Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, June 23: SOS Children’s Villages of India celebrated its Founder Father Dr. Hermann Gmeiner’s birthday today with much fanfare.
SOS Children’s Villages, an international NGO, has been engaged for the last 68 years in providing secure and a loving home to children without parental care and children at the risk of abandonment across the world. It was the brainchild of Dr. Hermann Gmeiner, an Austrian, who pioneered the concept of bringing up abandoned and parentless children without parental care in a loving home-like atmosphere. Speaking on the occasion, Anuja Bansal, Secretary General, SOS Children’s Villages of India said, “At SOS Children’s Villages of India we have always strived to follow the guidance and values instilled by Dr. Hermann Gmeiner. His un-paralleled work has always been a source of inspiration for us. In everything we do we try and stand true to our core value of providing “A loving home to every child”.
With a large global presence in 134 countries, a typical SOS Children’s Village consists of a gated community of 15-20 family homes with a “Mother” in each home nurturing a group of 8-10 children, who live together as brothers and sisters.
The first Children’s Village in India at Greenfields (Faridabad) was set up in 1964. SOS Children’s Villages is the largest and one of the few NGO’s which not just raises funds but runs and manages all the programmes itself ensuring transparency and good governance.
SOS Children’s Village Jammu began the celebrations with a traditional welcome to their guests, garlanding and paying floral tribute to the Dr. Hermann Gmeiner.
It was followed by a speech on the philosophy of Dr. Gmeiner and his lifelong passion for providing a loving home to parentless and abandoned children.
There was also a cultural programme during which settled SOS youths shared their experiences.
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