SOS Children’s Village gives underprivileged children much-needed hope

To address this, SOS Children’s Village plays a vital role in continually working to support many of these children across the country by providing them with a safe place to grow and be nourished, and a means to a healthy future.

One such case is Kamagelo, a two-year-old girl from Mamelodi who was admitted to the SOS Children’s Village in 2014. With homes across the country and the aid of KFC’s Add Hope initiative, the village was able to ensure Kamagelo is well-nourished and able to continue a healthy life where she can learn, grow and thrive.
 

Kamagelo was brought into the SOS Children’s Village as a homeless child, an issue facing many young South African children. At the time, she weighed in at 9.5kg and she could not talk or walk properly – she simply did not have the energy. After weeks of caretaking by housemother Thabile, Kamagelo started to show developmental progress.   

She turned three in January, and is now enrolled at a pre-school close to the village, where she loves singing, dancing and imitating her teachers. Her housemother Thabile shares, “She is described as a bubbly child, loved by all for her sweet nature. She is talkative, especially when she is with SOS sister Dipuo and her biological brother. She loves playing outdoors and gives her housemother a hard time when she wants her to come inside. However, when there's juice, fruit or a meal on offer, she happily goes indoors.”

Recently, Kamagelo’s 11-year-old brother was also admitted to the village. He displayed similar deteriorating conditions, and the SOS Children’s Village provided a place of hope, nourishment, and the support he desperately required. 

With the support of KFC Add Hope, the SOS Children’s Village can bring about the needed change to these and many more children’s lives, by providing access to everyday meals together with a place to call home and a family that cares. 

In South Africa, the SOS Children’s Village concept was established and registered in 1982, with the first village built in 1983 in Ennerdale. This was followed by seven more in Mamelodi, Port Elizabeth, Cape Town, Pietermartizburg, Mthatha, Nelspruit and Rustenburg.  

In addition to the village concept, the growing orphan crisis in Southern Africa saw the establishment of the SOS Family Strengthening Programme. The organisation realised that there was a need to expand beyond its children's village operations to prevent children from becoming orphaned and abandoned, and falling out of the family environment. They responded by developing community-based family strengthening programmes, which provide support to families caring for orphans and vulnerable children, with the aim of keeping these children in their families and communities of origin.

With the ongoing support from Add Hope, the SOS Children’s Village is able to sustain homes and feeding programmes across eight provinces, in their ongoing efforts to help children across South Africa and raise hope for their futures. 

For more information on and to show one’ssupport through a R2 donation, visit www.addhope.co.za.