Growing up in an orphanage in Korea, Ji-an wanted desperately to live with her parents like other children.

“Because I could not live with my parents, I spent each day crying,” she shares.

Her days were sad and hard. But one day, her caregivers helped her find an outlet in sports.

“With the support of my orphanage, I was able to start playing sports and became passionate about soccer, eventually joining the A team. However, seeing the happy families of my teammates and the generous support of their parents made me feel incredibly small,” she says. “I spent five years working 12 hours a day in a factory, having given up on my dreams.”

That’s when Ji-an learned about Holt’s Run-Learn Challenge — and began to envision a new dream.

“Through the program, I received professional training, which allowed me to attain the qualifications to become a soccer coach and referee,” Ji-an says. “Recently, I was recognized for my contributions at a national soccer tournament and received a special award. Holt’s program encouraged me to overcome failures and meet challenges. I am now the master of my life, filling each day with purpose by working in areas where I am confident in skill.”

Over the past 70 years, an estimated two million children have grown up in orphanages in Korea, with more than 1,000 young adults aging out every year.  Even though many have living relatives, often single mothers, they are labeled “orphans” and face stigma and discrimination due to the strong value placed on bloodline in traditional Korean culture.

Over the past 70 years, an estimated two million children have grown up in orphanages in Korea, with more than 1,000 young adults aging out every year. Many aged-out orphans struggle to find jobs, and many face a lifetime of poverty.

Many aged-out orphans struggle to find jobs due to this stigma, and many face a lifetime of poverty. They are vulnerable to scammers and other predators as well as sex traffickers who prey on young adults without any family ties. Some aged-out orphans, out of desperation, end up turning to crime as a means of survival. But in most cases, they simply struggle to get by in a society that shames them at every turn. Even if they overcome the odds and earn a college degree, they will likely continue to face discrimination in the hiring process. In Korea, nearly all job applicants require a background check into their family history.  

Holt International has long been concerned about the welfare of children once they come of age and leave orphanage care. “In the 1960s, when Harry Holt was still alive, Holt began their first vocational training program for youth, understanding that something had to be done to prepare older kids for moving out on their own,” says Paul Kim, Holt’s Korea program director. “In many ways, Holt has been a pioneer not only in adoption, but also in terms of the welfare of children in institutional care.”

Since 2018, Holt donors have supported several programs that help young adults aging out of orphanage care to successfully transition to independent living in Korean society. Here is an overview of the Bluebird Program, the Dream Plus Program, the With You Community —  and the Run-Learn Challenge that empowered Ji-an to fill her days with purpose and become the master of her life.

Bluebird Program

Holt began its Bluebird Program in 2018 to help youth ages 15 to 18 prepare for the transition to independent living once they age out of orphanage care. According to Paul, there are two components to the program: career exploration and strengthening self-reliance. “Children who have spent their entire lives living in an orphanage have been provided with housing, food, clothing, medical care and everything else they need as part of their daily routine,” he says. So when they reach high school age, the Bluebird Program pairs them with mentors who help them define their life goals and take steps toward independence. “Children are asked questions like, ‘What is your future?  What do you want to do? Do you see yourself going to college? Do you see yourself working? What career interests you?’” Paul explains.

Participants in the Bluebird Program also receive support from two important donor-funded scholarships, for which they may apply. The Career Scholarship pays for after-school classes that prepare students for college and ensure their success once they are enrolled. The Self-Reliance Scholarship offers tools to help youth set up their own bank accounts, learn how to create a budget and manage their finances.

Bluebird Program participants are also coached by mentors who have formerly aged out of institutional care in activities and cultural experiences that help them develop self-reliance. Such activities may include visiting historic sites and museums, taking part in seasonal festivals and events, and traveling to other parts of Korea, such as Jeju Island. “Children living in orphanages don’t have the same experiences in terms of going out and experiencing life as those who have grown up in families,” says Paul. “They may not know as much about their country, their culture. But the mentors in the Holt-supported Bluebird Program help them set goals, take part in activities that build self-esteem and encourage them to move toward their dreams.”

Here’s what one participant had to say about the program:

“I was selected as a Bluebird student to pursue my dream of becoming a visual designer. This program was like an airport control tower to me. The control tower plays an important role in ensuring that the plane flies in the right direction throughout the entire process, from takeoff to landing. The program guided me on the right path toward my dreams and gave me the opportunity to fly anywhere. I was able to discover who I am and understand what I want. I started to dream and hope for the future.”

Dream Plus Program

Once children have aged out of orphanage care and are enrolled in college or a technical training school, they are supported by the Dream Plus Program, which began in 2022. Through this program, Holt sponsors and donors provide financial assistance for tuition, school materials, dormitory fees, living expenses, including food and clothing, and career building and self-improvement activities. “The program supports students not only in academic and career exploration, but it also helps them grow as well-rounded individuals,” says Paul.  

Here’s what one participant had to say about the program:

“When I applied to the Dream Plus program, I asked myself, ‘What do I want to do? What activities bring me joy?’ I questioned myself one by one. This is how I began to walk toward my career with Dream Plus. After just 10 months of learning, I became proficient in five design and video programs and currently hold 13 certifications. People around me admired my achievements and said I was living a godly, productive life. I became someone who accomplished many things on my own. Could I have achieved this before? Absolutely not! Think about this: An individual who thought he could not do or become anything now has people around him admiring him for what he has achieved.”

