FAQs

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

SOS Children’s Villages Organisation

‘SOS’ stands for Societas Socialis. In 1949, Hermann Gmeiner and his supporters founded the Societas Socialis, a social club with the goal of raising funds for the care of orphaned children in Austria. A year later, the name was changed to SOS Children’s Villages. To Hermann Gmeiner and his supporters, ‘SOS’ meant a socially responsible society. They believed that every child deserves a mother, as well as brothers and sisters, a home, and a supportive community environment.

The first SOS Children’s Village was founded by Hermann Gmeiner in Tyrol, Austria, in 1949. As a child welfare worker, Gmeiner saw how children orphaned as a result of World War II suffered. He was committed to helping them by building loving families and supportive communities.

With the generous support of donors, child sponsors, partners, and friends, Gmeiner's vision of providing loving care in a family environment for children without parental care, and of helping families stay together so they can care for their children, has grown steadily over six decades. The very first house in the village was named ‘House of Peace’.

‘SOS Children’s Villages’ is the English name of the entire organisation, which is active in 137 countries and territories through National Associations.

SOS Children’s Villages International is the name of the umbrella organisation of all SOS Children’s Villages Associations.

All SOS Children’s Villages Associations are registered in their individual countries and are bound by national laws. They have their own local boards and are responsible for the organisation’s activities in each respective country.

SOS Children's Villages Botswana operations started in 1987 in Tlokweng and spread to Francistown and Serowe in 1998 and 2008 respectively in response to growing child protection needs of the country, hence over 35 years of existence in Botswana.

Most other child-care institutions aim to have the child fostered or adopted as soon as possible, mainly within one to two years of the child entering the institution. SOS Children's Villages provides professional foster care on a long-term basis until the children reach adulthood and are independent enough to begin their own careers and families. Contact between the SOS Mother and her children who have left the Village is strongly encouraged. SOS Mothers often assume the role of grandmothers to their children. This is the family-like care that is provided, SOS Children’s Villages is not an institution.

As a non-profit social development organisation, SOS Children’s Villages values every single donation and is committed to using all contributions with great responsibility, efficiency, and respect. To ensure accountability and due oversight, the organisation is subject to scrutiny from auditors. Please find more information on our expenditures in our Annual Report.

This varies from country to country, however, the Government of Botswana gives SOS Children's Villages Botswana some subsidy funding. In order to receive this, SOS Children’s Villages always produces a financial report and audited accounts of the previous year. Please find more information on our expenditures in our Annual Report.

Each national association is expected to raise funds within the country of operation, wherever possible. SOS Botswana survives on donations from individuals and companies for both financial and in-kind donations.

Children and SOS Children’s Villages

Every effort is made to ensure that the children placed in an SOS family are those who are going to benefit most from its care. Only children who need a new, permanent home in a family environment, and for whom a more suitable care placement cannot be found are considered for admission into an SOS family. Children up to the age of ten can be admitted. However, when a group of siblings is admitted, group members’ ages may vary.

The situation varies from country to country. Orphaned and abandoned children in Botswana are admitted to the Children’s Villages through the Children’s Court process. SOS Children's Villages Botswana notifies the referral social welfare officers when they have vacancies – but it is the Children’s Court that issues a court order for the child to be removed from their harmful environment to SOS Children’s Village.

Depending on the country and the context, between four and ten children of different ages live together in an SOS family.

Although the Children’s Act says a child is someone up to the age of 18, there is no specific age at which children have to leave the SOS Children’s Village. Usually, they stay in the care of SOS Children’s Villages until they are capable of looking after themselves, or until they can be reintegrated with their biological families.

Many of our youth remain in touch with their SOS family – either because a younger biological sibling is still there, or simply because this is the only home they have known. Our children have had an unfortunate start in life, through no fault of their own, so it may take them longer to get through the educational system. We value education, and so will ensure that children progress as far as they possibly can in this area. The children and youth stay with us until they can lead independent lives – which may be as late as 25 years of age. Only severely handicapped children, who are not capable of reaching a point of self-reliance, can remain with SOS Children’s Villages beyond this stage. Many of our youth remain in touch with their SOS family – either because a younger biological sibling is still there, or simply because this is the only home they have known.

SOS Botswana accommodates visitors to their Villages. Generally, it is possible to pay a short visit to an SOS Children’s Village. To minimize the disruption of Village routine and schooling/sporting activities prior arrangements need to be made with the Village you wish to visit.

 

SOS Children’s Villages works to ensure that each child has access to education and training that address individual needs and circumstances and helps children develop to their potential. We promote a holistic approach to child-centred education which supports children in their personal capabilities. We work to create supportive, empowering and motivating learning environments that enhance the development of all children. An individual development plan and educational goals are established together with each child and young person living in SOS family care.

Each child is brought up according to the beliefs (s)he shares with her/his biological parents. If the parents’ faith is not known, the child is brought up according to the religion which is most common in the particular culture. In many SOS Children’s Villages, different faiths are represented.

Where the local infrastructure permits, children generally go to local schools in the communities where they live.

SOS Children’s Villages works with young people to help them prepare for the job market and for independence.

