Connie Page Four

What do you like to do best when you're not working?
 If I take the time, I like to sew or make things. I design little flower children, made from natural materials. That's something I learned in Mörlbach. I finish a little doll every two or three months. I also like to go for walks in the woods. Those are the two things I do when I need a change. On my days off, I visit my friends and relations.

What do you think are your particular strengths and talents?
 I think I'm a quiet, well-balanced person who can listen well. My particular strength, I think, is that I can put myself in somebody else's situation well. I have got sensitive antennae for other people's situations. I also enjoy doing housework and I don't find it a problem to cope with everything: running the household, the family tasks and my private life. To find a balance, so that I can be content.

Motivation for Her Choice of Profession
"It became clearer and clearer to me that I was fulfilled by looking after foster children." I've already mentioned that I worked in a children's home for ten years. It was a wonderful job, being there for the children. Even when I was there, I already did more than was really necessary. I came across that quotation years later and it means a lot to me. (Note: this is a reference to Hermann Gmeiner's quotation: "To do more than you need to.") I blossomed in my work and it became clearer and clearer that I was fulfilled by looking after foster children.

It's obvious that a small child belongs with its mother and if there is no mother there, then a replacement mother. A children's home is a less-than-ideal situation. In the end, that was what made me decide to move to the SOS Children's Villages. Furthermore, I was often confronted with views in the home that I couldn't uphold. For example, "The babies shouldn't be picked up so often. They'll get spoiled." Whereas, it was exactly this physical proximity which was so important to me, in order to give the child a little bit of tenderness! You can only convey a feeling of security by cuddling. This phrase had a great effect on me.

Connie I first heard about SOS Children's Villages when they were planning SOS Children's Village Zwickau in 1991 or '92. There was a job advertisement in the newspapers saying, "Seeking SOS mothers." That was the first time I'd heard of this type of care. At that time, there was no foster care system as we have now. That's how I first came across the idea that a "mother" could look after a number of foster children, and that was my life's aim! At the end of 1993, I asked for brochures from Munich. I was very impressed when I read them. I put the brochures in a drawer and another eighteen months passed. During this time, I talked to my mother and sister. I couldn't get the idea out of my head anymore. On the other hand, it was going to be a big step for me, leaving my job, as I didn't know whether I could really become an SOS mother. At that time, the first people were being made redundant. Then I heard that they were going to build an SOS Children's Village in Brandenburg and, of course, I knew immediately that that would be perfect for me. After that I was in constant touch with Munich and was invited for an interview at the SOS Children's Village Harksheide, near Hamburg. Everything ran its course.

I started as a family assistant in Harksheide in October 1995 and didn't know whether I could really become an SOS mother, or even whether I'd ever get to Brandenburg. But what became clear to me during that year in Harksheide was that I wanted to become an SOS mother, and that my then-partner and I would go our separate ways. I wasn't frightened, because I already knew what it meant to bring up these children, some of whom are terribly traumatised. I knew what my life-plan was and everything fitted.

Connie's Story:
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All these mother's stories come from SOS Children's Village Hermann Gmeiner Academy. Copyright is reserved and no unauthorized use permitted. Use for non-commercial purposes may be requested. The interviews telling about the lives of some SOS Mothers form part of an interesting study on being a replacement Mother to children in need in SOS Children's communities worldwide.