Earl lives in the Philippines with his father and mother. His father works as a street food vendor, while his mother stays home to take care of their household. With a tight budget from a single income, Earl’s schooling was at risk. Forced to choose between daily essentials and the cost of school supplies, his education had to come second.

But Earl’s future changed when a Holt sponsor stepped in.

Through monthly sponsorship, 10-year-old Earl no longer had to worry about the cost of school or how it impacted his family. Instead, sponsorship gave him the freedom to focus on his studies and enjoy his childhood.

Earl is now in 8^th grade and enjoys sudoku, reading about history and cooking for his family. He’s a diligent student and proud to be at the top of his class. His best subjects are English and technology, and he plans to complete his education through 12^th grade. As a shy 14-year-old, Earl tends to keep to himself, but his friends say he is a kind, thoughtful and loyal friend.

Recently, Earl wrote a letter to thank his sponsors for their help. He promises to “never stop dreaming” because of their support:

My name is Earl. I am 14 years old. I started participating in sponsor[ship] when I was in grade 4, and now I’m in grade 8. My favorite thing to do is read books about history.

First of all, thank you for helping my family, who are able to reduce costs because of what you gave. And most importantly, I would like to thank you for your help in my stud[ies], which helped me a lot. I’ve always been in the top 1 or 2, or with honors. And now in grade 8, I graduated with high honors. I also participated in the sudoku puzzle [competition], and I was top 2 in our school. … I promise you that as long as you help me and hold on to something, I will never stop dreaming of myself and [my] family. Thank you very much.

God Bless,

Earl

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The post “I Will Never Stop Dreaming” appeared first on Holt International.

Vietnam

Holt Vietnam recently hosted a three-day Roots to Grow training for 20 children, ages 14-18, in Dong Nai Province. The Roots to Grow training focuses on exploring nutrition, hygiene and sanitation, and budgeting presented through fun and interactive games, activities, meal preparation and cooking.

The recent training brought a lot of fun for the children and helped them to feel confident in the kitchen. They learned about how different foods protect your body, help you grow and give you energy. Through hands-on time in the kitchen, they also learned practical skills like handling kitchen knives, keeping utensils clean and even how to cook new recipes, like omelets, focaccia bread, bulgogi and apple crisp!

Without learning these essential life skills, it can be extremely difficult for children growing up in poverty to make their way as independent adults. Through the support of sponsors and donors, children in Holt’s programs learn life skills that they need to live healthy, successful lives.

Uganda

In Uganda, maternal and child health camps were recently held at four health centers as well as Holt sponsor and donor-supported early childhood care and development centers. These donor-funded camps offer crucial medical care to children, families and caregivers living in impoverished communities.

The recent maternal and child health camps served 8,250 children and 694 adults, providing interventions such as Vitamin A supplementation, deworming and health education through Holt’s Child Nutrition Program. Children and families also received treatment for prevalent conditions including malaria, chronic coughs, influenza and skin infections. Children with more complex health issues were referred to health specialists.

Thanks to the support of sponsors and donors, families receive one-on-one support and benefit from community events— like camps — that provide training to help them nurture their child’s growth and development. When children are healthier, they are more likely to meet developmental milestones, perform better in school and their families miss less work — enabling them to earn more income for their household!

China

In China, Holt’s family strengthening programs focus on education to lift children and families out of poverty. Child sponsors and donors provide the critical support needed to help children attend school for as long as possible — creating generational change for thousands of families.

During August, ten students from the Shangyi Family Strengthening (FS) program attended a five-day summer camp held by the Chinese Society of Aeronautics and Astronautics in Jiangxi Province. Through the generosity of Holt donors, these students attended the summer camp free of cost.

The field trip included hands-on aeronautic and astronautic experiences, inspiring the students to develop their professional skills and explore possible career paths. For children in Holt programs, experiences like these help broaden their horizons beyond the limited career opportunities they witnessed growing up in impoverished communities.

Cambodia

According to Holt-supported students in Cambodia, donors and sponsors are making a big difference.

Recently, students were given an assessment through the Educational Support Program (ESP) in Phnom Penh. All students reported that Holt Cambodia’s ESP has helped them remain in school, with 86.96% strongly agreeing and 13.04% agreeing. Furthermore, almost all children (91.3%) who participated in the assessment strongly agreed and 8.7% agreed that ESP support has motivated them to pursue higher education.

In late July, 83 children in the ESP completed their Grade 9 National Diploma Exams and 71 successfully passed to Grade 10. Without support from Holt sponsors and donors, many of these children would have dropped out as early as in primary school. For children growing up in poverty around the world, education is the key to a brighter future.

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The post Notes from the Field: September 2025 appeared first on Holt International.

When Nalini was just a baby, her father abandoned his family — leaving her mother, Asha, to care for two children on her own.

Scared and unsure of the future, Asha packed up all their belongings and left their village in Tamil Nadu. Jobs were scarce in her village, especially for a single mother…

With her two children in her arms and all the money she had, Asha headed toward the city of Bangalore in search of opportunity and hope.

A New Start

An estimated 600 million internal migrants live in India, driven from rural villages to crowded cities like Bangalore in search of work. Millions of migrants, like Nalini and her family, live in poverty — only now in an overcrowded and overwhelming urban setting. Many have trouble finding jobs, often due to language barriers. Internal migrants come from all over India, a country where more than 1,600 languages — including dialects and tribal tongues — are spoken.

With great perseverance, Asha found a job as a housemaid. But when her employers discovered she’d have to bring her two young children along, she faced an impossible decision.

“I didn’t know where to leave my kids because I needed to work,” Asha says, her eyes gleaming with tears. “And if I brought my kids to my place of work, they would not give me a job.”

