AT THE END of World War II in Austria kind hearted Dr. Hermann Gmeiner collected orphaned and abandoned children and gave them shelter.
Thus was the first SOS Children’s Village founded of which there has been a fast multiplication all over the world.
The villages not only shelter the children but also give them a sense of family (siblings are never separated), home life, and best of all, a Christian oriented education.
The first SOS village in the Philippines was put up 45 years ago in Lipa, when His Eminence Ricardo Cardinal Vidal at the time was its Archbishop, prior to being assigned in Cebu.
It was the late Archbishop of Cebu, His Eminence Julio Cardinal Rosales, who invited Dr. Hermann Gmeiner to visit Cebu in 1979 with the purpose of setting up an SOS Village here. The site chosen was in Talamban where it is located today.
Accompanying Dr. Gmeiner on this visit was his right hand man, Helmut Kutin, himself once sheltered in an Austrian SOS Village. When Dr. Gmeiner passed away, Mr. Kutin took over the world wide operations of SOS Children’s Villages.
Helmut has travelled the world, to wherever there is an SOS Village. His most recent visit to Cebu was in his capacity as President Emeritus of SOS Children’s Villages International, and with a most special purpose.
Mr. Kutin has been made a Son of Cebu Province, with the citation presented to him by Vice Governor Agnes Magpale and Provincial Board Member Gigi Sanchez during a ceremony at Casino Español de Cebu.
Hosting was Cardinal Vidal, Chairman of the Board of the SOS Children’s Village in Cebu. He was present along with the following: Shubha Murthi, deputy secretary general of SOS Children’s Villages International; Bienvenido Delgado, SOS national director for the Philippines; Omar Maxwell Espina, SOS Cebu board secretary; and SOS Cebu’s program director Mario Victor Baang, and Delia Saberon.