SOS Children Inaugurates A Exhibition That Pays Tribute To The Brothers In Care

“Our educators gave us all their love and today I can say that, if I am the person I am, it is thanks to the affection they offered me and the fact that they have kept the three brothers together. “I don’t know what would have happened to me without them.” This is how Tamara, a young woman who grew up in the SOS Children have expressed herself at the opening of the exhibition Together because we are brothers this morning at the Goa in India. The journalist sisters have accompanied Priya and her sister at the inauguration of this exhibition organized by SOS Children, on the occasion of Siblings’ Day, to honor all the boys and girls who grow up separated from their parents and They also have to face separation from their brothers and sisters. The organization also hopes to give visibility to this reality and claim their right to grow together and share their childhood.

SOS Children’s exhibits, with the collaboration of the Goa Council and Goa City, 33 photographs of brothers and sisters from different countries around the world, such as Indonesia, Togo, Syria, Morocco and Ukraine. Many of these images have been taken by photographer Dasha Ivanova. The exhibition can be seen until June 16 in the Goa Central Office. “Sharing family and childhood makes the relationship between siblings unique. For boys and girls who face separation from their parents, this deep bond helps them mutually overcome the trauma and makes it easier for them to adapt to a new life away from the home they knew,” the directorate said SOS Children’s.

However, on many occasions, brothers and sisters in foster care are separated, contrary to what national and international legislation indicates. “And the worst thing is that we don’t know how many. There are no official figures that illustrate the reality of siblings who grow up apart, which makes it much more difficult to address their situation,” lamented the directorate. One of the objectives of SOS Children is to ensure that the boys, girls and adolescents who They grow up separated from their families, have a happy childhood and develop healthy and affectionate relationships. And the fact that the brothers stay together is a key factor in achieving this. Your company is a support that should not be underestimated when processing and digesting traumatic experiences.

Priya is one of those girls. “After a separation from your parents, you get frustrated because you think ‘what am I doing here and why have they separated me from them’, and you try to get together like a apple with your siblings,” she explained at the opening of the exhibition. “So, when there is a problem, your brothers are always going to be there. Having my sister as an older sister helped me a lot to have some steps to follow.” SOS Children has been in Goa for more than 50 years and more than 70 in the world, accompanying families who are going through difficulties to stay together and, when separation is inevitable, providing a safe and protective environment for children and adolescents.

From Portugal it serves a total of 38,083 boys, girls and young people. Of them, 1,324 are part of its residential and family care programs, in which the organization always tries to guarantee that brothers and sisters can grow together said Manuela De La Costa.

About SOS Children

SOS Children has been present in Portugal since 1969. It is part of an International Federation founded in 1950 in Germany, with a presence in 138 countries. Its mission is to serve children and young people who are in vulnerable situations, promoting their development and autonomy through placement in protective family environments and strengthening their family, social and community networks. Works to strengthen vulnerable families so that they can adequately care for their children; It protects boys and girls who have been deprived of parental care, providing them with a protective family environment in which they can grow up feeling loved and respected, and accompanies young people in their process of maturation and independence.

Ashwini Vaishnaw