Run-Learn Challenge

Once students have earned a college degree or achieved technical training, the Run-Learn Challenge, established in 2021, is there to support them as they enter the workforce and begin their first jobs. Mentors help answer questions about a youth’s job, employer and situations they may encounter on a daily basis. Meanwhile, Holt sponsors and donors offer financial assistance toward continuing education classes, professional lectures and living expenses.

In addition, the program provides young people living on their own with the emotional support they need through individual counseling, health improvement activities and structured support groups, as well as the practical support required to pay bills and manage their money. “The goal of the Run-Learn Challenge is to help youth grow as individuals, successfully interact in a group work environment and become part of a larger community,” Paul explains.

With You Community

In 2023, Holt created the With You Community program to build social networks among youth who are living and working on their own outside of orphanage care. “Korea is a communal society — people do not live in a vacuum on their own,” says Paul. “In fact, in Korea it’s said that no one is as lonely as a person without a family, without a network, without a community. What this program does is help bring that community together, build that support network and create togetherness in a society where togetherness is everything.”

In Korea, bluebirds represent dreams. Thanks to the support of Holt sponsors and donors, young adults who have aged out of orphanage care now have the chance to experience new dreams every day.

One of the key components of the Holt-supported With You Community program is to provide group activities designed to eliminate isolation. Participants might go camping together, for example, or spend a holiday with one another, such as Lunar New Year or Chuseok, a mid-autumn harvest celebration. “Some of the individuals who have aged out of orphanage care have shared memories of being alone on Lunar New Year, in an apartment with the lights turned off because there was just no brightness in their day,” says Paul. “Sitting alone, hearing others celebrate, made them feel like life just had no meaning.” But being part of the With You Community gives aged-out orphans the sense that they’re not alone, and that there’s always someone they can turn to. Apart from group activities, the program provides emergency financial support as well as group and individual counseling, particularly in crisis situations.

Participants in the With You Community also create fundraising projects to give back to other youth who are preparing to leave their orphanages. Recently, a group of young people worked with a manufacturer to make personalized grips for cell phones, which are commonly used in Korea. They sold the decorative phone grips to the public, and with the funds they raised, they were able to provide kits containing first aid supplies and personal care items to other youth preparing to live independently. This experience allowed them the opportunity to give back to those aging out of orphanage care and transition to the role of a mentor, Paul explains.

Since 2018, these programs have impacted the lives of more than 2,000 youth in Korea, helping them to transition from a life of total dependence to one of independence and personal and professional growth. In Korea, bluebirds represent dreams, and thanks to the support of Holt sponsors and donors, young adults who have aged out of orphanage care now have the chance to experience new dreams every day.

Learn more about Holt’s work in Korea!

See how sponsors and donors create a brighter, more hopeful future for children and families in Korea!

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The post With Wings to Fly! appeared first on Holt International.

Hollee McGinnis was born as Lee Hwa Yeong in South Korea in the early 1970s. Her birth parents did not marry, but Hollee was raised for a time by her birth mother and paternal grandparents, who were seaweed fishermen on an island off the coast of Incheon. When Hollee was 2, her birth family could no longer care for her. So they placed her in the care of a warm and loving couple who ran an orphanage on Deokjeok Island, where she lived with 15 other children. As Hollee recalls, the orphanage was more like a foster home. 

In May 1975, at the age of 3 ½, Hollee came to the U.S. to live with her adoptive family — her parents and two older siblings who were biological to her adoptive parents. Growing up in the suburbs of New York City, Hollee had not considered a career related to adoption. But after she established the adult adoptee organization Also-Known-As in 1996, the trajectory of her life’s work began to change. For the past 30 years, Hollee has been a professor, scholar, writer, policy expert, community organizer and researcher whose work has centered on adoptive and racial/ethnic identity, adverse childhood experiences and complex trauma, cultural loss, and the life course of adoption and adoptee-led mutual aid groups.

Earlier this month, in honor of Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) Heritage Month, Hollee spoke with Holt about her early days in the U.S., her involvement in establishing Also-Known-As, her return to Korea as a researcher and scholar, her current passions and interests, and the legacy she hopes to leave behind. Here are some excerpts from the interview.

Hollee, thank you so much for speaking with us. We’re so grateful for all the work you’ve done for the adoption community over the years. So let’s start at the beginning of your life in the U.S. You arrived here at 3½ years of age, speaking no English and thrust into a completely new environment. What was that like for you?

Back in the 1970s, it was assumed that children were blank slates, that we were resilient and we would just handle things. There wasn’t an understanding of how traumatizing it was for a child to be separated from familiar people and places, and experience disrupted attachments. 

When I arrived in the U.S., I was deeply attached to the people who cared for me in South Korea. In fact, a few years after I left Korea, the director of my orphanage wrote a letter to my parents, describing the day that he and his wife brought me to the airport. I had been escorted to a point [at the airport] where they could no longer see me, but I broke loose and ran back to them. I grabbed onto the legs of the orphanage director’s wife and cried, “Eomma! Eomma!,” or “Mommy! Mommy!” Basically, I was fighting to not get on the plane.

