Sahil, the five-year-old boy from Oldham who had been missing for almost two weeks, has been found safe in Pakistan.  The world breathed a collective sigh of relief when the news broke on March 16th that Sahil’s safety was no longer in jeopardy and that he would soon be home with his mother and family.

Spanish authorities have arrested 2 Pakistani men and a Romanian woman in connection with the kidnapping.  These are 3 of the supposed 5 people who broke into Sahil’s grandmother’s home in Pakistan and attacked and robbed the family before snatching the young boy and disappearing, leaving the family fearing for his safety.

It is shocking that mere greed would motivate someone to put Sahil and his family through this terrible ordeal.  To divide a mother and child is heartbreaking and it is wonderful to hear Sahil has a loving home to which to he can return. 

In many other cases, this is not so.  This story brings attention to the families throughout the world who are not together and those children that still need someone to care about them and help them grow into adulthood.  

This is exactly what SOS Children’s Villages aims to achieve; a home for every child.  Their first priority is to keep families together-children with their natural parents.  This is supported through their initiatives called “Family Strengthening Programmes” which educate and advise families on how to be self-sustaining and positive members of their communities.  These programmes are everything from teaching new trades so people may earn a better income, to skills that help people to run a home more economically to psychological support for anyone who is in need of this kind of help.

If no parents can be traced through extensive efforts, fostering is then recommended.  Today, SOS Children’s Villages works in 124 countries globally to help place children into loving homes with foster mothers who help them to feel part of a family again. You can help make that happen.

SPONSOR A CHILD WITH SOS CHILDREN’S VILLAGES