Through youth employability programmes and in cooperation with local, national and international partners, SOS Children’s Villages offers support including career orientation and coaching, strengthening vocational and entrepreneurial skills, access to work experience and in-house training, innovation through information technology.

We care for all children in need of alternative care. If a special needs child is a child in need of care, and SOS Children’s Village is the suitable place, we source the best possible care for them. 

No. SOS offers permanent care to the child that has already been through a lot. All other options of care would have failed, therefore, any requests for adoptions are referred to the Department of Social Protection under the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development.

SOS Programmes

SOS Children’s Villages works with at-risk families and communities to empower parents through a range of activities so they can adequately care for their own children, and to help prevent family breakdown. Find out more about SOS Family Strengthening.

SOS Children’s Villages works with families in situations of hardship who are at risk of family breakdown and separation. The reasons why families are enrolled in SOS Family Strengthening include lack of resources, the death of a parent, unstable relationships of the parents or poor health.

Depending on the country and the context, families are referred to SOS Family Strengthening by partners, the community where they live, or individuals concerned about the family’s well-being.

The goal of SOS Family Strengthening Programmes is to help families overcome situations of hardship and crisis so they can become self-reliant and provide a stable home and adequate care for their children. Together with every family we support, a family development plan is worked out. It sets the frame for the goals to be achieved in order to improve the family’s situation, and the steps to be taken and defines the duration of the support the family receives.

We strive to find the best care solution for every child. If it is in the best interest of the child, and depending on the national context, foster families can be the most adequate long-term care option for children. In some countries, SOS Children’s Villages supports foster families in providing quality care to children, or foster families live within SOS programmes. SOS Children’s Villages also supports partners to develop foster care.

Donation

If you want to make a donation to SOS Children's Villages via our website, please visit our Donation Gateway. Donations via the website can only be made using a credit card (Visa or Master Card).
 

Please contact us if you have any questions

SOS Children’s Villages is very thankful to people who leave their legacy in support of disadvantaged children. If you want to know more about how to set up a will, please contact us and our colleagues will be happy to assist you.

 +267 395 3220
 info.fdc@sos-botswana.org

Children need friends. Friends to share the responsibility for their well-being now and in the future. Rather than leaving destitute children to their own devices and a life of hopelessness and poverty, your contribution will make it possible for us to train and educate these children in caring family environments. You can assist us to teach them to help themselves. There are many ways of furthering the aims of the local SOS Association.

For instance:

Sponsorship

Child or village sponsorships are regular financial donations specifically earmarked for the support of a child or an SOS Children’s Village.

To find out about the available sponsorship opportunities click here

Sponsorships cover the costs of food, clothing, schooling, the running costs of the village and, if present, its kindergarten, school, medical centre and social centre, which provide education, medical care, and social services including family strengthening efforts, and more.

A corporate partnership offers companies the opportunity to improve the lives of children, promote awareness of their corporate social responsibility, boost team spirit among staff and invest in projects of their choice. SOS Children’s Villages has secured a number of corporate partnerships with companies that want to help. If you are interested in becoming a corporate partner, please contact us at:

 +267 395 3220
 info.fdc@sos-botswana.org

Working for SOS Children's Villages

Our organisation aims to integrate the children and young people in SOS care into their society and their culture. We believe that this can be achieved best by using local staff. Our policy is therefore to employ local staff for all functions and on all levels. 

Visit our careers page to view any available vacancies.

SOS Children’s Villages does not run a formal volunteer programme. However volunteers are welcome as and when the need arises.

Visit our careers page to view any available vacancies.

Being an SOS mother is a special profession with special tasks and responsibilities, which also presents its challenges. It is a profession which, just like all others, requires a clear definition of what the job entails and what skills are needed for it.

All of our SOS Mothers come to us as trained professionals. They will then be orientated at a Village as an aunt, to gain experience/job shadow. They usually only get full responsibility for an SOS family after 2-3 years on the job; supplementary training, and a complete evaluation of their capabilities.

 

The SOS Mothers are recruited, after which they undergo four months of mother training course. All due diligence is taken to ensure the safety of children. These include police clearance and fitness checks. 

In most cases, SOS families are headed by SOS mothers but in some countries, fathers or couples head an SOS family. Over the past few years, some married couples have taken responsibility for SOS Children’s Village families in a number of European countries.

Should an SOS mother consider getting married, we would always try to find an appropriate solution so that she can continue working as an SOS mother. 

If we employed a couple, there would be a stronger likelihood that there would be natural children that would need to be accommodated. This situation would add to the costs of SOS Children’s Villages and leave less room for children in need. There would also be the possibility that the SOS Mother would have a preference for her biological children. Sadly, it is also a proven fact that men are more likely to sexually abuse children. We therefore feel it is prudent to find one caregiver who is ideally suited to the role. It is also worth noting that our model has been in existence for over fifty years, and results show that our children have not been disadvantaged by being raised by only one parent.

There are many male employees at an SOS Children’s Villages. They include the Village Director, Child & Youth Development Coordinator, the Groundsman and other staff memebers of SOS who are also equipped to work with children and are able to act as role models and assist in the holistic development of the child.

Each National SOS Children’s Village Association provides training for prospective SOS mothers in order to prepare them for their role as a care professionals with subsequent refresher and reflection courses.