In the first months of being in my new adoptive home, I often ran to the front door saying something in Korean that my mother didn’t understand. Later, she learned I was saying, “I want to go home.” I also wanted my older sister to sleep in the room with me the summer I arrived, which she did for a time. That’s because in Korea, young children do not sleep by themselves until they are much older.

I arrived in May, and by September, I was speaking English and able to go to nursery school. I was able to adjust, and my parents’ love did settle me down. But something inside me was broken.

So what happened next for you?

Growing up, I had to shut the door on my past as a coping mechanism and just start my new life. I identified as Hollee McGinnis, part of an Irish Catholic family. I knew I was adopted, but it only came up in conversation if someone pointed it out, or if I had to explain how I got into my family. There were always these little nibbles, though, these microaggressions. For example, my parents and two siblings and I would go to a restaurant, and a waiter would ask if we needed a table for four — not five, not realizing I was part of the family. 

In college, I realized people were expecting things of me because of my race that I could not deliver. They would speak to me in Chinese or Japanese, or praise me on my English. I thought I would major in Asian studies so I could learn about all the things people expected me to know because of my appearance. But then I thought, well, that’s just fulfilling a racial stereotype! So I changed my major to American studies, focusing mostly on 20^th century race relations. I hoped to better understand why people were interacting with me based on my race and not my lived experiences.

In college, I realized people were expecting things of me because of my race that I could not deliver. They would speak to me in Chinese or Japanese, or praise me on my English.

After college, I was working in New York City when I learned about a three-month leadership training program. As part of the program, we were asked to design something for our community. Since I had studied international adoption and its history as an undergrad, and since I was hearing news stories about Chinese adoptees coming to live in America, I thought this could be a compelling focus of the project. I thought it would have been helpful for me to have had mentors or seen other families like my own when I was growing up, so that was the impetus for this project — to find adult adoptees to mentor this upcoming generation of international transracial adoptees. And that’s how the organization Also-Known-As got started in 1996.

It’s amazing that Also-Known-As is still around today. How has the organization changed?

Once we got started, our mission grew because we realized we needed more than just a mentorship program. So we focused on three things: empowering adoptees to understand their own lived experiences, building bridges back to our countries of origin and to ourselves as a way of healing, and transforming conversations about race. As I began building a community of adoptees for Also-Known-As, I started to feel that adoption was much more at the forefront instead of just in the background of my life. That’s when my career focus started to shift.

(Editor’s note: To delve deeper into her work in the adoption community, Hollee returned to school to earn a master’s degree in social work from Columbia University, completed a clinical fellowship at the Child Study Center at Yale University and worked as the policy director at the Donaldson Adoption Institute, with an emphasis on program development, public policy and mental health care. Then in 2013, Hollee returned to Korea for 18 months to conduct research on children living in orphanages as part of her doctoral dissertation.)

What prompted you to return to South Korea to study children living in orphanages?

In 2000, Also-Known-As planned a trip to Korea for adopted adults and I went as one of the tour guides and mentors. We visited an orphanage, where all the children were 6 and under. It was the first time I’d been back to an orphanage since I was a baby. When I was getting my PhD, I wanted to research the mental health outcomes of adolescents in orphanages in Korea. One of my core questions was, Do children in orphanages experience birth parent loss in the same way that adopted children do?

David Brodzinsky [professor emeritus of clinical and developmental psychology at Rutgers University] was one of the first people to really study birth parent loss as a core trauma or a core stressor of adoption. He found that it correlated with higher anxiety and depression in adopted children. So I was curious if this would be true for the kids in the orphanage too. They ranged in age from 12 to about 18 or 19, and I was struck by the fact that 80% of the kids in my study had some contact with their birth parents. But regardless of contact, they still experienced birth parent loss, and in my data at least, it was found to correlate to higher trauma symptoms. One of the things that came up was that the children didn’t know why they were in the orphanage, why they had been abandoned. I think this is a core question for adopted people too. (You can read more about Hollee’s research in South Korea here.)

What did living in South Korea mean for you personally?

I always had a dream to go back to South Korea and live there for at least a year. So personally, this was very special because I went with my husband, who is also adopted from South Korea, and my oldest son, who was 6 at the time we arrived. It was a really profound, foundational experience that really solidified the subtleties of being in another culture. After that experience, I felt that I was truly bicultural — that year and a half put that deeply in my bones.

When we came back to the U.S., the experience seeded in me a desire to eat the food I ate in Korea because I really developed a palate for it. So that motivated me to cook more Korean food at home, including kimchi. And now I teach kimchi-making workshops from time to time, both in my home and on retreats!

That sounds so interesting. What do those classes involve?

For many years, I felt like an imposter, someone who was “performing” Korean culture when I tried to do things that were Korean. Inside me, I felt like I’m not a Korean Korean, like people who live in Korea are. When I approached culture only from my mind, I thought… ‘I didn’t grow up in Korea. I didn’t grow up with Korean parents. I didn’t eat Korean food every day.’ But when I realized that if I could let go of those thoughts, I could actually touch this authentic part of myself that says, ‘Of course, you’re Korean. What are you talking about?’

