Child Sponsorship Background from Hargeisa, Somaliland

SOS Children's Village Hargeisa

The land on which the SOS Children's Village is under construction is located in the hub of the central residential and business district at Hargeisa. It is easily accessible by road and is also in close proximity to the airport.

The SOS Children's Village Hargeisa comprises 13 family houses (for approximately 130 children), a community house, village director house, administration building, service house/workshop/store, multipurpose hall and a tukul (African hut).

Other SOS Projects in Hargeisa

The SOS Nursery accommodates four group rooms including one Montessori class for children with special needs (in total about 100 children), a kitchen and side rooms.

The SOS Social Centre provides help to a total of 10,500 children und mothers. It comprises rooms for the future SOS Family Strengthening Programme (this programme has generally been established as a means of providing essential support to vulnerable children and their families, including both material support such as food, clothing and shelter, etc. as well as social services, including health and education), an info centre for the community and a library and a medical centre with a voluntary counselling and testing centre, several examination and treatment rooms, a laboratory and a pharmaceutical store.

The intention of the SOS Social Centre is not only that of offering routine medical services only, but also that of curbing the HIV infection rate in Somaliland, which currently has one of the lowest prevalence rates in Africa. However, several reports have indicated that there are numerous factors that could contribute towards the spread of the HIV virus and therefore the severity of the potential problem was also acknowledged by the President of Somaliland who formally requested that SOS Children's Village International undertakes HIV/AIDS prevention activities as part of the services offered at the SOS Social Centre Hargeisa.

Background to Hargeisa

Hargeisa is located in an enclosed valley of the Galgodon (Ogo) highlands, in the western section of the country. The Hargeisa region has a fairly equable and milder climate as compared to the Gulf of Aden coastal area (one of the hottest areas on earth).