Like many children in migrant communities in India, 2-year-old Nalini and her 5-year-old brother were left home alone while their mother worked.

Asha kissed them goodbye and locked the door behind her — doing what she could to keep them safe in her absence. Nalini and her brother were too young to be left alone. But even older children face real dangers when left unsupervised in the slums, including the risk of trafficking and exploitation.

Asha could only bear to leave her children alone for a couple of hours, but that meant sacrificing the income they needed to survive. She could barely afford daily essentials, let alone daycare. She didn’t know where to turn.

That’s when she found a Holt-supported childcare center, and everything changed.

Hope for Migrant Families in India

When Nalini was 2 and a half, her mom heard about a childcare center free to migrant families. Now she could work without worrying about her children’s safety. She could earn an income to keep a roof over their heads and food in their bellies.

Holding her children’s hands, she walked into the childcare center, a four-story building in the middle of several impoverished neighborhoods of migrant families. The smell of cooking spices filled the air, hinting at a fresh meal to come later in the day. Women in colorful saris greeted the children, taking their hands to lead them into the classroom.

“I would drop them here at 9 a.m. and pick them back up at 4 p.m.,” Asha explains. “I was able to work those long hours because both of my kids were taken care of.”

The Child Development Center (CDC) is run by Holt’s partner organization in Bangalore, Vathsalya Charitable Trust (VCT), and has served nearly 17,000 children since opening in 2013. Designed for underserved migrant families, the CDC offers free, nurturing daycare and a strong early foundation for education.

What began in one neighborhood has expanded across Bangalore, with vibrant centers planted in areas where childcare is scarce. And while the CDC is the only option most migrant families have, the standards VCT holds are high — often exceeding those of costly private daycares. Using a Montessori approach, the CDC fosters holistic development with a focus on life skills, values and developmental milestones.

Children ages 2-6 are grouped into four classrooms — Caterpillars, Pupa, Butterflies and Bunnies — with Bunnies “hopping” into formal school when ready. Younger classes focus on sensory and motor skills through play-based learning. With children from diverse linguistic backgrounds, teachers use a language-inclusive approach to ensure every child feels seen and understood.

An Early Foundation

Now 13, Nalini sits with her mom at a small blue plastic table, just down the hall from her first classroom at the CDC. Ten years have passed since Nalini started preschool here. In the background, children sing a song about rollie pollies.

“I wish I could come to [the CDC] because I want to study here again. But I am grown up now, so I can’t,” Nalini says, smiling. “When I was small, I learned English here. They taught me rhymes and songs. I liked singing most.”

After building an early foundation of cognitive, social and emotional skills, older classes offer structured and experiential learning — helping students prepare for formal school.

In her Bunnies classroom, Nalini volunteered to be a leader. Each day, she helped sort vegetables for mealtime.

“When I was small, I liked [Ms. Shanthi, my teacher], because she was teaching well,” Nalini remembers, giggling. “She wanted to make me a leader, so I said, ‘I will lead everything in class.’”

Shanthi is a tall woman with kind eyes and a calm presence. Dressed in a light teal sari and gold bangles, she exudes warmth and patience. She has been teaching in the Bunnies classroom for 10 years. She used to work as a teacher at a formal school, which helps her prepare her students who will soon transition to a more formal learning environment. Giving students opportunities to lead, she encourages them to be active learners.

“I’d like to tell students that they [have] a great opportunity to study in this school. They should not miss this opportunity because this is good education,” Nalini says of the CDC.

For many families, the CDC offers an opportunity of a lifetime. One that will change the trajectory of their children’s lives. Because without an early educational foundation, children are behind their peers in school.

A Path to Success

Nalini’s older brother, Tejas, was one of these students.

Three years older than Nalini, Tejas was just old enough to attend formal school when they moved to Bangalore.

“When I put my son in school, he did not know how to read. He did not know anything,” Asha says. “I asked [the staff] if I could bring him to the [CDC] and he came here for one year.”

That one year made a vast difference. With support from teachers who knew Tejas and how to encourage his growth, he excelled. After graduating from the CDC, Tejas moved into formal school with the support of a Holt sponsor.

“Now he’s the first in the class. His school even thinks he will get a college scholarship,” Asha says, smiling proudly. “The only reason for all of this is because of Vathsalya.”

Holt-supported early education programs, like VCT’s, provide a launching pad for students to succeed in school. But the support from Holt sponsors is critical — providing the momentum and the financial backing for students to keep going.

Education in India

When she was 6, Nalini moved on to formal school with the support of Holt sponsors, who helped cover the cost of her fees and supplies.

“My favorite subject is English,” Nalini says. “I want to learn more English because I want to visit other countries … I want to visit South Korea and America. Wherever [I can go], I’d like to visit.”

Nalini is confident and well-spoken. She’s artistic, kind and ambitious. She’s the top of her class — something she says she’s proud of. For a girl from a slum community, Nandini ranking highest in her class is an especially great achievement. Still today, girls face gender barriers in India. In many communities, families prioritize their sons’ education over their daughters’. When resources are scarce, girls are more likely to drop out early to help support their family while their brothers attend school. Once they drop out, girls are also more likely to get married at young ages. 

We ask Nalini if she thinks it’s important for girls to go to school. She nods.

“Because in India, education is very important. Some parents did not study, and they did not get a good education,” she explains.

For many girls growing up with a similar background to Nalini, school is not guaranteed — and few have access to higher education. But thanks to her sponsors, Nalini can continue her education without the fear that this year might be her last.

We ask, “Do you think it’s harder for girls to go to school than boys?”

“No, it’s not,” Nalini says confidently. “Because India girls are very strong. They are very brave. They don’t need to worry.”

