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The Mamelodi Voice
SUMMER 2012
Spotlight on SOS
Lizo Tom, public relations officer, stands outside the SOS Children’s Village.
Photo: DANIELLE PETTERSON
30 Years of making a difference History and celebrations Staff writers
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his year marks the 30th anniversary of the SOS Children‟s villages in South Africa. SOS Children‟s villages have been home to thousands of orphaned and abandoned children since first founded in 1982 in Ennerdale, Johannesburg. One of the oldest villages was established in 1985 in Mamelodi, Pretoria. The Mamelodi SOS village is currently home to 162 children. These villages have made an astounding difference in people‟s lives by creating a healthy close-knit family environment for orphans and abandoned children to live and grow up in. The families consist of eight to ten children who live within a supportive village environment with an SOS-mother. Guided by four principles, these homes provide parental care, family ties between brothers and sisters, a safe, secure environment and an extended family bond
throughout the village. The organisation enjoys a lot of financial sponsorships, but they can never raise enough awareness about the challenges both the children and SOS-mothers face. According to public relations officer, Lizo Tom, raising as much awareness as possible is one of the primary goals for the celebration of the organisation‟s 30th anniversary in South Africa. He said that it is important for South Africans to know about what the SOS Villages have achieved over the past 30 years as they prepare for a promising future. A gala evening took place on the 12th of October to celebrate the village‟s 30th anniversary. Dignitaries such as the Ambassador of the Austrian Embassy attended the dinner where Dr Masitha Hoeane, University of Pretoria Arts Director was the guest speaker. A birthday cake was made for the children to enjoy on the Saturday after the gala dinner.
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he SOS Villages have made a remarkable difference in people‟s lives over the past 30 years. This is traceable through the inspirational stories of previous SOS children and current employees of the Mamelodi SOS Village.
[the children] are coping with the parent that they have.” “When you see children coming to you and acknowledging that you are there, they know that you are there for them– it means a lot and it changes any negative issue you had,” she said.
Pinkie Sogayise Social worker Pinkie Sogayise gets up every day to do administrative work until the children in the Village arrive home from school. When the children arrive they bring with them the problems one would find in any school or home, but also the unique issues that arise in a community like Mamelodi. As a social worker in the village Sogayise helps with the admission of new children. This is only done by court order. The social workers inside the village contact external social workers working directly with the community and who refer children to the Village based on specific admission criteria. Sogayise described her daily life in the Village: “You speak to some of [the children], attend counselling sessions, group work sessions and I also go to the houses to check how
The village raised me up to be who I am today Lizo Tom Public relations officer “The village raised me up to be who I am today,” explained Lizo Tom, Public Relations and Corporate Fundraiser of the Village. Tom was born on 23 February 1985 in the Livingston hospital in Port Elizabeth. He mysteriously arrived at the SOS Village at the age of two and stayed there until he was 19. In 2005 he decided to look for his biological parents to find the truth about his life and how the SOS Village has helped him achieve his goals. He was shocked by what he
discovered. His mother was allegedly drinking at a shebeen just before she went into labour. At the hospital she used a false identity and abandoned him. Even though it is not clear how he ended up at the Mamelodi Village, Tom is very grateful that he did. With the support of the village Tom was able to learn English, finish his schooling and study opera. He found success singing at the World Peace Concert in Japan and shared a stage with well-known opera singer Helmut Lotti in Sweden. He now gives back to the village working as the public relations officer and acting as what he describes as a big brother to the children in the Village. Tom wishes to contribute to every child‟s future just as the SOS Children‟s Village contributed to his. “I want the children to look beyond me – I want doctors, lawyers and extraordinary musicians.”
Victoria House mother The Villages would not function without the help of the house mothers. Most of the SOS mothers have their own families whom they leave behind to care for those with more