Happy Birthday Little Star!

Today is a special day for the SOS family in House #8. The table is laden with delicious food and the living room is bursting with guests. Loud music is coming from the speakers as the star of the afternoon makes her appearance: It's Princess Marevie's second birthday.




Marevie is celebrating two birthdays - two years since she was born and one since she was born again. Photo: Sophie Preisch

 Two years might not seem long, but Marevie has a long story. The girl was found a year ago in severe malnutrition. She was cared for by her fathers girlfriend - or rather: was supposed to be cared for by her. The woman, herself a mother, used Marevie to gain access to more food and medicine, but she did not feed her. When SOS co-workers took her to the hospital the day he found her, she hardly had enough strength to keep her eyes open. It took months of treatment to recover, to be able to walk and play.



This SOS co-worker was moved to tears when she saw how healthy Marevie looks compared to one year ago. - Photo: Sophie Preisch 

 Today, that all seems far away, as we watch her dancing in her bright white princess' dress. "She loves to dance", says her SOS mother, "she dances all the time."

Marevie was taken into the SOS Children‘s Village in Santo on 10 February 2010. She has been given an SOS family: a mother, aunties and brothers and sisters who look after her and care for her. They give her love and care and space to develop. During this past year, Marevie has also turned famous, since her story touched many hearts, and still does.

Even though she has become something of a mascot for the whole SOS Children's Village, Marevie seems unaware of all the attention and prefers to play with her SOS sister. - Photo: Sophie Preisch

She herself, seems unaware of all the excitement about her. She surveys her surroundings with a critical expression and prefers playing with her best friend and SOS sister to being the centre of attention. As SOS co-workers are sitting around, eating birthday cake and reflecting how the past year changed this this little girl, Marevie dances away to play with the other kids.