Child Sponsorship background from Puerto Varas, Chile

SOS Children's Village Puerto Varas

SOS Children's Village Puerto Varas was opened in 1984 in the city of the same name and is situated on the picturesque Lake Llanquihue, one of the largest natural lakes in Latin America, and near to the well-known Osorno volcano. Puerto Varas is well known for its German traditions, fish and seafood, as well as for the natural environment. The city is also called 'city of roses', was founded in 1854 and attracted mostly German speaking Europeans to settle down there and farm the land. The next bigger city is Puerto Montt, only 20 kilometres south. Due to the growth of Puerto Montt, Puerto Varas has become an important residential town, a tourist destination and is the departure point for fascinating excursions to the surroundings of Puerto Varas with its dramatic geography.

The SOS Children's Village was built on 1.3 hectares of land and consists of twelve family houses, providing a new, loving home for up to 100 children. It also has a village director's house, a community centre with an administrative unit and function rooms for special events and celebrations, a sports hall and an SOS aunts' house (SOS Children’s Village mothers in training, who assist current SOS mothers in their everyday work and stand in for them if they are ill or on holiday). The children and young people go to state schools in nearby Puerto Montt.

Other SOS Projects in Puerto Varas

Six SOS Youth Homes were built in Concepción for young people from the SOS Children's Village. Up to 64 adolescents from Children's Villages Bulnes, Concepción, Chaimávida, Coyanco and Puerto Varas can be housed in the SOS Youth Home during their secondary or vocational education. There, a youth educator supervises them as they gradually get used to leading an independent life.