Giving Children a Loving Home
Like many young girls who live at SOS Children’s Village in Bindura, Zimbabwe, Tendekai has been given the opportunity to embark on a new life.
“At one point it seemed as though my life was over,” she said.
SOS Children’s Village is the world’s largest organization dedicated to orphaned and abandoned children, raising orphans and foster children in over 500 villages in 133 countries. This year, SOS celebrates 40 years of working in Africa.
There are about 45 million orphaned children living in Sub-Saharan Africa, who have lost one or both parents. Typically, when a child’s parents dies, extended family members will step up and care for the child who is left behind. However, with the escalating poverty in many regions of Africa, relatives are often spread too thin and unable to lend their support.
This is where SOS steps in. “Our villages have become an anchor for the local communities in Africa, not only for our commitment to providing orphans with homes, but also for the preventive services we provide for families that are struggling to stay together,“ said John Allen, Chief Executive Officer of SOS Children’s Villages. For over 20 years, Johnson and Johnson has supported SOS Children’s Villages initiatives in Africa and around the world focusing on much needed medical services and other programs that strengthen families. Their financial support of the SOS Nursing School in Mogadishu has provided training to dozens of nurses who are now providing aid to refugees in Somalia suffering from the effects of severe drought and civil war.
Many of the children in Africa that benefit from SOS services have lost or are on the verge of losing the care of their family for a variety of reasons:
- Life-threatening illnesses, such as AIDS
- Political and environmental issues such as armed conflict and natural disasters
- Teenage pregnancy
- Disability of children or caregivers
- Economic issues, such as poverty, unemployment, illiteracy and homelessness
Such was the case for Tendekai. Her birth parents faced hardship when the owner of the farm where they worked left Zimbabwe in 2000. Everything changed after that. Food became scarce for Tendekai, her parents and her three brothers and she could no longer attend school because her parents couldn’t afford the school fees. Next what seemed like the unthinkable happened. Tendekai’s mother passed away and she and her brothers had to be taken in by an uncle. However, the uncle had his own children and was unable to support them.
Eventually Tendekai and her siblings were placed in a home at SOS Children’s Villages where house mothers helped to care for her brothers. The house mothers are women committed to a minimum of 10 years as house mothers where they build loving and enduring relationships with these children. Since coming to SOS Children’s Villages, the young teen has blossomed into a gifted student. She has won awards at school for both her academic achievements and leadership skills. Currently, she is preparing to take enrollment exams for the Hermann Gmeiner International College in Ghana, operated by SOS Children’s Villages. The College provides an opportunity for academically gifted children from southern Africa to study in a multicultural environment for their International Baccalaureate.
“Whether it’s Zimbabwe, Ghana or even the United States, there is a fundamental model that is always used by SOS Children’s Villages,” says Allen. “Programs are tailored to suit local conditions, but the goal always remains the same -—to give every child a loving home.”
Thanks to SOS Children’s Villages, Tendekai has all the love and support she needs to live her dreams.
"I never thought that I would have such a chance," she said. “Now I have a bright future ahead of me no matter what happens.”
To Learn More:
SOS Children’s Villages
