Suzanne Vega
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The American performer Suzanne Vega visited the SOS Children's Village in Granada, Spain, to get to know the work of SOS Children's Villages at first hand. The visit took place in the framework of the VI. Festival of Poetry of Granada, at which the artist performed to the benefit of SOS Children's Villages Spain.
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| Suzanne Vega with the village director and the children of the village - Photo: SOS Archives |
The Huerta de San Vicente in Granada was the setting of one of the city's most important concerts of the year on 14 May, where the well-known singer Suzanne Vega performed some of her greatest hits such as "Luka" and "Tom's Diner", as well as some new songs off her album "Beauty and Crime".
The funds generated by the event went to the benefit of SOS Children's Villages of Spain, which in Granada runs an SOS Children's Village with 61 children, a kindergarten with 36 children, two youth homes with 18 adolescents, a vocational training centre for 27 young people and a day-care center for 32 children.
On the day before the concert, Ms. Vega paid an afternoon visit to the SOS Children's Village to learn about the organisation's work at first hand. The Village Director, the SOS Mothers, and the rest of the village's staff were glad to explain all aspects of life in the SOS Children's Village. The children eagerly showed the star around the village and gave her a guided tour of their rooms. In return, they were treated to an exclusive, living-room performance of "Tom's Diner", at which several of the children exclaimed "Oh, I know that one"!
In the ensuing interview, Ms. Vega spoke at length about her own childhood, the importance of family ties, meeting her own biological father at age 28, and the importance of speaking out against child abuse. At the press conference the following day, she expressed her admiration for the organisation's work and referred to the SOS Children's Village as "a place of safety".
SOS Children's Villages is proud to have gained a new friend and hopes to be able to welcome the charming artist again in one of the 500 SOS Children's Villages around the world.