Meeting Patricia
Extract from the Diary
by Astrid Brandl
M. Charvet, the village director, takes us by car from Paris to SOS Children's Village Châteaudun. Quite by chance he has been in the National Office today, where he has taken part in a management meeting for all the village directors. Châteaudun is situated on the Loire and is about a one-and-a-half hour drive from Paris. On the journey we chat about the situation of socially disadvantaged children in France. M. Charvet tells us about the child welfare system and the laws, which have granted SOS Children's Villages an important role in France. The countryside is beautiful. There are acres of agricultural land: huge, yellow, green and brown fields, interspersed with the magnificent châteaux for which this region is famous. The small, quiet town of Châteaudun is also dominated by a beautiful old château.
I cannot wait to see the SOS Children's Village. It is supposed to be one of the so-called "integrated SOS Children's Villages." It is a model where an attempt is being made to integrate the SOS Children's Village into the neighbourhood from the construction side too. I cannot imagine what it is going to be like, and ask myself whether it will be entirely different to the SOS Children's Villages I've visited before. We arrive at a large residential estate, which seems friendly and pleasant. Even though there is no sign and no fence, I immediately feel like I did in the other SOS Children's Villages. The only difference here is that, apart from the family houses and the village director's house, there are also private houses built in a similar style. I like this format. It seems more open than other villages.
Finally we meet Patricia. She has four very active brothers and sisters in her family. We plan the coming days together. Patricia has to organise her time well, as the children have a lot of appointments with doctors and therapists.
I cannot get over the work being done with the natural family. I can feel how important the children and their futures are to Patricia. At the same time, I can also feel how difficult it must be for her, not knowing how long the children will remain in her care. Every year, the magistrate decides whether or not the children should return to their natural parents. Patricia finds it hard to cope with this uncertainty, and so she tries to live in the "here and now". My admiration for her mental stamina increases with every hour.
Patricia invites us to her house for an aperitif on our last evening. Two other SOS mothers, Anne and Martine, and one of the SOS aunts, Christèl, have also been invited, along with their children. Fifteen children, six adults and a dog, all in the one house, means that it is pretty lively. It is a wonderful finale to our stay.
Patricia's Story will be published here soon
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.