Mother and Daughter

Asha is one of those strong and brave women in India, migrating from the only home she’d known to a big city — all for the possibility of providing the best life for her children.

We ask Nalini, “What is something you love about your mom?”

“Everything I love, because she gave her life for us. Because she works hard, I want to study well,” Nalini says, looking at her mom. “I’m very grateful to my mother. She works very hard for us.”

Nalini’s mom, Asha, is part of VCT’s Income Generation Program (IGP), which has empowered her with practical training. With the support of Holt sponsors and donors, she learned tailoring, sewing and job skills to earn supplemental income to support her family. She also recently started a new job as a helper at a petrol pump, now earning a salary that allows her to better support her family’s needs. She has grown in confidence and leadership, and even found meaningful community and friendships through VCT.

Once when Nalini was young, Asha joined a group of moms and their children for an end-of-the-year dance performance. Each week, Nalini and her mom practiced their dance routine during the afternoon at the CDC. Many of the children also had single moms who Asha could relate to — giving her the community support she needed. The weekly rehearsals were just as precious as the heartwarming performance — Nalini and her mom spending time together, sharing a special mother-daughter bond.

Asha tears up as she tells us how much sponsorship and VCT’s support have meant to her. It’s been life-changing — not just for her, but for Nalini and Tejas.

“Because of VCT, both my kids are what they are today,” Asha says. “VCT will call us and ask questions, inquiring about our needs. No relatives like this ever inquire about us, but everyone in Vathsalya calls and inquires. Be it clothing or whatever, they call and say, ‘Nalini, here are some clothes for you.’ Be it a pencil, they give us everything and help us. Thank you very much.”

In Kannada, the local language in Bangalore, Vathsalya means parental love. There’s no better fitting name for VCT.

Agency to Choose Her Future

Without sponsorship, many girls living in poverty are forced to drop out of school. They face real threats of early marriage or child labor. Without support for tuition and school costs, many parents feel that the cost to educate a girl is too much.

We ask Nalini, “Some girls get married early. What would you say is a good age to get married?”

Nalini stops and thinks for a moment. “I think after they get a nice job and are educated. Then, when they feel comfortable and they’re settled in their life, I think they can get married,” she says.

Thanks to sponsorship, Nalini holds the agency to choose: marriage, education, a career — her future is hers to shape.

When we ask what Nalini wants to be when she grows up, her mom smiles and tells us, “When she was young, she played with a toy stethoscope.”

Nalini, embarrassed, covers her face with her hands and laughs.

“I would really like her to study well, go abroad and take good care of herself. But it’s not in my hands,” Asha continues.

A Girl with a Dream

Dressed in her 8^th grade school uniform, Nalini sits in a tiny, yellow child’s chair in the CDC classroom. At one time, this chair would have been the perfect size for her. When she first arrived at the CDC, it may have even been too big. But she’s grown a lot since then.

“I would like to be a doctor, because I’m very interested in science,” Nalini says. “Now, I’m trying to learn new things in science [about] humans and animals because I like research. I hope I’ll become a doctor.”

Sharmila Hepzibah, VCT’s executive director, turns toward Nalini and says, “Can you write a letter to me to say that this is what you would like to do? … I’d like to try and connect you to people who are doctors or studying science, because it’s not very easy to go to medical school. It’s very difficult. If many people are applying, very few get to go.”

She offers to check-in with Nalini monthly to help her connect with doctors in the field — and take steps toward her future.

For a girl growing up in a migrant community, many barriers stand between her and her dream. Generational poverty, limited access to quality education, health issues, threats like trafficking and child labor, gender discrimination and a lack of guidance all stand in the way of a girl reaching her full potential.

But because of the continued support she receives from her sponsors and the staff at VCT, Nalini has a path towards a bright future.

“Thank you, sponsors, for the great sponsorship. I am very thankful because you are helping us now,” Nalini says. “What to tell… no words are coming because you help us so much. Thank you.”

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The post No Words to Thank You appeared first on Holt International.

Colorful saris and shirts are strung up to dry in the street, flowing in the breeze, as we wait to meet a 10-year-old girl on her way home from school.

Months ago, we featured a drawing that a sixth-grade girl in Pune, India drew for her sponsors in the U.S. The pencil and crayon drawing depicts a girl standing next to a house. Trees and flowers sprout from a green lawn. A flock of birds glides in the air. Today, we will meet this little girl — and see her home.

A Glimpse of Her Life

As we wait, listening to the orchestra of beeping horns and motorbike engines, a little girl appears. Dressed in her school uniform — a cheery yellow polo shirt with a set of dark pants — she gives us a shy smile. Her dark curls are drawn back into pigtails with two white ribbons fluttering like butterflies on each side.

Shreedevi leads us to her home, weaving through a couple of alleyways — no more than five feet wide — dodging motorbikes and stacks of buckets that line the street. The day is warm, and the air is heavy with humidity. The cement streets are wet with dishwater from women scrubbing in buckets on their doorsteps.

She nods to us as she approaches a tan, two-story apartment. The plastic siding is adorned with printed ivy and white flowers. She leads us up two flights of stairs to her home. While we slip off our shoes, Shreedevi’s little brother pokes his head out.

As we step into her home, Shreedevi motions for us to sit on the bed. The room is barely 100 square feet — just enough for a single twin bed, a small wardrobe, a bathroom enclosed in a closet and a tiny kitchen tucked in the corner. Running water is only available for three hours in the morning. For the other 21 hours, her family must fetch water from down the street and carry it back in jugs.

“This is my home,” Shreedevi says, smiling.

A One-Room Home

With three children and Shreedevi’s mom and dad, a total of five live here, in this one room.