So in my classes, I use the power of making kimchi as a healing process for adoptees. We let go of the imposter syndrome, the thoughts that say, ‘How can I make someone else’s food?’ And we reclaim and re-indigenize ourselves to our ancestral wisdom through our bodies, hearts and souls.

That’s beautiful! What else have you been working on these days?

One of the things I’ve been interested in is how complex trauma and early adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) in adoptees can correlate with physical health and mental health challenges and problems as we age. Most of the research on adoptees stops by the time we’re 20 or 30, so we’ve not looked at these long-term health aspects.

Currently, I’m leading a research study called Mapping the Life Course of Adoption Project, which examines the health, wellbeing and importance of adoptee connections in adulthood. In 2023, we surveyed 465 adoptees over the age of 18, who were adopted domestically, internationally or through foster care. The average age of the survey participant was 36, although we did have a few people in their 40s, 50s and even 60s. We’re analyzing the data now and finding that the average number of ACEs is higher in the adoptee survey participants than in the general population — and we’re assessing what impact that might have on our long-term physical and mental health.  

Through the Mapping the Life Course of Adoption Project, we want to leverage the power of research to benefit all adoptees, including those in their 40s, 50s, 60s and 70s.

Complex trauma can show up in in the body in many ways. For example, I have a group of eight close women friends, all adopted from Korea, who I’ve known since my 20s. Five out of the eight of us developed breast cancer in our 40s. Is this related to the fact that the rate of breast cancer is rising among Asian American women in general and at earlier ages? Or is this also somehow connected to our adverse childhood early experiences? We just don’t know because the research isn’t there. That’s part of what we hope to accomplish with this study and others in the future. We want to leverage the power of research to benefit all adoptees, including those in their 40s, 50s, 60s and 70s.

Hollee, you’ve done such important work in so many aspects of your life. Is there a particular motto you live by or legacy you’d like to leave behind?

I think for now I’m trying to live by my principles and my ideals, which are to be fully present to my children, my community, the people who matter to me. I think that’s what I would want to most be remembered for — that I lived a life that wasn’t just lip service, right? That I lived a life aligned with my values and wish for all people to believe in their own beauty and worth.

Finally, as we wrap up Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, can you share something about the importance of elevating AANHPI voices — and in particular, AANHPI adoptee voices?

Yes, of course. Adoptees who are of Asian ancestry are a minority within a minority. So it’s very important for us to elevate our experiences. It’s also important for us to connect to how we are immigrants as well, and a part of the Asian American experience. Even though some of our adoptive parents immigrated a long time ago, those legacies of how Asians came into the United States, and our histories as Asian Americans, impact our lived experiences because we walk in Asian bodies. While I also dream that we live in a world where a person is not judged by the color of their skin, the truth is the only way for us to get there is to see how our society has not operated this way. Only when we see how color and race have shaped how we treat each other and ourselves can we move to this dream for all of us.

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The post Adoptee Voices: Hollee McGinnis appeared first on Holt International.

A single mother in Vietnam receives a food cart and starts her own business. Women in rural Uganda learn to break the cycle of generational poverty by joining community savings groups. A mother and her family in Mongolia are gifted a life-changing herd of livestock. Mothers and children in Ethiopia gain access to lifesaving healthcare, thanks to a mother and child hospital Holt donors helped build and continue to support in an impoverished rural region.

Around the world, Holt sponsors and donors empower mothers to provide for their children, keeping them together despite poverty, conflict, migration and the stigma of single motherhood. One of the ways your generosity supports these women is through our life-changing Gifts of Hope. Whether it’s through food carts, small business microgrants, livestock, new mother baskets, pregnancy healthcare and more, your gifts help women become stronger, healthier and more self-reliant, allowing them and their children to thrive.

As we approach Mother’s Day this year, we’d like to highlight the stories of women in four countries who have benefited from your generosity and Gifts of Hope. With your support and compassion, these mothers and their families now face a brighter future!

Healthcare for Mothers and Children in Ethiopia

In 2015, Holt donors joined local leaders and community members to build a full-service, maternal-child hospital in Shinshicho, an impoverished rural region in southern Ethiopia. At the time, only 3 percent of births among women living in rural Ethiopia were attended by a health professional, and 25,000 women in Ethiopia died annually from complications during pregnancy and childbirth. In many cases, these women could not get to a hospital in time. When Holt committed to funding most of the construction costs for the Shinshicho Mother and Child Hospital, the local community responded with an outpouring of donations — often a precious few dollars from individuals whose income was just one or two dollars a day. With backing from the government, and significant involvement from the community — both in funding and labor — the health center first opened its doors to patients in 2015.

Today, the hospital has grown both in size and in the level of services it provides. It is now known as the Shinshicho Primary Hospital, and it serves more than 250,000 patients each year with emergency, surgical and outpatient services for children and adults. Although the mother-child hospital is run by the local government, Holt continues to fund much of the staffing, equipment and materials needed to operate the maternal and child health departments, which provide labor and delivery, family planning, ob-gyn and neonatal intensive care services. Holt also supports a child stabilization center for severely malnourished children. 

