Why I will remember this charity

John Herold explains why he is leaving SOS Children a legacy

Having had a long career in the Royal Air Force during which I experienced a great deal of overseas travel, which I most enjoyed, I was determined, when I retired, to continue my travel experiences at a more leisurely pace. At any opportunity I travelled abroad particularly to the East. Unlike my Air Force travels, I was able to experience a different aspect of many parts of the world such as the abject poverty in which my fellow human beings have to exist.

I felt a great personal need to help in any way I could to relieve in some small way a little of the suffering I had seen.

It was at that time that I came across an advertisement for SOS Children's Villages, an organisation which I had never heard of, but which I now have the utmost admiration and respect for.

I offered immediately to sponsor a child and was fortunate enough to become an 'Uncle' to Sunitha, a delightful little Indian girl of 9 years of age, who with her younger brother had recently been orphaned, and rescued by the local SOS Children's Village near Cochin.

At the first opportunity I travelled to India to find out at first hand exactly what and who I was sponsoring. I found to my absolute delight the happiest, well-cared for group of children imaginable and have made annual visits to them ever since. My tenth annual visit took place during January 2006.

That particular group of children, brothers and sisters to Sunitha are now quite grown up and are either working, students in advanced education or awaiting university places. The SOS education system provides continuous and financially supporting education fro all their children. I often wonder what would have become of these young people had they not been fortunate enough to be taken in by SOS, with its dedicated staff. It is heartbreaking to think of the alternatives which could have awaited many of them.

I have also visited SOS Children's Villages in other parts of the world and I have always, without exception, been rewarded by seeing children happy and well cared for.

Sunitha lives in Nazareth House with her brothers and sisters. I have now seen them all grow up and blossom under the loving and dedicated care of their house Mother Elsamma. They have become a wonderful bunch of kids, full of fun, responsible, polite, extraordinary, and happy and with sensitive support for those younger than them. And what's more they love their Uncle!

I am now 84 years of age and realise that I may not be able to undertake these annual visits for more than a few more years. However, I am determined to help the excellent work of SOS Children by remembering them in my will. By doing so, I will be able to help another little Sunitha from a lifetime of loneliness, poverty and hardship after I have gone. This is the least I can do for I have greatly appreciated all the joy those children have given me over the years.

Giving hope for the future

Thomas Westwell from Liverpool explains why he is remembering our charity in his Will.

Now retired, I was for many years head of mathematics at Liverpool Institute of Higher Education, now Liverpool Hope University. In 1989, under the auspices of our charity, Hope One World, and with support from SOS, a colleague and I, along with two students, travelled to India to mount in-service training courses on the teaching of mathematics for the Tibetan refugee teachers serving in the schools in the SOS Children’s Villages at Choglamsar in Ladakh and at Dharamsala. This was the second such programme - science had been the focus in 1988 - and the project has since established itself as a collaborative venture between SOS and Hope One World that still thrives.

For all who have had the good fortune to participate in the project, and most certainly for me, the experience of working with the Tibetans and staying in their communities has proved both enriching and very humbling. Despite their adverse circumstances, the welcome we were given was the most generous and hospitable that could be imagined, and the Tibetans’ enthusiasm for expanding their teaching skills was totally positive and committed. This was a learning opportunity for me beyond anything that I believe we might have given to our hosts in return. I have been a firm supporter of SOS ever since - I became a sponsor for a child at Choglamsar on my return; an undertaking that I have maintained with joy ever since.

Why I am remembering SOS Children in my Will

Elizabeth Fairgrieve from Dundee describes what made her include SOS Children in her Will.

A long held ambition to visit Peru was realised in 1996, a few years after I retired from my profession as an occupational therapist. My career was mainly spent with children having special needs which brought me in contact with families across the social spectrum.

This holiday was memorable in so many ways - a highlight being celebrating my mortgage being paid up at Macchu Picchu! However a lasting memory has been the effects of the poverty of the majority in the country and the extreme contrast with the more affluent few. So on my return home I sought out ways of helping the situation by supporting other charities working in Latin America.