Shreedevi has two little brothers, ages 6 and 8. The youngest sits quietly on the bed while he pencils in the names of fruits in his school workbook. I hear a rustling noise and peer under the bed, where the other brother lies with a mischievous grin, holding a soccer ball.

Her family has lived in this room for six years. When Shreedevi was a toddler, she and her parents moved to Pune from a small village in Karnataka, a neighboring state.

“It was a remote place. There was no work opportunity there,” Shreedevi’s mom says. “There are educational schools there, but not like Pune, which are much more advanced than in the village.”

Paavani, Shreedevi’s mom, works as a babysitter in the community. She has kind eyes and wears an indigo kurta with jade green bangles.

Before hearing about sponsorship through Bharatiya Samaj Seva Kendra (BSSK), Holt’s longtime partner in India, Paavani says life was really difficult.  

“We are from a very poor background. Sometimes I had to leave my three children back at home and go to work,” she says, looking off into the distance. “It was very difficult to manage with three kids and the house expenses. We were not aware of anyone giving support. But we heard about a few families who are under support [from Holt]. From them, we got to know about BSSK.”

Because Shreedevi is in Holt’s child sponsorship program, her education, healthcare and food are covered. Even when her family may face financial hardship, the generous support of sponsors ensures that she can stay in school or receive the medical care she needs if she is sick.

When struggling with finances, many families living in poverty are faced with no choice but to take their children out of school. The cost of books, uniforms and other school supplies can overwhelm families who are scraping by month by month.

And often, girls are the first to be pulled out of school due to cultural norms, especially in slum communities where economic pressures are high. Sadly, when girls don’t stay in school, they face the risks of child labor or early marriage.

“Early marriages cut short their childhood, compromise their health and trap them in cycles of poverty,” says Chaitrali, a member of BSSK’s educational support team. “Keeping girls in school is one of the most powerful ways to protect their rights, ensure dignity and unlock their potential to shape a better future.”

And because of the support of sponsors, Shreedevi’s future looks bright.

A Girl with Dreams

When she grows up, Shreedevi would like to be a police officer.

Paavani smiles. “I am confident that Shreedevi is going to grow up big and become independent,” she says. “Since your help, my children have become smarter and more active than before.”

While we talk, Paavani pulls out a Marathi-to-English chart that they use to practice at home. Paavani encourages her children to practice language every day. At school, Shreedevi’s lessons are taught in both Marathi and English.

Marathi is the local language in Pune, one of 1,600 languages spoken in India.

“My favorite subject is math,” Shreedevi says eagerly. “And… Marathi is my least favorite.”

Most days, Shreedevi’s father takes her to school on his motorbike. He works as a driver around Pune. Some days she walks to school instead, which takes 15 minutes.

Shreedevi shares that she likes playing kho kho, a tag game, with her friends at school. She also likes to read books. Sadly, her school doesn’t have a library.

Instead, she visits the BSSK library program, called Kahaniyon ki Duniya, or World of Stories. Supported by Holt sponsors and donors, the library is located at the DEESHA in the heart of the slum community where Shreedevi lives.

The DEESHA stands for Development of Education Environment Social Health Awareness. But in Marathi, disha means “direction” or “guidance.” There is no better name to describe this place.

Children and teens gather here after school. Some come to read at the library, while others come for help with schoolwork. BSSK social workers check in, making sure every child is safe and supported. Each day, students gather for a guided discussion. These are special, age-appropriate sessions where they discuss healthy relationships, domestic violence, inequality, child marriage and more.

Their mothers come to the DEESHA too. In group trainings, they learn about nutrition, hygiene and parenting. They learn a lot — like the importance of feeding their children a diverse and nutritious diet, why their children should wash their bare feet before stepping into their homes or why time for self-care is important for parenting.

This is a special place — one that is breaking the cycle of poverty. And it’s in the middle of Shreedevi’s neighborhood.

A Place of Imagination

Last year, Shreedevi read 40 books at the library program. She even got an award and a medal for her reading. Her goal is to read 60 books this year.

“Storybooks and Hindi books are my favorite,” Shreedevi says.

The library program provides a safe space for children to come and read. Instead of focusing on academic books, the program encourages children to explore stories with wonder and freedom.

“When they read at school, they are expected to determine a moral judgement or give a report about the book. They are scared of answering questions,” says Vaishali, BSSK’s educational support program director. “But we don’t want them to fear books. We want them to realize that books are not scary. We want the children to touch them and make the books their own.”

BSSK provides books of all types and reading levels, rotating the collection every couple of weeks. For two hours in the morning and two hours in the afternoon, children from all around the community show up at the World of Stories library program to read.

Like a sanctuary, the DEESHA provides a safe place for children to go every day. The space is quiet yet vibrant, with woven mats laid across the tile floors for reading. Butterflies and tigers are painted on the outer wall beside a rainbow hopscotch — its colors faded by years of joyful play.

This peaceful place of imagination and wonder stands in stark contrast to the loud, cramped streets of the surrounding slum community.

Shreedevi’s home is only a 10-minute walk away.

The House of Her Dreams

As we talk in Shreedevi’s home, the soccer ball rolls around the floor as her two brothers dribble back and forth.

Shreedevi enjoys listening to music and dancing. She likes to play badminton with her friends. She also mentions that she likes to draw.

I nod, pulling a little pencil and crayon drawing from my bag. As I place her drawing in her hands, Shreedevi’s eyes widen and she grins, speaking quickly in Marathi.

“She is so shocked to see her drawing come back,” Vaishali translates, smiling. “She is very happy to see something she has made.”

Shreedevi holds her drawing in her hand — and for the rest of the visit, doesn’t let it go.