When two children, Anika and Kia, were found to be acutely malnourished, they along with their mother were immediately taken to the child stabilization center at the Holt-supported mother and child hospital, where they received the critical help they needed.

“In the rehab unit, the babies received a specialized low-protein, milk-based formula diet to help them stabilize,” says Emily DeLacey, Holt’s director of nutrition and health services. “Their sick, malnourished mother was also able to receive support at the hospital and began to get healthier so that her supply of breastmilk replenished and she was able to continue feeding her girls to ensure they were getting the vital nutrition they needed.”

It wasn’t long before Anika and Kia became stable. And not long after that, they returned home. In just a few short months, their transformation was incredible. They went from being terribly sick, skinny, malnourished infants to plump and happy babies. And that’s just their physical appearance. Now that they’re getting all the nutrients they need, their brains and bodies are able to grow and catch up in development. For the mothers and children in rural Ethiopia, the gift of maternal health and childhood nutrition is a blessing on Mother’s Day — and on every day throughout the year.

Empower a mother with the gift of pregnancy health care this Mother’s Day!

A Herd of Livestock in Mongolia

Five-year-old Erdene and her family live in Mongolia’s northernmost province, where herding families continue a traditional way of life — seasonally migrating with their cattle, sheep and goats across the vast plains. Life is hard on the land, not far from Siberia, and winters are especially harsh with temperatures that can dip to -60 degrees. Although the nomadic people of this region have existed here for generations and know how to survive the extreme climate, many live in poverty and struggle to provide enough food, warm clothing and other necessities for their children.

In 2019, Holt’s team in Mongolia began working in this remote province to help care for the region’s most vulnerable children, including children with disabilities, children growing up in orphanages and children living in poverty with their families, including the children of assistant herdsmen. Erdene and her siblings were among the over 80 children who Holt donors began to support through Holt’s family strengthening program. Holt provided emergency food for Erdene and her siblings. Erdene was also enrolled in Holt’s child sponsorship program, which provided ongoing support for her and her family.

Erdene’s family felt deep gratitude for the support of Holt sponsors and donors. But as traditional nomadic people who have chosen to stay and work the land like their families have for generations, Erdene’s parents are hard-working and skilled in raising livestock. Like many assistant herdsmen, they dreamt of owning their own herd, nourishing their children from what they produced and living by their own means.

“If they could own some livestock, they would be able to get wool and cashmere during springtime,” explains our team in Mongolia. “And in summer, they would be able to get dairy products — and the children would benefit from the milk.”

In March 2021, their dreams were realized when Holt presented Erdene’s family with an incredible, donor-funded Gift of Hope — a gift that would empower Erdene’s parents to work toward stability and self-reliance, and ultimately meet all of their children’s needs. They gave the family a herd of 20 goats and 28 sheep.

Over the past four years, Erdene’s parents have nearly doubled the size of their herd and added cattle as well — bringing in considerable profits for their family. In that time, Erdene and her siblings have also grown healthier and stronger because of the nourishing milk and cheese they regularly have in their diet.

“I am very happy as a mother to see my children growing, thriving, healthy and happy … Life has changed and we are very, very happy,” Erdine’s mother shared. “I would like to say thank you. Really, really thank you.”

Empower a mother with a life-changing gift of a goat!

A Food Cart in Vietnam

Thuong is a young single mother who lives with her son in a small city in Vietnam. In April 2021, Thuong learned that she was 13 weeks pregnant. But when she called her boyfriend to share the news, he refused to take responsibility for the baby. Heartbroken, and fearing a life of poverty and social stigma as a single mother, Thuong considered relinquishing her baby for adoption after giving birth.

But then something wonderful happened! When Thuong was 7 months pregnant, a friend introduced her to a local Holt social worker, who enrolled her in a program for single pregnant women supported by Holt donors. Through the program, Thuong received food and nutritional support for the remaining months of her pregnancy, as well as baby essentials such as clothes, diapers and formula — gifts for new mothers provided through Holt’s Gifts of Hope program. The costs of her pre- and post-natal doctor exams were also covered, as were her hospital fees for the birth of her child.

In November 2021, Thuong gave birth to a healthy baby boy she named Thanh. After leaving the hospital, she and her son returned to her family home, where her parents and grandparents helped care for them.

Then, when Thanh was 7 months old, Thuong began working at her mother’s food stall. With her baby at her side, Thuong washed vegetables, grilled pork paste and meat, and helped her mother sell food. Though the women worked long hours, they earned roughly 8 U.S. dollars a day. Although this amount stretches much further in Vietnam than it does in the U.S., it was still barely enough to feed the entire family.

That’s when Thuong decided to supplement the family income by learning to make Vietnamese-style “hot dog” cakes. She took orders for the hot dogs online, then delivered them herself to customers around the city. Lacking the funds to make large quantities of food, Thuong sold about 25 hot dogs a day. After deducting her expenses, Thuong earned less than 4 U.S. dollars per day — but this amount increased her income enough to meet some additional needs, and she began to grow excited about having her own business!

