Highlights 2019
1. Libin made SOS India proud!
SOS Mother Thresiamma was extremely proud of her son Dr. Libin, a youth from SOS Children’s Village Cochin, as he secured an all India rank 108th in the NEET (National Eligibility cum Entrance Test) 2018 Examination for Masters in Dental Science (MDS). He completed his BDS (Bachelors in Dental Science) in 2016 and is now all set for the next level.
2. Sports stars shine bright!
Pankaj, a youth from SOS Children’s Village Begusarai, represented the Bihar Handball Team (state level) at the 64th National School Games held at Hisar, Haryana, from 10th-14th January 2019. The team stood 3rd in the tournament and won the Bronze medal by knocking out three other teams. Currently, Pankaj, along with another youth Sambhu, is pursuing their sports training at the Ekalavya Sports Academy, Patna.
3. Our girls soar high!
Komal, Kavita & Nishtha from SOS Children’s Village Greenfields made us proud by their outstanding performance in sports and arts at the Girl Child Celebrations organised by Ministry of Women & Child Development, Government of India, on 16 February 2019. They were awarded medals, cash prizes and certificates.
4. Victories that last a lifetime!
Our sports stars – Manimeghlai and Shruti from SOS Children’s Village Khajuri Kalan dared to dream big and win big too! Manimeghlai won a gold medal and Shruti bagged silver in cycling at the Special Olympics World Summer Games 2019 in Abu Dhabi.
5. Children from SOS CV Jaipur take part in SBI Green Marathon
36 children accompanied by six co-workers had an amazing experience running for the SBI Green Marathon in Jaipur, organised by Radio Mirchi at the SMS Stadium on 3rd March 2019. The marathon was organised to create awareness about the imbalance in nature and for humans to take a step to adopt a healthy lifestyle and understand the responsibility towards their environment.
6. Launch of #NoChildAlone Campaign
SOS Children’s Villages of India launched a new national campaign on International day of families called #NoChildAlone. This campaign is a call to acknowledge the plight of 2 crore children without adequate parental care in India and evoke response to ensure that over 26,000 children under the care of SOS India will never be alone again. We are also proud to share that more than 10000 pledges have been received in support of #NoChildAlone till date.
7. Greenfields children visited Lalit Kala Academy to watch exhibition Sacred Stains
On 31st May 2019, 50 of our girls from SOS Children’s Village Greenfields accompanied by mothers and co-workers visited Lalit Kala Academy, New Delhi to watch an exhibition “Sacred Stains” by Niraj Gera. The exhibition turned out to be an eye opener on Menstrual Cycle and awareness against various taboos attached to it.
8. Great Place at Work
SOS Children’s Villages of India has once again received the much acclaimed Great Place to Work – Certification, for the period May 2019 to April 2020, in the Non-Profit and Charity Organisations category. The increase in trust ranking has definitely made our spirits soar for the coming future as well.
8. Celebrating World Environment Day by Promoting Cycling by our Children
On June 5th, to celebrate the World Environment Day theme #BeatAirPollution and support our #NoChildAlone campaign, SOS Children’s Village Kochi organized a cycling event in association with the Kochi cycling club. The main purpose of the event was to encourage human beings to take notice of the alarming air pollution level and find a remedy that will help in bringing the hazardous pollution levels down.
9. Our Children Celebrating 100th Birthday of their Dadaji
Every year, Dr. Hermann Gmeiner’s birth anniversary is celebrated as ‘SOS Day’ in all SOS Children’s Villages. This year, a special ‘SOS Day’ celebration was held at all SOS Children’s Villages of India, to mark the 100th birth Anniversary of its founder, Dr. Hermann Gmeiner. Our children celebrated the day with much higher happiness and enthusiasm.
10. Anna’s legacy gift gives a dream home to retired SOS mothers in Hojai
To honour selfless dedication of retiring SOS Mothers, SOS Children’s Village Hojai has inaugurated a new retired Mother’s Home with the support of an Icelandic donor Anna Kristin Ragnarsdottir, and SOS Children’s Village Iceland. June 30, 2019 was a blissful day for SOS Children’s Village Hojai as the dream project of Retired Mother’s Home was inaugurated with tremendous joy.
11. Youth from SOS India participate in skill development workshops on World Youth Skill Day
On July 15 every year, World Youth Skill Day is marked to promote youth skills development and abilities. Youth from both Family Like Care and Family Strengthening Programme across SOS Children’s Villages of India got the opportunity to learn about various skills required in different fields and the importance of Youth Skill Development.
