Initiative for social action and renewal in eurasia third sector news information bulletin

SOS Children’s Village

By Farida Mammadova

SOS Children’s Village

According to official statistics, there are more than 11,000 orphan children in Azerbaijan.  The

two orphanages in Baku, designed to house a maximum of 300 children, are operating at over

capacity.   Over 20,000 orphans are under the guardianship of close relatives, most of whom do

not have the means to support them.  Azerbaijan is in need of institutions that can provide

children not only with a roof over their heads and a hot meal, but also with maternal love and

care.

In many countries orphan children are being helped by local branches of the the international

NGO, SOS Kinderdorf International.

An SOS Children’s Village is currently being built here in Azerbaijan, by an Azeri NGO by the

same name.  The village will be a place for orphan children to find love and care by new

“mothers” and “aunts”, and learn to play with new “brothers” and “sisters”.

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The first SOS Children’s Villages were established in 1949 in Imst, Austria by German Gmainer,

whose wish was to help the children who lost their parents during World War II.

The main principle of the Children’s Village is that children live in houses together, with women

who care for them as a family.  The women are called “mothers” and dedicate their lives to giving

these orphaned children a feeling of complete security, love, and care.  Mothers have the

authority to raise their families and make decisions for the family.

Each family consists of a mother and group of children who live as siblings together.  Children

are accepted into the village between infancy and age eight.  The goal is that the village will be a

home to them in such a way that when they grow up and move away, they will want to return to

visit.  The average village consists of 10-20 families.

 Currently, SOS Children’s Villages operate in more than 130 countries throughout the world. In

1997 the Azerbaijan Government and SOS Kinderdorf International signed an agreement on

establishing the first children’s village in Azerbaijan.  The same year, by decree of the Head of

Executive Authority of Baku Mr. Rafael Allahverdiyev,  4.5 hectares of land was allotted for the

construction of the village. In 1999, Sevil Aliyeva was elected President of Azerbaijan

Association SOS Children’s Village, Tair Budagov was chosen as Vice-President and Ugur

Zeynalov as Chief Executive.

Construction of the first village started in October 1999.  The Azerbaijani SOS Children’s Village

consists of 12 family houses, a kindergarten and 6 subsidiary buildings. Resident children attend

local schools with other children from outside the village.

After the physical village was under construction, the next stage was to choose the “mothers”.

Any woman aged 25-40 and ready to devote her life to orphans could become a “mother”. Only

24 candidates out of 200 willing to work in the village were selected to receive training. Within

three months, the candidates were trained in all skills and qualifications necessary for the job, and

upon completion of the training course, a final selection was made and twelve of the women were

chosen as “mothers”, five as “aunts”.

The houses and equipment for the village are complete.  The staff have been selected.  Now it is

time to start selecting children.  Only healthy children without any living parents are eligible for

residence in the village.  Boys will stay in the village up to 16 and girls up to 18 years of age.

Upon reaching this age, the children will be moved to teenager villages, where they will receive

assistance in receiving a higher education.

All expenses for building and equipping the village were covered by the international NGO SOS

Kinderdorf International.  However, in accordance with the organization’s regulations, the local

SOS NGO is required to create a fund to raise money for the center.  Therefore, members of the

Azerbaijan SOS Children’s Village NGO is seeking support from all interested individuals and

organizations.