My interest in children’s welfare prompted me to leave a legacy in my will to SOS Children and I now sponsor a child. My reasons for now focussing on SOS Children? Firstly, the Children’s Village concept and that children are raised in their own culture and educated within the country’s normal school system to help them out of the poverty trap in adult life. And secondly the outreach programmes from Community Centres which aim to prevent family disruption. I also appreciated the opportunity to choose which country I wished to support.

Leaving a legacy to orphan charity

I have no children of my own, but all my working life I was a social worker, and believe passionately in the importance of a stable family background for each and every child. I first came across SOS on a visit to Sri Lanka, many years ago, and had the opportunity to visit the SOS Children's Villages in Colombo and in Nuwara Eliya. I was immensely impressed with the basic principles as I understand them: to give each child a stable home, with a mother who is there 24/7; not to separate siblings from each other; to ensure each child has a good basic education and the opportunity to reach his/her potential; to keep the child in that home until he/she leaves to pursue higher education or work and independence; to ensure that the child is kept in his/her own culture, with a standard of living that is appropriate to that country.

After I returned home, I decided I must support SOS, and felt I could sponsor 2 children: one would be in the Indian Subcontinent, where English remains the lingua franca, and the other in a Spanish-speaking country, as I was originally brought up in Argentina, and can speak and write reasonable Spanish. So I now have one sponsored child in Sri Lanka, and one in Honduras. Unfortunately I have not yet been able to visit Sri Lanka again, so have not met my protegee there: but I have been to Central America about every 4 or 5 years, and on each occasion have made a point of visiting "my" Children's Village in La Ceiba for a week or so. My original child is now a very independent young lady of 21, and this year I was able to find her in the capital, Tegucigalpa - thanks to the Housemother network, which is superb! J was delighted and amazed to see me again, and declared that my visit was her best 21st birthday present! I also met my new sponsored girl, and we spent a very happy week together in the Village, where I also caught up with a number of the children and housemothers I had met on previous visits. I am known as the English lady who was bitten by Rocky, the dog - such is fame!

Apart from supporting individual children through SOS, I do tend to channel donations for natural disasters through SOS as I know that the Villages are very much part of their local communities, and are in the best position to use money to meet local needs. When Hurricane Mitch struck Honduras, the children in La Ceiba had to be rescued from the roofs of their houses - but as soon as the Village was operational again, with the Housemothers cooking on open fires on the central campus, they were feeding local families, and using the money sent to buy provisions and essential household equipment to help people who had lost everything. So if a legacy can help to build more Villages, and ensure that more children have a stable family life and emotional security, I feel the money is well spent.

A gift in my Will for charity

Gosh, I must have been a sponsor with SOS Children’s Villages for about 20 years: How time flies!

When I think back to the beginning of my association with SOS I am delighted that I made the decision to become a sponsor. At the beginning I wanted to find out more about the charity and attended an A.G.M. in Cambridge where I was made to feel very welcome. As a new sponsor I was full of questions which were answered very openly. And as the years passed regular letters have updated me on the progress of my sponsored child, Ali Imran, and his village.

After a few years I began to consider including a legacy to SOS in my will. This triggered a desire to visit the children’s village where Ali Imran lives. I apprehensively approached the UK headquarters half expecting to be dissuaded, but to my delight I was encouraged to contact the SOS Headquarters in Dhaka, Bangladesh, with my request. My dream came true at the end of 2000. My husband and I visited the children’s village in Dhaka before moving on to spend a few days at the children’s village in Khulna, where we were made extremely welcome.

I treasure the memories of that visit and would dearly love to return one day, but perhaps more importantly I felt very humbled to have seen the work that takes place in such challenging areas. This reinforced my decision to leave a legacy to SOS in order to help support the work of SOS Children’s Villages after I’m gone, and I hope others feel similarly encouraged.

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