SOS stands for Save Our Souls. SOS Village was founded in 1964 in Delhi by Dr Japan Nat Kabul. This is in line with the SOS Village in Austria. More than 2 lakhs children in India get help from SOS. In cases of natural disasters SOS comes to the immediate rescue of the kids. During the 2004 Tsunami they opened temporary shelters to aid affected kids.
When we arrived at SOS on Bannarghatta Road, we were greeted by Mr. Ragavendra & Mr. Shashi Kumar. They sat us down and filled us in with all the information about The Village.
There are 252 kids in The Village. They house kids from the age of 3 mts to 22 yrs. Once they even got a 3 day old baby. They have an in-house nurse and a doctor that visits once a week. There are 16 houses .14 of them are Hindu houses and one is Muslim & the other is a Christian house. Each house has 5 bedrooms a living room & a kitchen. Each house has 10 to 12 kids and also a mother. This mother cooks for them, helps them with home work & does everything a biological mother would do. All the kids in a house grow up like brothers & sisters. All the kids we saw were very happy & healthy.
These orphans are brought to The Village by relatives who cannot take care of them. The Village adopts these kids. The relatives have to sign a no-objection contract. Then they can visit the kids every 3 months. But the kids are no longer under their control. The Village holds all legal rights. The kids are counseled before they are accepted in The Village. They do not house disabled kids.
The kids attend Pre- primary within the village. After that they go to schools outside. They have kids going to 34 different schools in Jayanagar & JP nagar. All kids follow different curriculum depending on their capability. They have kids doing MBBS & engineering too. Kids who excel in any form of art are allowed to take lessons.
All these orphans have found a home away from home. The Village has given them the care & nurturing which would have been given to them by their parents. These kids have got themselves a good future in this Village.
Karan Padmakumar
Grade 4
Indus International School
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