November 8 2008

Official opening of SOS Children's Village Lujan

08/11/2008 - On 4 November, Helmut Kutin, President of SOS Children's Villages, children, SOS co-workers, foreign and local personalities gathered together to celebrate the official inauguration of the fourth SOS Children's Village in Argentina.

Photo: Fernando Espinoza
President Kutin is sharing happy moments with the children from Lujan Photo: Fernando Espinoza
The expected day started very early. The sky was clear and the sun shone beautifully. At 8.50 a.m., Mr. Kutin was already greeting the children of the splendid new SOS Children's Village Lujan. While he was there, he visited some of the houses and chatted happily with the family members, specially the SOS mothers. Always surrounded by the children, he toured the village and gave them coloured balloons.

The act began at 10 a.m. and to begin with, Josef Schwald, president of SOS Children's Villages Argentina, expressed his gratefulness to Mr. Kutin for his visit and all those present for attending the official inauguration of the village.

Then Mr. Kutin spoke to everyone in almost perfect Spanish. In the first place, he expressed his happiness to be in Argentina again, inaugurating a new village. He then pointed out the importance of caring and looking after the children worldwide, since "they are tomorrow's adults, they are the future", he said. He also took advantage of the occasion to request the support from the managers of different companies who had been invited to the event, to continue and to expand the work of the SOS Children's Villages in Argentina.

The most moving moment was when Mr. Kutin presented Isabel Genecini, Norma Fernandez and Ana Vega, three SOS mothers of Oberá, with a ring commemorating their ten years of dedicated work. They all hugged him and were accompanied by their adolescent children, among which was Argentino Demetrio, the South American Shot Put Champion.

However, not only the adults participated in this ceremony. The children of the village actually were the main participants. They closed the ceremony performing dances, among which stood out "Dream" of Luis Miguel and a typical dance of the Argentinean folklore. When the children were dancing, everyone surrounded the stage and clapped to their choreography to encourage them. They were dressed with very attractive colours, green t-shirts for the boys and fuchsia for the girls. They also had their faces painted with golden glitter. To end the official act, a ribbon was cut and the children released 50 white balloons, which flew into the sky.