Child Sponsorship background from Aboisso, Ivory Coast

SOS Children's Village Aboisso

SOS Children's Village Aboisso is on a hill top on the edge of town. The grounds cover 14 hectares and border on the jungle.

The pastel-coloured family houses form a large oval shape, in the middle of which there are five straw huts and a small open-air theatre.

SOS Children's Village Aboisso has ten family houses which can take in about 100 children. It also has an administration building, a small sick ward where a doctor, who regularly comes to visit the SOS Children's Village, provides the children with medical care and check-ups. Moreover, the children's village has a small farm that is specialized in raising sheep and beekeeping, as well as cultivating coffee plants and palm trees.

Other SOS Projects in Aboisso

The SOS Children's Village also has a nursery and a primary school. The SOS Nursery, which was opened in February 1983, has a capacity for 150 children in six classrooms. Up to 210 children can be taught at the SOS Primary School, which has six classrooms, two rooms for visual teaching, a library, a computer corner, a canteen and several offices. It was opened in October 1994 with financial support from the Danish association of SOS Children's Villages. Children from the SOS Children's Village, as well as those from the neighbouring communities, can attend both schools.

Within the programme to integrate the children into society and working life, an SOS Youth Home was founded which is intended to support them as they learn to become independent. In addition to the youth home with a capacity of 16 young people, flats are also rented so that the young people can prepare themselves for an independent life in privacy under the careful supervision of their caregivers.

Within the aforementioned programme to care for people with AIDS and their families (in particular their children), a social centre opened in August 2004. The social centre is designed so that it can take in a total of 100 children from families in need. It can offer those from the neighbouring communities the opportunity to benefit from sex education and supports people who are affected by the disease and their families with food and medicine as well as financial aid to help them pay for their children to go to school or to make payments on time.

Background to Aboisso

Abiosso is the main town of Aboisso Department of Côte d'Ivoire, located in the Sud-Comoé Region. The city's population is primarily composed of the Anyi Sanwi ethnic group, a branch of the Akan people.