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Just wanted to share how heartwarming it is to me, personally, that you are in any way associated with SOS villages.
Today is the 49th anniversary of when my mother and her 4 just orphaned siblings were left at the care of one of these villages. At that time, it was a pioneer program, and the first one in the country(Portugal).
Both my parents grew up without parents of their own, for different reasons and under different circumstances.
My mother grew up under the care of a lady that I consider to be my actual grandmother. She came from an isolated village in the middle of the mountains and grew up and went to school in the capital thanks to these villages.
She is a successful and well-adjusted human being and I'd have to say that having a caring foster parent is a big part of that.
My father, on the other hand, grew up in an orphanage, was beaten and berated, and ultimately ran away to grow up in the streets with his kid brother. My father has never and will never shake the psychological issues that came from these experiences. He is successful IN SPITE of these traumas, but a deeply haunted and flawed person. A father of 3 and grandfather of 6.
I just want to stress that one should never underestimate the value of having someone to call mom or dad, someone who is there for us, not just an employee taking care of hundreds, but an adult, in a house, that cooks for you, teaches you how to be a good person, and most importantly, that loves you.
This is what SOS Villages provided for my mother.
