Caring and Pairing Up with SOS-Kinderdorf
- June 27, 2008
XanGo Goodness has continued its generous globetrot by welcoming SOS-Kinderdorf as its newest charitable world partner. Since 1949, SOS-Kinderdorf (Children’s Villages) has been committed to protecting children’s rights and needs throughout 132 countries. Focused on family-based, long-term care for children who can no longer remain with their biological families, the Children’s Villages offer reliable relationships, recovery from traumatic experiences and, most of all, unconditional love. The children grow up in a stable family environment, and are supported individually until they become independent adults.
There are 14 SOS Children’s Villages in Germany, and XanGo is proud to have partnered with the northernmost Village—located in Schleswig-Holstein near the Bay of Hohwachter on the Baltic Sea. This particular Village comprises eleven family houses and several support facilities in a self-contained community that accommodates around 70 children. The children still attend school in the public system, shop in town and live active social lives. They vacation for four weeks each summer with other children from SOS-Kinderdorf Villages around Europe—hiking in Sweden or enjoying an 18th-Century style regatta (to name a few of the vacation activities). This also provides vacation time for the dedicated mothers.
The mothers are accredited, committed, good souls who want to be parent–role models for these children. The commitment may be as long as 18 years, and the relationships continue well after that. The family loyalty and values that are harbored there lead to annual returns on June 21, when they assemble for a BBQ reunion with those who have grown up and moved on.
XanGo’s own Randy Blosil, regional senior manager for Europe, personally visited the Children’s Village on June 5 and was touched by his experience: “I was honored to represent XanGo and its distributors with our first contribution to this great charity. I was charmed by the bond the children shared and by their ease around adults—they didn’t care that I was the only one with a tie on.”
Randy also shared a great opportunity that has come from his visit, explaining that Andreas Kimpel, director of this Village, is looking for a native English speaker—teenage or older—to teach English to his preschoolers over the next several months. The position pays for travel and lodging, as well as a monthly stipend. It would be a fabulous way for a young adult to experience something special while learning German.
The work that SOS-Kinderdorf is doing at Schleswig-Holstein and around the world exemplifies the core of what XanGo Goodness is all about. This is the first of what we hope will become a long-term partnership with SOS-Kinderdorf Villages around the world.
