SOS Children's Villages has been present in Italy since 1956, when an SOS Holiday Camp was built in the north of the country. Shortly after, the organisation started working with local children and their families in the town of Trento, in the north of Italy. At present SOS Children's Villages supports children, young people and families in seven places in Italy.
The SOS-Children's Village is erected in terraces. Each of the 9 family houses has its small terrace. In addition there is one large terrace where all the children of the SOS-Children's Village can play. Besides the family houses, the Children's Village established a multimedia room (Library, P.C., Internet, DVD, Hi-fi), an administrative block and a Village Director's house. Ostuni SOS-Children's Village, in June 2001, realized a new project for the "prompt welcome", called SAMO Project (Servizio Accoglienza Minori in Osservazione). This service has been entrusted to professional collaborators (Psychologist, Neurologist, Pediatrician, Pedagogist) that observe and appraise children coming from families with notable difficulties.
In Ostuni town, not far from the Village, there is the SOS Youth House, where the teenagers live during their training and preparation for independence.
The main attraction in the SOS-Children's Village is the "trullo", a traditional cone-shaped, one-roomed building with an opening for airing purposes on its highest point. Such kind of buildings are characteristic for this region.
