Not just “Another Mother”: SOS Children’s Villages launches video documentary and new song on iTunes

OTTAWA, Ont. (April 17, 2015) – What happens when you send a Canadian mother to Africa... and she has to be a mother to a family of orphaned and abandoned children?

That’s the question children’s charity SOS Children's Villages asked when they sent singer, songwriter and mom Amanda Martinez to Namibia. The results can be found in a new video, “Another Mother” which is being launched in the run-up to Mother’s Day.

SOS Children’s Villages is the largest organization in the world working with orphaned and abandoned children. Through its Children’s Villages, SOS provides children in need with a caring, loving, and secure family environment where basic needs for food, health, shelter, and education are met. Each SOS Village has family homes where children are raised by SOS mothers – extensively trained local women who provide constant care, love and support for five to ten children.

SOS asked singer/songwriter Amanda Martinez to go to Namibia and take on the role of an SOS mother for several days, acting as a mom to a family of eight children who had been orphaned or abandoned. The video takes her through a typical day—starting at 5:15 a.m. getting the children ready for school and winding through a day that has both humourous and heartwarming moments. The video, which goes live today, captures this experience and serves to reiterate the importance of a maternal figure to abandoned children around the world; the ultimate mission of SOS Children’s Villages.

“I was honoured to be asked by SOS Children’s Villages to take part in this project,” says Amanda Martinez, “Being a mother, whether in Canada or Namibia, is the most rewarding and challenging job in the world. Parents are the most important figure in a child’s life. They are the source of a child’s love. They shape who the child becomes.”

“We were thrilled to produce ‘Another Mother’ with Amanda Martinez because it helps illustrate the vital work SOS Children’s Villages do in raising orphaned and abandoned children,” explains SOS Children’s Villages President Boyd McBride, “We are not an orphanage—through our SOS mothers, children who were once alone are now raised from childhood to maturity by a local mother, offering love and hope to children at risk.”

• The video can be found at www.soschildrensvillages.ca/mommy, which includes a blog by Amanda Martinez and additional video content
• On the same site, there is an opportunity to send an e-card and a donation for Mother’s Day
• Amanda Martinez will also be releasing her song “Under African Skies”, inspired by her experience in Namibia, on iTunes in time for Mother’s Day. Proceeds of the song will go to SOS Children’s Villages Canada

OPPORTUNITY FOR INTERVIEWS:

• Amanda Martinez is available for interviews from April 27 – May 8 and will be visiting several Canadian cities promoting “Another Mother” and SOS Children’s Villages

MEDIA CONTACTS

• Graeme Burk, Director of Communications, SOS Children’s Villages
  613-282-1476, [email protected]
   
• Alexandra Sockett, Director, elevator communications
  416-363-6444 x 228, [email protected]
   
• B-Roll, video and photos are also available.