims.
At Least 50 million orphans are found in the African continent, the legacy of AIDS and other diseases, war and high rates of death in pregnancy and childbirth. More than half a million women die a year during pregnancy and in childbirth.For reaching four years, despite being at the orphanage village that cares most, she has however has reason to smile as in Tanzania for every 100,000 babies born, 578 die before reaching five. Hajira could easily have been one of them.
Hajira is served by her mother called Havijawa Omary who is called mother and serves 10 children’s in which seven are primary school pupils of Gonzaga and Grace primary school and other three still at Kindergarten level.But Ms Havijawa (30 years) said she is comfortable of serving children’s, taking care of their development in class their dressing and books inspection after coming out from school.“In this work you need to be creative and love to children’s, I have my budget of Sh660000 and I make sure that they eat a balanced diet, they are lucky as they live in a comfortable and high standard life,” said Ms Havijawa.
The world's largest orphan and abandoned children's charity, Child sponsors and donors worldwide provide a new family and home for more than 78,000 children in 490 unique Children's Villages in 124 countries. As such, the SOS Village Director in Dar es Salaam Dr Alex Lengeju, relates the life’s of children’s at the village as the reason for hope for children’s who had lost parental hope
"Moulding a child to feel at home is our core business here, we give them hope, education, health care and send them to the best schools in Tanzania and Ghana where we have our centre,” said Dr Lengeju insisting that they are also cared until they finish their higher learning education.
Children’s for help are those whose parents are not there for them due to AIDS orphans, street children, child soldiers or children orphaned by war, poverty or natural disasters, they are given a mother and a family in a home within an SOS Children's Village.
Bu the village director Dr Alex Lengeju said the aim of the centre is to mould children’s who does not have parents and even those parents who can not afford giving them the care a child needs.
On 23rd June 2009, SOS Children’s Village Dar es Salam joined others SOS Family in the world to celebrate the 60th Anniversary of the SOS Day which is the founder’s birthday the late Hermann Gmeiner, for his honor the day was named SOS Day.Ironically, for now, many children’s does not land a place at the centre due to an president increasing number of orphans.
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