The green lawn and the flowers are so vibrant that they seem to sprout off the page. I ask Shreedevi about this home.

“In the future, I want to have this kind of house,” she explains. “It has flowers. It has a tree. And the house is by itself.”

Where Shreedevi lives, there are no flowers. There are no trees. Few homes have much more than a doorway to let in natural light. The buildings rise close together, blocking out the sky. One-room homes are stacked on top of one another — a living space shared by four, five, six or more family members.

Her dream home has open spaces. A place to play. A yard to run around in, with flowers and trees. A space that is just for her — to grow and dream.

Mother and Daughter

Paavani squeezes her daughter’s arm as they look at the drawing together. She calls Shreedevi “sweetie” at home.

“I am happy she is able to put her dream on the paper. I wish that she would have a house like this in the future,” Paavani says.

When Paavani was 17, she was arranged to be married. She tells us that she graduated from high school and then her parents sent her to meet her husband.

“Because we lived in such a remote place, the studies of the school were not advanced enough for me to get a job there or study further. That’s why my parents got me married,” Paavani tells us. “They married me into another poor family. If they could have given me a good family, maybe my life would be different. My in-laws assured my parents that they would educate me further, but they never did that.”

Shortly after getting married, she had children, and the responsibilities of keeping her household became a lot to carry.

“I don’t want the same thing to happen to Shreedevi or any girl — to get married so early with so many responsibilities,” Paavani says, sadly. “I want my children to have a good school, because I came from a remote area where there were not many facilities. Every girl and every boy should have a good school.”

Shreedevi sits on the bed, watching her mom speak. We ask her what age she thinks is a good time to get married.

“Thirty years or more,” Shreedevi says, matter-of-factly. “You should get married after 30 because there are a lot of things to do when you are living in your parents’ house. Once you get married, there are a lot of responsibilities and you’re not able to achieve your dreams. You have to play someone else’s dream. To achieve your own dream, you should not get married early.”

Free to Dream

Some girls living in poverty in India are afraid to dream.

Some girls are pulled out of school to work as domestic servants and help their families earn income. Statistically, girls who get married young are likely to experience domestic violence. Girls often become isolated from family and friends, sometimes even moving across the country to be with their new spouse. And with the responsibilities of being a young wife and mother in India, housework and early motherhood take up their time — leaving little margin to continue education. And if a girl did have a dream, it usually dissolves.

For girls, the monthly support of a child sponsor protects her education — and her future. As a girl reaches her late teenage years, families don’t feel pressured to marry their daughters because of the cost of education.

An education means opportunity. It’s the chance for a girl to pursue her dreams.

“If she couldn’t go to school… it would be miserable — a very bad life,” Paavani says, looking at her daughter. “But when I found out Shreedevi was sponsored, I felt calm. Especially Shreedevi being a girl, I feel very happy for [sponsorship] because otherwise life would be difficult for her. Please continue helping her.”

Paavani gently places her arm around Shreedevi as a warm breeze wafts through the open door.

“Someone from so far away is sending help to us,” Shreedevi says, smiling with bright eyes. “Thank you for your help.”

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The post The House of My Dreams appeared first on Holt International.

Growing up in Vietnam, Thoa rose every morning at 4 a.m. to open her family’s noodle shop. Still dark outside, she would ride her bicycle to the market to buy vegetables and then work until it was time to go to school.

Even on cold, rainy mornings, she woke up before dawn — and summoned her two younger siblings from where they slept to help prepare the shop for breakfast. They were especially sleepy on cold winter mornings.

“The whole time growing up, I did not understand why I could not sleep every night,” shares Thoa, now a petite mother of two in her 50s with neat shoulder-length hair and a warm and gentle but hardworking nature.

Thoa’s sister later told her that they couldn’t sleep because they were cold — they couldn’t afford warm blankets.

Once Thoa graduated college and began to earn money, she bought high-quality blankets imported from Japan for her mom and siblings.  “The first thing I did when I made money was to buy good blankets for everyone,” she says.

Thoa has lived in the U.S. with her family since 2008 — and now serves as Holt’s senior advisor for international programs — but her childhood in post-war Vietnam is never far from her mind. She was one of seven children — nine including two siblings who both died of malaria within five days of each other.

Her family lived a relatively comfortable life near Danang, in central Vietnam. But when her father died suddenly of a stroke, her mother struggled to run his business and care for her children on her own.

Thoa was 7. Her mother was pregnant with her youngest sister at the time.

Slowly, they used up all the resources her father had left them, and Thoa watched as her family’s possessions began to disappear from their home. The black and white TV. The nice speakers from Japan. The refrigerator.

To provide for her seven children, her mom was forced to sell their belongings.

But Thoa’s mom was smart, resourceful and determined.  She decided to open a shop selling homemade breakfast noodles — a business that she knew how to run, and that she could manage while caring for Thoa and her siblings.  But with no savings and no collateral, she was forced to take out a loan at 20% interest per month — or, as Thoa calls it, a “shark loan.”

Loan sharks prey on people living in poverty, offering money they desperately need to start a business or just to buy food for their family — and then harass them for payment, aggressively demanding they give up the daily wages that are often all they have to live on. 

“It gets people into deep poverty, and they cannot really get out,” Thoa says. “They tear families apart … I think that’s when I started to have the realization of what poverty really means.”

Looking back, more than 40 years later, Thoa gets emotional thinking of that time in her life — and of what her mom had to go through to provide for her and her siblings. 

“It’s hard, as children growing up and seeing… loan sharks getting into your home every day and then yelling and screaming at your mother, demanding payment,” she says, trailing off as tears well up in her eyes. “That’s why I really believe in what Holt is doing — because it does help a lot of people.”