And that’s when the generosity of Holt donors came through again! This time, Thuong received a food cart through Holt’s Gifts of Hope, as well as funds to purchase baking ingredients.  

These days, Thuong operates her food cart in front of her grandparents’ house. It’s open from 11:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily. Although her income is still modest, Thuong is now able to pay for her son’s preschool fees and meals at school, helping him get an early education and the nourishment he needs to thrive. Thanks to the generosity of Holt donors, Thuong has big dreams for her son — and for her own future!

Empower a mother to start her own business by providing her with a food cart!

Financial Literacy Training in Uganda

In the rural villages of Uganda where Holt sponsors and donors support children and families, women now have the opportunity to break the cycle of generational poverty. In these villages, Holt has been leading savings groups that teach parents, particularly mothers, how to earn money and save together. Through financial literacy training, these women learn as a community how to make and sell goods, grow crops, buy and raise livestock, and become businesswomen in the hopes of bettering themselves and supporting their families.

With a small initial investment from Holt donors, these groups of women pool their money together and are then able to take out loans from the group to grow their business or address an urgent need such as a home repair. They pay the money back on a schedule, thus replenishing the fund so other women can borrow as needed. Some Holt savings groups have existed for more than five years — helping the families weather the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Without the savings and loan groups, many of their businesses would not have survived financially — and they would have struggled to afford food and other basic necessities for their children.

Beyond financial stability, the savings groups have offered women a sense of pride in their accomplishments. For example, in one rural community, the members of one group named themselves the “Group of Happy Parents.” That’s because their savings have gone towards buying livestock, starting microbusinesses, and paying for their children’s school fees and uniforms. When mothers are able to care for their children, they are happy parents indeed!

Empower a mother to break the cycle of generational poverty with job skills training!

Mother’s Day Gifts That Matter

Honor a mom you love with a Gift of Hope that changes the life of a mom across the world!

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The post So Their Children Can Thrive appeared first on Holt International.

In April 1975, Jon Dull, Jodi Willis and Thuy Williams were children living in Vietnam, strangers to one another. But within a few weeks, all three would be evacuated from the war-torn country, shortly before the fall of Saigon and the end of the Vietnam War. Jon, Jodi and Thuy were part of what has come to famously be known as “Operation Babylift.” The babylift was a series of flights at the end of the war that followed an evacuation order issued by U.S. President Gerald Ford for Vietnamese children living in orphanages, and who were already in process, to be adopted by families in the U.S. Many of these children were fathered by military personnel from the U.S. and other countries, and the children who were part of the babylift also joined families in other Western nations. Holt was one agency that took part in this effort. During the month of April 1975, Holt safely evacuated more than 400 children in our care, many of whom traveled aboard a Holt-chartered Pan Am flight that left Saigon on April 5.

Shortly after leaving Vietnam, Jon, Jodi and Thuy were adopted into families living near Portland, Oregon, and the three still live in the area today. In addition, they are all members of an Operation Babylift adoptee group on Facebook. In the summer of 2024, with the 50^th anniversary of Operation Babylift approaching, Jon felt inspired to reach out to other adoptees in the area, asking if anyone wanted to meet up for lunch. In total, five adoptees (four of whom were adopted through Holt) and two spouses gathered at a Vietnamese restaurant in Portland. As the group had never met before, they spent a couple of hours getting to know one another, speaking of their origins in Vietnam, the families in which they grew up and other aspects of their lives. They also expressed that they felt Operation Babylift had given them a second chance at life. Recently, Jon, his mother Joy, Jodi and Thuy shared more about their lives and their adoption journeys with Holt. Here are their stories.

Jon Dull: “I Was Given a ‘Golden Ticket’”

In the spring of 1974, Joy and Jerry Dull were the parents of four young children, hoping to add another child to their family. They had begun working with Holt on the adoption of a child from Vietnam, but soon learned that they would not be eligible to move forward as they already had children. So the Dulls refocused their efforts on adopting a child from South Korea. After about a year, Joy and Jerry had given up hope as the waiting process lingered.

Then on April 2, 1975, Joy received an unexpected call from Holt that changed their lives. Their social worker had just received word that a chartered flight with more than 400 orphans in Holt’s care would be leaving Saigon on April 5 and arriving in Seattle a day later. On that flight was a 5-month-old baby named Tran Ai Quoc, who was in immediate need of an adoptive family. The child had been relinquished by his mother at birth and had been living in a Holt-run orphanage in Saigon for months. Since the Dulls had been in the process of working with Holt and had gone through the necessary background checks, they could move forward with the adoption of this baby. “Of course we were very excited,” says Joy. “But we had just a few days to pull everything together.”

Late in the day on April 5, Joy and Jerry made the four-hour drive up to the Seattle-Tacoma airport to await the arrival of a Pan Am jumbo jet that held their new baby. They were surrounded by a sea of other Holt parents, many of whom had been in the process of adopting from Vietnam for the past 12 to 24 months. The scene at the airport that evening was hectic and filled with nervous anticipation, Joy recalls, as the parents waited for the plane’s arrival. Finally, at 12:30 a.m. on April 6, the families drew a sigh of relief as the Pan Am jet came into view and landed safely with the babies, nurses, doctors and other personnel on board. Six hours later, the children were released to their parents after receiving their vaccinations and clearing immigration. The Dulls’ baby appeared to be tired from the long overseas flight but was otherwise healthy, weighing in at a little more than 13 pounds. Recalling her first moments with her child, Joy says, “He cried for a while — I think he was hungry and not used to his new environment.” But soon after taking a bottle, the baby settled down for the long car ride to his new home in the U.S.  

