SOS Children's Villages: A Brief History
SOS Children's Villages was founded in 1949 by a young Austrian medical student, Hermann Gmeiner, who witnessed the suffering of so many orphaned and abandoned children after World War II and felt that something had to be done to help them.
Out of his unswerving conviction the SOS Children's Village idea was born. Gmeiner noted SOS’s unique approach: "What orphaned and abandoned children need first and foremost is a family - a family in which they can develop normally."
SOS Children’s Villages began to grow: first Children’s Villages and youth facilities were established throughout Europe. In the early 1960s moved to Latin America (beginning in Uruguay) and Asia (beginning in South Korea and India). In the early 1970s, SOS Children’s Villages began to establish programming in Africa.
SOS Children's Villages has since grown to become an organization whose childcare concepts and educational principles are recognized throughout the world. Currently there are 2,000 SOS Children’s Village facilities worldwide.
SOS Children’s Villages Canada
SOS Children's Villages Canada was established in 1969. Its founders were some of Canada's leading public figures, including Chief Justice Emmett Hall, Jeanne Sauve (then a Member of Parliament, later became Governor General), Otto Lang (then a Cabinet Minister) and Gordon Fairweather (a Member of Parliament and later Chair of the Canadian Human Rights Commission.
For many years, SOS Children’s Villages Canada was run entirely by volunteers, most notably by Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Messner. Born in Austria, the Messners were well acquainted with the work of SOS Children's Villages. As a Director of the Children's Aid Society of Ottawa, Joseph Messner had a long history of working on behalf of children.
SOS Children's Villages Canada has grown and evolved into a national office with staff who work across the country and across the globe. SOS Children’s Villages Canada engages Canadians in the work of SOS Children’s Villages internationally, raising money to support SOS Children’s Villages’ work with children in need around the world.
As part of this engagement, generous Canadians solely funded the building of an SOS Children’s Village in Ondangwa, Namibia. This SOS Village was completed in August 2010. Here are a few highlights of projects Canadians are helping to support.