Welcome to the Official page of the Presidency of the Portuguese Republic

Mr António Capucho, Mayor of Cascais

Ms Rosa Araújo, Director of the Lisbon and Tagus Valley District Social Security Centre

Ms Maria do Céu Mendes Correia, Founder of the SOS Villages

Mr Luís Matias, President of the SOS Villages

Ladies and Gentlemen

I would like to begin by expressing my thanks for the invitation to attend yet another initiative of the Association of SOS Children’s Villages of Portugal. It is with special emotion that I do so not only because it is one of my first public acts as wife of the President of the Republic but also, and above all, because it is an act of recognition of the exceptional work that this Association has carried out during the 42 years of its existence.

We have become accustomed to viewing the SOS Villages as one of the pioneering initiatives in taking in unprotected children in Portugal. We have discovered that the dream of being able to provide each child with a Mother, a Family, a Home and a Healthy Community may become reality through effort, competence, gifts and, above all, the love that so many have brought to this project.

I know that it is through this love that many of you are here today, recognising with your presence the need to reflect on the challenges and problems facing these children. In a society that has altered so munch over these past 30 years, this effort of finding the best solutions for problems old and new must be underscored. In the first place, the way in which we view the rights of children has changed. Much has been done in this field, but we are still far from what we all wish to bring about to make these children happier, more able, more self-reliant.

Society ahs changed, but unfortunately there is still a high risk of exclusion for many children. Despite the remarkable progress seen in our country, we have to admit that childhood poverty is tardy in being confined to a dimension that will not shame us.

The family has changed, and with it some of the fundamental pillars that allow a child to grow up in an environment that will provide it with love, security and confidence in the future have become more fragile. Nowadays, I hear many educators and teachers complain that children and youths are more immature and less self-reliant, and I wonder whether, at heart, they do not feel less safe, less confident, and are therefore more dependent.

An old thought, the origin of which is unknown, tells us that “a child becomes an adolescent as soon as he stops asking where he came from and saying where he is going”. It is a reaction of one who is seeking his place in life, of one looking for an identity who wishes to do so in an independent manner. It would be a matter for concern if a child did not know where he came from and, on no longer saying where he is going, does so because he has nowhere to go. This process of affirmation may, for some, be a process of hiding this emptiness that life has uncovered in him.

This process of affirmation, as Bruno Bettelheim pointed out long ago, is undertaken from a twofold standpoint of opposition and mimicry. Of opposition to those whose are closest to him, particularly his parents and the adults with whom he is on intimate terms. Of mimicry of those he admires and with whom he wants to be associated.

It is for this reason that adolescence is also the age of discovery, of experimentation and, inevitably, the age of risk. A risk of which we must all be aware when we note that the potential of this age is surpassed by the youth’s expression, sometimes dramatic, of unhappiness and personal vulnerability. If this is so for children and adolescents who have a family environment, how must it be for those who do not have this invaluable good?

I share these concerns with you for they bear witness to how much your work means to me, the importance of your reflection, this unceasing search for solutions and for the paths that we can help our children to follow, day by day, to a better future.

As educators, teachers and specialists you have in your hands additional responsibilities in facing the challenge of “bringing up” these children, of preparing them to be able to face increasingly complex and unexpected challenges, of providing them with the skills and knowledge required for them to become men and women with a future, of a future that we all hope will be more prosperous and socially fairer.

I recall the words of Prof João dos Santos, who said with the authority of one whose life was devoted to the problems of the younger ones, and I cite by heart, “Every child needs a village and a grandmother”. I personally believe that this was fundamental to my development. I had grandmothers and I had villages.

How can we not be immediately fascinated by bringing about this dream of giving a village, a mother, brothers, aunts, to children who have lost all? It is this fascination that I speak to you about today. A village, a family, love. With these weapons we shall all be able to have better dreams.

I wish to bear witness of your work, your skills and your dedication, and to express my gratitude to all of you.