But it’s not just what Holt is doing. It’s what Holt sponsors and donors are doing with their heartfelt gifts to help families earn income — and overcome poverty — in countries around the world.

Donor-Funded Microloans: A Viable Path From Poverty

In the countries where Holt works — from Ethiopia and Uganda to Cambodia, India and Vietnam — many parents feel helpless to support their children when jobs are scarce and stable work requires specialized skills or higher education that’s often inaccessible to families living in poverty.

Households headed by single parents — especially single mothers — are often the most vulnerable.

In some countries, such as Korea and the Philippines, Holt sponsors and donors help provide job skills training to single mothers facing stigma and discrimination. In most cases, Holt empowers women like Thoa’s mom — women who suddenly find themselves the sole providers for their children after their husband dies or leaves the family.

Sometimes it’s the gift of a sewing machine from Holt’s Gifts of Hope catalog that comes with small business training so a mother learns how to sew and sell clothing for profit. It may be gardening tools so a family can grow vegetables to eat, selling the surplus in a nearby marketplace. Or the gift of a goat, chickens or a cow — providing abundant milk and eggs for a family.

But quite often, it’s a small business microgrant or zero-interest loan that empowers a mother to start her own unique business — one that meets a need in her community and that provides enough stable and reliable income for her to provide for herself and her children.

The predatory lending practices to which Thoa’s mom fell prey are now banned in the U.S., but they are still rampant in developing countries around the world.

Had her mom had access to a zero-interest microloan to start her noodle shop, Thoa says she never would have endured abuse and harassment from loan sharks. Like the women in Holt microloan programs today, she would have saved all the money she earned to support her children — instead of falling deeper into debt.

“There was nothing like that — there was no Holt, for example, offering microloans at that time,” Thoa says.

Holt’s first income-generating program actually began in Vietnam, just before the end of the war in 1975. Like today, Holt supported care centers for children who had been orphaned or whose families couldn’t care for them. But our team in country soon recognized that in many cases, struggling families could in fact care for their children — given the support and resources they needed.

“They were seeing a lot of birth parents coming in saying they wanted to relinquish their child,” explains John Williams, who helped develop Holt’s first income-generating program in Vietnam and later served as Holt president and CEO. “If given an alternative to consider keeping their family together, that’s what they were looking for. They just were under so much stress — their child was suffering from malnutrition, health issues, etc.”

But when Holt offered help to support their child and keep their family together, they no longer wanted to relinquish their children. Within a few months, Holt’s first income-generating program was thriving.

“It was much like many of [Holt’s] family strengthening programs today,” John says. “The role of social workers and case workers was to determine what the interests, abilities and skills of the family were. … It was all about finding out what the interests of the community or village were and helping them develop that interest into an income-generating program that created independence, not dependency.”

Like today, families started small businesses like sewing or tailoring, or raised animals like ducks or chickens to provide sustainable food and income. The goal was to help each family get on their feet and provide for their children, keeping the family together.

“It was the first time that Holt began to broaden its services to children with a list of priorities — preserve the birth family, domestic adoption, international adoption …with no one being better than the other,” John says, describing the model of service that Holt has long ascribed to, and later advocated for when we sent delegates to help draft the Hague Convention on the Rights of the Child. “It’s based on the best interest of the child.”

But as the war ended, Holt left the country — and didn’t return until they could safely reestablish programs and fully serve children and families again, in 1989.

Thoa didn’t start working for Holt Vietnam until nine years later, in 1998. She later traveled to the U.S. on a Fulbright scholarship to earn a master’s degree in social work, and then began working with children and families living in other countries where Holt works — particularly in South and Southeast Asia. 

What she saw when she first traveled to these regions reminded her of what she’d seen growing up in Vietnam after the war — extreme poverty, and predators looking to exploit people in desperate situations.

“When I travel to Cambodia, India, and I see signs saying, ‘Hey, if you need loans, quick loans, call this number’ … that’s exactly how the poor people get into the trap … That’s why I really love the models of grants or microloans, or the self-help groups that we have in Cambodia,” Thoa says, referring to a model Holt developed in Cambodia where families collectively save their money and then provide low-interest loans to group members so they can start or grow small businesses.

After developing microloan programs in Cambodia and Vietnam, Thoa encouraged Holt’s partners in India to replicate the model.

“I said, ‘We don’t have the income-generating program in this country, but I see you have a lot of advertising for loans for poor people … and let me share with you what happens when these poor people keep tapping into that money,’” Thoa says she shared with Hepzibah Sharmila, who leads our partner organization, VCT, in Bangalore. Thoa traveled with Sharmila to Vietnam and other countries to show her how Holt’s income-generating model works — and to introduce her to families that had successfully graduated from the program.

“When we give them $200, $300, then that helps the mother start a small business and achieve financial independence. And from there, they can provide for the basic needs of their children,” Thoa says. “But if they don’t have these opportunities, they would go to the loan sharks. And they could never get out. Their children could never get out, and they could never escape poverty.”

Driven to Live a Different Life

Deep in debt to loan sharks, with seven children to support, Thoa’s mom continued to struggle well into Thoa’s teen years. She was so exhausted that she often fell asleep on the floor of their home.

“It was so tiring, you know, to raise seven different children all by yourself … All the children were so small and young and everybody needed education. Everybody needed food,” Thoa says.

But like so many hardworking mothers and fathers and grandparents in Holt programs today, Thoa’s mom could still hardly afford to feed her children.   

One time, when Thoa was sick, her mom was able to purchase a small portion of meat that she guarded from her other children — giving it to Thoa so that she could regain her strength.

“My mom pointed to it and said, ‘Hey, this is just for you because you’re sick’ and nobody should touch that because I needed nutrition … Like a small portion of meat. And I was the only one who could have that meat,” Thoa says.

