1980's Middle East
1980s- Broadening Our Presence in the Middle East
Lebanon provided SOS the first opportunity to bring its concept of caring for orphaned and abandoned children to the Middle East. The first SOS Children’s Village was opened in 1969 in the small town of Bikfaya. The Village is surrounded by pines on a hillside overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. Six years after its creation, the Village fell victim to a decades long civil war.
Despite the turmoil, SOS staff have been steadfast in their commitment to easing the suffering of Lebanon’s orphans. SOS has been able to build three more Villages in Lebanon, the most recent one in 2004. Following Lebanon came two Villages in the Palestinian Territories — Bethlehem (1968) and Rafah (2001).
SOS Bethlehem includes a psycho-social mobile medical center for children and families traumatized by war. In 2005 this service was extended to Nablus, Hebron, Jericho, and Jenin. The SOS Children’s Village Bethlehem, in collaboration with other NGOs, offers family strengthening programs, psychological and psychiatric assistance, and medical treatment.
During more peaceful times, SOS Villages create happy memories for children. Ahlam, an eleven-year-old girl at SOS Bethlehem, describes celebrating Ramadan, a month of fasting, prayer, and charity.
“On the first day I go with my SOS mother Wessam to buy fruit, vegetables, and the ingredients for all the sweets my SOS mother makes during the month. My favourite is katayef [a raisin-, nut- or creamstuffed pancake fried and dipped in sweet syrup]. We all help my mother clean the house, then we hang lights and crescents especially for Ramadan. The entire Village gathers for a group Iftar [the meal after breaking the fast at sunset].”
Similar holiday scenes take place at SOS Children’s Villages in Egypt and Sudan, whose governments welcomed SOS in 1976 and 1978, respectively. The 1980s saw the biggest growth for SOS Children’s Villages in the Middle East, with openings in Israel (1981), Algeria (1981-1983), Morocco (1985), and Jordan (1986).
The decision to build SOS Children’s Villages in Jordan dates to a 1982 and SOS Children’s Village Amman was officially inaugurated by King Hussein and Queen Noor in 1987.
It has sixteen family houses for more than a hundred children, a home for retired SOS mothers, a computer lab, and its own supermarket, where produce from the SOS farm is sold. Jordan has three SOS Villages today.
In 2003, four years after the death of her husband King Hussein, Queen Noor wrote about her longtime involvement with SOS Children’s Villages in her memoir, Leap of Faith: Memoirs of an Unexpected Life: “...to make the world a better, safer, and fairer place for all...we must start with children in everything that we do, and that is exactly what SOS Children’s Villages has been doing since the end of the Second World War.”
SOS Amman provides a home for orphaned children like siblings Qusai, Mohammad, Odai, Ra’fat, and Fatima. In 1996 the family was in a terrible car accident on the desert road between Amman and Saudi Arabia, on their way to pilgrimage.
Eleven years old at the time, Qusai watched his parents and youngest brother die. With her last breath, his mother asked him to care for his brothers and sisters. The siblings roamed the streets, selling empty cans and cigarettes to survive. A relative reported their case to Queen Noor, and the siblings were sent to the SOS Children’s Village in Amman. There they found an SOS mother and a family home. Today, Qusai is a young man working hard to ensure a secure and bright future for his siblings.