Joy and Jerry named their new child Jon Michael Dull and raised him in a small town south of Portland. In time, the couple would go on to adopt two more children, a 14-year-old boy from South Korea and a 12-year-old girl from India. Growing up in a large and loving family, Jon formed close bonds with his parents and six siblings, and embraced the opportunities he was given. He was the first of his siblings to go to college, earning a bachelor’s degree in business economics and an MBA with a focus in finance.

He and his wife, Charlotte, have also traveled to many places in the world, visiting Vietnam several times. “I went to Vietnam because I like to travel, not to find my roots,” says Jon. Yet, in 2018, Jon and Charlotte brought Joy on a trip to his birth country, visiting places like Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon), Da Nang, Hanoi and Ha Long Bay. “My mother had always wanted to see Vietnam, so when we had the opportunity to take her there, we did,” he says. Then last November, coinciding with his 50^th birthday, Jon and Charlotte returned to Vietnam and traveled to an orphanage north of Da Nang. They visited the children during dinner, spent some time talking with them and helped clean up afterwards. “I’m not really sure why I decided we should go visit an orphanage,” says Jon. “But I felt it was important for me to visit one on my 50^th birthday trip to help remind me [of where I once lived] and ground me.” Jon and Charlotte also plan to live overseas for a few years in the near future once they’re both fully retired. They hope to engage in volunteer work, possibly in an orphanage in Da Nang.

Looking back on the past 50 years, Jon believes that being part of Operation Babylift has had an impact on his life, but doesn’t define him. As he says, “I never really felt that I was adopted, in that my parents are my parents. But I also believe that I’ve been given a ‘golden ticket’ in life, and I have tried to make the most of it. Knowing that I came from an orphanage in Vietnam — and [sensing] what my life would have been like had I stayed there — has motivated me to enjoy every moment and to experience life to the fullest. Beyond that, I’m grateful to the unsung heroes of Operation Babylift, everyone from the Holt workers in Vietnam, to the pilots, nurses and other flight volunteers, to, of course, my parents. If it wasn’t for their efforts, none of this would be possible for me today.”

Jodi Willis: “I Am Grateful to So Many People”

Jodi Willis was born on March 21, 1975, in My Tho, Vietnam, a city located in the Mekong Delta, south of Saigon. Born to a single mother, Jodi was brought to an orphanage in Saigon and into Holt’s care when she was 3 weeks old. At the time, she weighed less than 5 pounds and was sickly and small.

Two weeks later, however, Jodi was evacuated from Vietnam on Holt’s last flight out of Saigon. She was placed on a military cargo jet with the remaining babies in Holt’s care, leaving Saigon on April 27, 1975. Three days later, the city would fall to North Vietnamese forces, leading to the collapse of the South Vietnamese government and the reunification of Vietnam under Communist rule. With all the chaos surrounding them, “the evacuation itself was a miracle,” says Jodi, now 50 and living in Oregon with her husband of 31 years and two children. “Everything was working against us. We were lucky to have even had a runway to get off the ground.”

But fortunately, Jodi’s flight did take off safely, and on its way to the U.S. stopped at a military base in Honolulu to refuel. While there, all of the children were medically evaluated, and Jodi and another baby were detained as they were too sick to continue. But in a week’s time, Jodi’s health had improved enough for her to be placed on another flight to Portland, Oregon. On May 5, 1975, she met her new family — her parents, John and Sherri, and an older sister who’d been adopted from South Korea two years earlier.

Jodi’s family would grow in time as her mother gave birth to a daughter in 1976, and the family would adopt a 13-month-old boy from South Korea three years later. She and her three siblings were raised in a Christian household in a predominantly white community, south of Portland.

Recalling her early days, Jodi says, “I had a very challenging childhood. Growing up, I knew that the Vietnam War wasn’t popular, and I was afraid people would be cruel to me because of this. I was afraid people would think I was a Communist.” For many years, Jodi chose not to explore her roots in Vietnam — or the early weeks of her adoption story. “To be honest, I didn’t think it was possible,” she says.   

But in 2021, Jodi discovered that it was possible to retrieve her adoption records through Holt and saw for the first time her Vietnamese birth certificate. Through an English translation of the document, Jodi discovered her birth mother’s name as well as her own birth name, birth date and other data. She also was able to view her medical information from the time she was in Holt’s care and learned the name of the American nurse who completed her intake exam. (The nurse, now elderly, lives in the U.S., and by a stroke of luck, Jodi was able to locate her on Facebook. The two have spoken since, filling in gaps to Jodi’s early story.)

