In Europe many people died during the Second World War. As a result, at the end of the war there were many orphans there. A man called Herrnann Gmeiner wanted to help these children. He wanted them to have the care and kindness of parents. So he built the first SOS Children’s Village in Austria in 1949. This is how the SOS Children’s Villages started. The letters SOS stand for "Save Our Souls". This means "Please help us!". Gmeiner’s idea soon spread all over the world. By 1983 there were 170 SOS Children’s Villages in the world. In SOS villages children live in family groups. A woman lives with each group of children and looks after them. She gives the children a lot of love and kindness. She cooks for them and makes a comfortable, happy home for them. Of course, the children don’t spend all their time in the village. They go to school, they go out with their friends and they go into town. But the village gives them a home. The letters SOS is short for "Save Our Souls".