Social Work
SALEM provides a home and safe shelter for children and others living in difficult circumstances.
Not everyone is fortunate enough to belong to a happy family. SALEM provides a home and safe shelter for children and others living in difficult circumstances for as long as they may need it. We encourage self-reliance and the development of social skills, and emphasise the need for each of us to participate positively in our communities.
SALEM children’s and youth villages
The SALEM villages are communities where children and young people – with and without disabilities – from broken family backgrounds can find a home.
In a SALEM village, besides the family homes there are, in most cases, also organic agriculture and horticulture projects, workshops or training facilities and our own bakeries and food production areas. Some villages also offer residential homes for elderly people.
Typically, between 6 and 8 children share a house together with adults as part of an extended family. Each family is led by a parent couple or an experienced mother, professionally trained where appropriate.
Social welfare, education and therapeutic activities within SALEM are founded on the basic tenets of Christianity and most specifically, Matthew 25 where Jesus tells his disciples to serve the least of the least saying ‘For as you do it to even the least of the least, you have done it to me.’
Children learn through example how to love those who are weaker than us. Care for animals is included in developing this sense of compassion towards all of God’s creation. In this way children who come to SALEM with unsociable and challenging behaviours, because of a lack of love and understanding in their lives, are transformed and are able to interact with their fellow human beings again.
Many different domestic animals can be found in SALEM including horses, cats, sheep, birds and bees. Horses in particular have played a big role in the SALEM villages in Germany and Russia providing therapy for children and young people. Through learning respect for horses, children gain the courage and confidence needed to build relationships with people.
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