- Salem International
Salem is an international humanitarian and environmental organisation actively working for peace throughout the world. Originally founded in 1957 by Gottfried Müller and a circle of friends in
Stuttgart ,Germany , to provide shelter for the homeless, Salem can now be found in many different countries, on 5 continents. Salem is anon-governmental organisation (NGO) whose belief is based on theBible andhuman rights .History
Beginnings
Gottfried Müller founded the Brotherhood Salem in 1957 in Stuttgart, Germany and devoted his life to people, hence fulfilling a promise he made to himself in a death cell during
World War 2 captivity.He started by giving away all of his money to two disabled Jewish women. Soon with the help of some friends he established a home for homeless people and ex-convicts in
Stadtsteinach (?) and quickly more of these Salem homes were built in several German cities.After several years of this social work it turned out, however, that the help for these people had mostly started off too late and that many could not permanently be rehabilitated to home life having been uprooted many times.
He found the solution during conversations with the people he has cared for. Many of them reported that they had grown up in orphanages.Fact|date=April 2008
Salem children's and youth villages
He went to the core of the issue, the cause of uprooting - the children being from disadvantaged family backgrounds. Gottfried Müller said,
"We must find a way to create a better future for the 'home' children, to educate them to be members or even representatives of a valuable community."
He gathered together educationalists and co-workers to realize with him a new kind of education closer to 'families' and created the Salem children's and youth welfare organization.
In all Salem institutions children from disadvantaged family backgrounds were accommodated to give them a lasting home. Successively, the Salem children's and youth villages in Stadtsteinach/Northern
Bavaria ,Höchheim /Northern Bavaria andKovahl /Northern Germany were built.The model character of these villages was the reason for building further Salem institutions in theUSA ,Israel ,Uganda ,Russia andEcuador .Fact|date=April 2008Health and the protection of nature and environment
What followed was the engagement of medical welfare work,
vegetarian nutrition, holistic medicine, animal and environmental protection, organic agriculture,re-afforestation projects and the Salem institute for the investigation of alternatives to animal experiments.Meanwhile Salem has grown into an international welfare organization offering a home for many discriminated children and juveniles.Fact|date=April 2008Fields of Work
Social Work
"Salem children's and youth villages"
The children in these villages and homes live together in extended families, about 6 to 8 children with adults. Each family is led by a couple of parents or an experienced mother with an educational professional training. Some villages offer residential homes for elderly people, too.Fact|date=April 2008
"Public health services"
In many projects the social commitment goes beyond the children's village.
For example, in the Salem village in Uganda, there is a fully equipped hospital with a laboratory and an operating theatre. It provides medical care to an area of around 45,000 inhabitants. Furthermore, there is a training facility of health advisors and traditional midwives.
The clinic in
Togo , being supported by Salem, provides medical treatment freely or at a very low cost to approximately 42,000 people of the area.Fact|date=April 2008"Education"
The foundations of the education are the
Ten Commandments andJesus ’Sermon on the Mount from the Bible. TheChristian faith is in the same way part of education as knowledge from pedagogics, psychology and sociology as well.Salem provides professional and academic apprenticeships, as well as continuing education, in different areas. For example, the apprenticeship workshop in Uganda and the school for children with behavioural disorder in
New England , USA.Fact|date=April 2008Nature
A healthy interaction with nature is the basis of Salem's work. The activities range from animal protection and environmental education in Germany to reafforestation programmes in
Africa .Fact|date=April 2008Neurofeedback
As an alternative Training Centre for ADD/ADHD Salem provides
biofeedback training in the form of individual sessions and children's summer camps. It also offers practice-oriented seminars aboutNeurofeedback / EEG-biofeedback with internationally renowned experts and clinicians. [http://www.eeg-neurofeedback.de] (Web site only in German)Organic Farming
Organic agriculture and gardens belong to most of the children's villages.
In Germany these are farmed in accordance with the national guidelines for organic agriculture.In tropical countries other methods such as
Permaculture andAgroforestry stand in the foreground.There are gardens which grow many herbs, fields to grow crops and vegetarian whole-grain diet based kitchens in these villages.
Guesthouse
The guesthouse "Lindenhof Salem" in Stadtsteinach/ Northern Bavaria offers a vegetarian organic restaurant as well as naturopathic treatment.
External links
* http://www.saleminternational.org
ee also
Maryland Salem Children's Trust
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