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SOS Children’s Villages Mauritius standing up against poverty
This year, SOS Children's Villages Mauritius joined millions of people worldwide to Stand Up and Take Action against poverty and inequality for the Millennium Development Goals.
Our intent for this special day was yet distinctive. Indeed, since the government of Mauritius has already started different programs to eradicate poverty, our aim was not to gather the maximum of people but to:
1. See why people are still living in poverty despite the facilities offered by the Government and the NGOs
2. Spot out the Motivating Factors that may be used to help poor people Stand Up and Step out of their poverty.
In this approach, SOS Children's Villages Mauritius decided to gather the parents of some 350 vulnerable children entrusted to our Family Strengthening Programme for a community workshop on Friday 17 October at Cité Mangalkhan, situated in the middle part of the island, and on Saturday 18 October at Bambous found in the west part of the island.
After the welcome speech some of the beneficiaries who are successfully getting out of their poverty were invited for a short ‘témoignage’. The event was marked by the presence of two local celebrities, one of them being a well-known Mauritian athlete on the international level. Both of them used to be living in poverty and they explained how they gradually succeeded their way out of poverty and thus encouraged our beneficiaries to do the same.
The focus of the event was when our beneficiaries were allowed to voice out the obstacles that prevent them to get out of poverty in team discussions. Their different views were noted and will be forwarded to the authorities in order to influence policy makers towards enhancing actions to attain the Millennium Development Goals.
SOS Children’s Villages Mauritius symbolically offered each family a thyme plant, this was a meaningful and useful gift to motivate their sense of responsibility – not only for the plant but for the efforts they promised to do to get out of their poor conditions.
At the end of the event all the people gathered stood up, holding the thyme plant, and read the pledge, which was translated in Creole.
It has been a very enriching experience for all those who participated.
SOS Children’s Village Beau Bassin also marked the day by visiting a poor family in their area to make a donation and SOS Children’s Village Bambous gathered all the children and staff in their hall to stand-up and every house presented what they had prepared for that event (sketch, prayer ..)
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| A beneficiary receiving her thyme plant |
Beneficiaries reading the pledge at Bambous |
Beneficiaries reading the pledge at Mangalkhan |
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| Beneficiaries Standing Against Poverty |
Group discussions at Bambous |
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