Thoa’s older siblings gave up on the dream of further education. But from a young age, Thoa knew that completing her education was more than just a dream. It was her way out.

When Thoa’s mom opened the noodle shop, Thoa was by her mom’s side — opening and closing and running the business every day.

“I worked very hard to help her, just because I love her so much and I understood, you know, how it was,” she says.

But every night, when she finally finished food and business prep around 9-10 p.m., Thoa shifted her focus — studying until midnight or the early hours of the morning.  “I really had this drive … I had to get out … I just could not foresee the rest of my life being like this,” she says. “So I studied very hard.”

When Thoa passed the university entrance exams, news spread quickly.

“The neighbors were so proud because it was very rare to see a kid [from our community] pass the university exam,” Thoa says. “We were so poor.”

No one felt more pride than Thoa’s mom. “I was excited. She was so proud,” Thoa says.

But Thoa also knew that her mom couldn’t afford the tuition. “I said, ‘Hey, you know, you already have so many burdens. I don’t want another burden on you. I will not go to university,” she told her, promising instead to find a job to help support her family.  

But then her mom said something that surprised her.

“She said that all her life she did not have a chance for education and that’s why her life is hard,” Thoa says of her mother, who never finished elementary school. “She believed education could give me a different life.” As Thoa was the first child in the family to pass the university entrance exam, her mom was determined to give her that opportunity.

 “Whatever I have to do, I will send you to university,” she told Thoa.

So she raised chickens. She ran the noodle shop. She sold some more of her belongings. And she asked her extended family for help. Some contributed small amounts as gifts. Others loaned her the money. Eventually, she cobbled together the tuition for Thoa’s first semester.

Like always, Thoa worked incredibly hard in school and was always the top one or two in her class. She earned scholarships from her grades. A good singer, she performed on stage for the university to get some additional scholarships.  And she worked any job she could find to pay for her degree and support her family. She promoted shampoos for Proctor & Gamble. She provided English tutoring. And she continued helping her mom in the noodle shop. Some of her professors learned about her situation and they offered her an opportunity to teach evening classes as well as a part-time job at the university. 

“Basically, what I did was I did everything on Earth,” she says.

But she saved everything she earned to support her education, and to support her mother and her family.

Later, once she graduated, she helped her mom get out of debt, and buy back all the appliances and furniture she had sold to support her and her siblings. She even helped her mom pay for her two younger siblings go to university, too. “Both are quite successful now in their lives,” Thoa says of her younger siblings. One went into economics, the other studied English.

Thoa says the mindset of helping your family and community is deeply rooted in her culture, as it is in many of the cultures and communities where Holt works around the world. “We don’t want to leave anyone behind,” Thoa says — offering Holt’s university program in Cambodia as an example. Through this program, donors provide full scholarships for high-performing students from impoverished backgrounds to attend university. 

Through our partner KBF in the Philippines, Holt also empowers youth aging out of orphanages to gain independent living skills and go to college. After they complete their degrees and begin earning money, they often go back and help their siblings. Many even return to their communities to volunteer or even work as social workers or teachers.

“Many graduates become self-reliant and just want to give back what they have received through the program by mentoring, sponsoring or working in NGOs,” Thoa explains.

It’s the same motivation that drew Thoa to a humanitarian career devoted to helping children and families escape a life of poverty and desperation.

“I understand their struggles,” she says. “I understand what they’re going through … I just want every one of them to get out and have a better life.”

Looking back on her own life story — and on the many lives transformed through Holt programs around the world — Thoa says she profoundly believes in two of Holt’s donor-funded programs in particular to help children and families lift themselves a life of poverty: educational sponsorship, and programs that empower families to generate income.  

“To see these women who started to make money after they set up their shops, and then say, ‘Hey, I make good money’ … That’s how far small amounts of money can go when it goes to the right people in the right way at the right time. It changes people’s lives in a way that we cannot even imagine,” she says. “And we know they can now provide for their children’s medical, nutritional and educational needs.”

Thoa is especially thankful for the small donations she received from family members so that she could go to college — small donations that she compares to the microgrants Holt donors provide families in need today.

“[If not for those donations], I probably would have ended up quitting and become one of the sellers in the street like everybody else,” she says.

It All Traces Back to Her

Thoa’s mother passed away several years ago. But long before she passed, Thoa wrote her a letter. She had just left Vietnam and she wrote from the airplane, en route to her new life working for Holt in the U.S.

“’I just want you to know that without you and the sacrifice back in the day, there’s no way I could be where I am today,’” Thoa says she wrote. “I really wanted her to know that I knew it was a tremendous amount of sacrifice and undertaking and I wanted her to know that I was very grateful.”

Years later, at her daughter’s college graduation, Thoa again thought of her mother and the sacrifice she made. “I thought, ‘This is so profound. … At one point, I wanted to give up on my education because of thinking there was not enough money … And now, another generation of women — my daughter — can finish their college education. And it all traces back to her.”

Still today, Thoa always thinks of her mom whenever she visits families who have benefited from Holt’s income-generating programs — especially the single and widowed mothers who are caring for children on their own. 

“We visited this woman who was 76 years old, a grandma who was part of the income-generating program … I looked at her,” Thoa shares, “and I felt like, that’s my mother. And all these grandmothers and these mothers around the world who are struggling every day, but who are trying their best — every day — to provide for the basic needs of their children. They all hope and work hard for a better life for their children.”

Help a Mom in Cambodia Build a Brighter Future

With programs at risk, your gift of chickens, a garden or a sewing machine could be the only opportunity a mom has to lift her family out of poverty.

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The post Why I Believe in Holt appeared first on Holt International.