12. 30th Tara Ali Baig Memorial Lecture – “Digital Shift & Future Of Children, Youth & Society”
SOS India celebrated 8th August as the birth anniversary of Lt. Smt. Tara Ali Baig, the 2nd President of SOS Children’s Villages of India. This year, SOS India organised the 30th Tara Ali Baig Memorial Lecture on “Digital Shift & Future Of Children, Youth & Society”. The memorial lecture was graced by the presence of our Chief Guest, Keynote Speaker and Mr. Khalid Baig, who enriched the session with their valuable thoughts on the importance of digitalization for the future of children.
13. ‘Child Rights in India: An Unfinished Agenda’ report launched!
Thirty years after global leaders promised to protect the rights of all children, millions are not in school, face poverty, exploitation, violence, neglect, and abuse. A new report, A Second Revolution: 30 years of child rights, and the unfinished agenda, says it is time for the global community to fulfil the broken promises of the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child (UN CRC). #JoiningForcesForChildren the alliance of six organizations is set to ensure rights for every child.
14. “Say No-To Plastic” Rally at SOS Khajuri Kalan
A rally was organised at Khajuri Kalan, Tanda and Sakal with the message – Say No-To Plastic and keep cleanliness in association with government schools. Moreover, paper bags were also distributed to shopkeepers and plastic bags were taken away from them. A total of 450 participants were numbered at all locations across India.
15. Nutrition awareness rally organised at Anangpur
In Haryana, SOS India organized rally cum Nutrition Awareness Program on the occasion of POSHAN MAAH with the collaboration of WCD. Participants included Ms. Meera CDPO, all Anganwadi workers, caregivers, community people – children and Uddan Bal Panchayat members on 12th September 2019 at Gurukul – Family strengthening program location of our Anangpur Project. Individuals and children from our FSP community actively participated in this campaign and took benefit from this significant awareness session.
16. World Habitat Day 2019 – Painting competition for differently abled children
On World Habitat Day 2019 – Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs, Government of India organized a painting competition for differently abled children. Theme for the painting competition was frontier technologies as an innovative tool to transform waste to wealth. SOS India received an invitation from Building Materials and Technology Promotion Council (BMTPC) for this painting competition. Mansi Dahiya made entire SOS Family proud by winning the 2nd Prize, that included prize money of Rs.7500/- and a certificate.
17. International Girl Child Day
On the occasion of International Girl Child Day 2019, various activities were organised across different villages of SOS India. Many children, youths and community members participated in programs. The celebrations on this day emphasized the importance of Girl child in the community as well as in India. The caregivers and communities were addressed to stop certain practices taken against the holistic development of any girl child. All the sessions were mainly on the importance of greater opportunities for girls & awareness about gender discrimination, motivating them to transcend the barriers and make the impossible turn into possible.
18. 4 children from SOS CV Shillong received “Scouts & Guides Governor Award”
Four of our shining stars – Mariam Lamin, Ritgenlang Ryntathiang, Biralin Kharbani and Balapidianghun Janong received the Scouts and Guides Governor Award for 2019. Our champions were awarded by the Honorable Governor of Meghalaya – Shri Tathagata Roy at the Raj Bhavan, Shillong. They received the award as SOS Children’s Village Shillong Scout and Guide Unit candidates, which is headed by the Asst. State Commissioner for Scout – Mr. Binod Chetri.
19. SOS Tarang 2019 – Universal Children’s Day celebrations
On 20th November every year, Universal Children’s Day is celebrated across the world. To celebrate this auspicious occasion SOS India also organises SOS Tarang, the annual sports and cultural festival with children participating from across 32 villages in 22 states of India. The Tarang finale 2019 was held on 22nd November at Sri Sathya Sai Auditorium, Lodhi Road, New Delhi. SOS Tarang, is a day for all the children under the care of SOS India to showcase their talents and seek blessings.
20. Sports and cultural event on United Nations International Day of Persons with Disabilities
To reinforce the meaning of inclusiveness amongst the society, encourage children of all kinds of abilities and raise awareness for the specially-abled children, SOS Children’s Village Khajuri Kalan, hosted a sports and cultural event in association with the Department of Social Justice and Disability Empowerment, Bhopal, on the occasion of United Nations International Day of Persons with Disabilities. Heart touching performances were showcased by the children leaving the audience in tears.
21. Children Parliament: An approach towards Children Representation
SOS CV Varanasi team along with UNICEF and other stake holders like Police/Child Line/CWC/ Beti Padho Beti Bacho district team etc. had a series of discussion to engage with children on why it is important to cast their vote as they reach 18 years of age and how these votes play an important role for each citizen of the nation. Finally a decision was taken to introduce Bal Sansad in all the eight blocks of Varanasi and SOS played a key role in implementing the same.