Tigabu is a 7-year-old boy who lives in a rural area of Ethiopia. He shares his home with two brothers, a sister, his mother and grandparents, who are subsistence farmers.

Tigabu is a friendly and playful child who loves to help out around the house. He particularly enjoys fetching water and looking after the family’s cattle. Tigabu also loves going to school, where he attends class regularly each day — thanks to the generosity of his sponsors! Now in first grade, Tigabu is learning his numbers and how to read and write in English. Because of his sponsors, he is also learning about personal hygiene and receives regular health services.

In addition to providing Tigabu with the resources he needs to attend school, Holt sponsors and donors provide direct assistance to Tigabu’s school. With your help, the school has built four additional classrooms and rebuilt its playground to accommodate more children. Each year on their birthdays, the children are excited to receive personalized birthday cards from their sponsors in the U.S.

When not in school, Tigabu likes to play soccer and hopscotch with his friends. In September, he and his family will celebrate Enkutatash, the Ethiopian new year, and Meskel, a religious celebration that occurs at the end of the rainy season.

Tigabu is grateful for the support that he and his family receive from Holt sponsors, and to thank them, he created this drawing.

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The post Tigabu Says Thank You! appeared first on Holt International.

Last summer, Zixuan desperately needed a heart surgery. His family couldn’t afford regular meals for the family, let alone the cost of the surgery…

But then, sponsors and donors like you provided the funds for Zixuan to receive surgery!

After Zixuan returned home, his family did their best to provide nurturing meals. But they couldn’t afford enough food.

With a diet of rice, potatoes, cabbage and other vegetables, Zixuan wasn’t receiving the nutrition he needed. The family could only provide meat once a week. And milk was a rare luxury.

Because you support children’s education, Zixuan is attending school where he receives a healthy lunch each day. Your generosity ensures that Zixuan and his classmates have a full, balanced meal so they can grow and succeed!

Through the nutritious meals he receives at school, Zixuan is recovering well and becoming stronger each day. He says he looks forward to eating at school because of the wide variety of foods he gets to eat!

Your gifts to educate children go beyond school supplies and uniforms. They help children become stronger, healthier and ready to learn!

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Six-year-old Esen couldn’t hold a crayon in his hand when he arrived at kindergarten in Mongolia. Esen has cerebral palsy and using fine motor skills was a big challenge, making eating, drawing and moving around independently difficult. He would often cry and get easily frustrated…

But because of sponsors and donors like you, Esen received the special education support he needed. And things changed drastically!

His teachers provided proper support for his disability, and Esen gained the confidence and encouragement he needed to thrive. Through school lunch and feeding support, he received the nutrients his body needed and — with hard work — he learned how to hold a spoon on his own! His appetite, immune system and overall development have improved dramatically!

Through your support for Holt’s educational programs, Esen received the guidance and care that made all the difference. His motor skills have improved so much that he has become quite the artist! He once struggled to hold a pencil — now he colors vivid shapes and drawings with crayons. He is such a creative, cheerful little boy! Thank you for helping Esen rise to his fullest potential.

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The post You Brightened His World appeared first on Holt International.

Thitikarn is a 13-year-old girl who lives in Thailand with her parents and three younger siblings. Her mother maintains a steady job as a hospital worker, while her father is employed as a contract worker. With four young children to raise, Thitikarn’s parents often face financial worries, particularly in regard to paying for their children’s school fees. But thanks to your generosity, Thitikarn now has the opportunity to continue her education!

Thitikarn wakes up at 7:30 a.m. each day and gets ready for school on her own. She attends a nearby school, where she is about to enter seventh grade. Thitikarn expresses herself openly, showing her natural confidence and desire to connect with others.

When at home, Thitikarn helps her mother cook rice, wash dishes and care for her younger siblings. She is especially close to her mom, often sharing stories about her day with her. Thitikarn eats dinner with her family at 6 p.m. and goes to bed by 10 p.m. every night.

Before the school year ended, Thitikarn wrote this letter of appreciation to her sponsor, thanking them for their support:

Dear Sponsor,

My name is Thitikarn. I’m a sixth grade student. Starting a new semester, I am very excited and happy to meet new friends. I enjoy going to school every day. During the last school holiday, I did many activities at home, such as helping my mother cook, wash the dishes and take care of my younger siblings. Last June, I did the Wai Khru ceremony [to honor my teachers] and sports competitions. Finally, I would like to thank you and your family for always supporting my education.

With all due respect,

Thitikarn

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The post Thank You for Sponsoring My Education! appeared first on Holt International.

Fourteen-year-old Thuy has been raised by her grandparents in Vietnam since she was a baby. Her grandfather works as a rice harvester — a job often affected by unpredictable factors like the weather. Thuy’s grandmother stays home to manage the household. Because of the family’s unstable income, sending Thuy to school wasn’t an option…

But then, thanks to you, things turned around. Because of sponsors and donors like you who have a heart for education, Thuy is now able to attend school! Her favorite subject is literature, though she enjoys all the subjects. She says your generosity inspires her to study hard — as her way of saying thank you.

 “Words cannot truly express how much this educational support means to me,” Thuy shares. “This support is not merely financial — it serves as a vital source of motivation that empowers me to overcome my difficult circumstances.”

Thanks to generous sponsors and donors like you, Thuy has everything she needs to succeed.

Her grandmother says, “The financial assistance arrived just in time for the start of the new school year, allowing us to pay [Thuy]’s school fees and purchase textbooks, notebooks, school uniforms, sandals and other essential supplies. She was overjoyed when she saw these items laid out on the table. You cannot imagine how much this support means to us.”

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The post Empowering Her to Succeed appeared first on Holt International.