Jodi credits her own evacuation from Vietnam — as well as the safe retrieval of her adoption files — to the efforts of two men, Glen Noteboom, a Holt social worker in Vietnam in the 1970s, and former Holt president John Williams, who started his career with Holt as a project manager in Vietnam just before Operation Babylift. Both men are now in their 80s. Jodi was fortunate enough to meet John in 2024, as he helped fill in more of her story. John described how he and Glen did not leave Saigon until every one of the children in Holt’s care was safely evacuated from the war zone. He also described how he and Glen safeguarded the children’s records, by packing a small chartered DC-3 aircraft from floor to ceiling with boxes and boxes of documents, before boarding that plane themselves and leaving Saigon. Those documents today are secured at Holt’s headquarters in Eugene, Oregon.

Though Jodi has not been back to Vietnam since she left as an infant in 1975, she does have a desire to someday visit. “Obtaining my adoption records in 2021, approaching my 50^th birthday, and meeting John Williams, who answered so many of my questions and eased so many of my uncertainties, has lit a desire in me to find out more about myself,” Jodi says. Returning to Vietnam may also provide insight and clarity into all of the forces that worked together to bring her to the U.S., from the nurses and orphanage workers who cared for her as a baby, to those who helped her evacuate as chaos ensued, to her parents who answered the call to adopt 50 years ago today.

“Operation Babylift gave me a new life,” says Jodi, one filled with love, challenges and opportunities. “My husband often tells me that God knew I was meant to be his wife, so Christ brought me across two oceans to bring us together. Looking back, the evacuation is the ashes that brought the beauty of a new life.”

Thuy Williams: “I Was Given a Second Chance”

Thuy Williams remembers hearing the bombs fall around her as a young child growing up in Saigon. She also remembers being hungry and terrified. In April 1975, Thuy was 5 years old, the daughter of a single mother who had given birth to her at age 16 and a father who had been a U.S. Marine serving in Vietnam. Thuy was an “Amerasian” child — half Asian and half American — and as the fall of Saigon grew closer, her mother, Ho, feared for her safety. Biracial or Amerasian children faced discrimination growing up in Vietnam, and Thuy says there were rumors that all Amerasian children would be killed at the end of the war.

So on April 4, 1975, Ho made arrangements to help Thuy leave Vietnam. She brought her to the Tan Son Nhut Air Base in Saigon and placed her on a military cargo plane bound for the U.S. (To read more of Thuy’s remarkable story, and to learn how this plan came about, see When Life Gives You Second Chances.) But shortly after Thuy boarded that plane, she was removed from it, as the flight had too many passengers. She was scheduled to travel the following day, April 5, on one of Operation Babylift’s next flights out of Saigon.

As it turned out, the change in travel plans likely saved Thuy’s life. Shortly after takeoff on April 4, the military plane — with more than 300 passengers on board — suffered a mechanical failure and crashed in a rice paddy near the Saigon River. Sadly, 128 people died, including 78 children. In the chaos, Thuy’s mother was told that her daughter had perished.

The next day, however, Thuy flew to the U.S. on a chartered Pan Am flight alongside another 324 infants and children, including survivors of the previous day’s crash. Not knowing that fate had played a part in her journey, Thuy simply recalls sitting next to another little girl on the plane and pretending to read her a book. (The book was given to Thuy by a flight attendant and written in English.) She also remembers stopping at a military base in the Philippines where a U.S. serviceman came on board and offered her a hard-boiled egg. “Much of the trip was a blur, but I have these two memories,” says Thuy.

Unlike Jon and Jodi who had been in Holt’s care in Vietnam and who were placed on a Holt-sponsored Pan Am flight, Thuy did not join her family through Holt and was on a separate Pan Am flight on April 5.  So when she arrived at the airport in Portland, Oregon, she was greeted by Jenny Williams, a mother who had agreed to foster a 6-month-old baby from Vietnam. Much to Jenny’s surprise, Thuy was a 5-year-old child who spoke no English. But undeterred by this change in plans, Jenny and her husband, David, decided to not only foster Thuy but to adopt her — giving her a permanent home in Oregon.

Thuy grew up in a largely white community, sharing a loving home with her parents and two younger sisters. But like many adoptees, the trauma of her early years in Vietnam stayed with her. Since trauma-informed adoption therapy did not exist at the time, Thuy’s parents looked for physical activities to help her find an outlet for her emotions. When she was 8, Thuy joined a children’s soccer team, and that was the beginning of her lifelong love of sports. “Playing soccer gave me something to do and took my mind off things as I could totally focus on the game,” she recalls.

In time, Thuy would take her passion for sports and turn it into a mission to help others. At the age of 20, Thuy joined the military for eight years, serving as a tank mechanic in the U.S. Army,  in an effort to honor her birth father and to serve America, the country she loves. Upon her return to civilian life, Thuy became a sports coach, public speaker, mentor and missionary, eventually leading some 30 humanitarian trips to impoverished countries around the world. She’s focused her outreach on helping kids who’ve faced trauma — in the U.S., in war-torn countries and in refugee camps abroad.

Looking back on her time in Vietnam, her evacuation to safety through Operation Babylift and her life thereafter, Thuy says, “I believe we’re all put here on this earth for a purpose, and mine is to make a positive impact on children around the world. Because of the things I saw in Vietnam and the poverty I experienced, I think I’m able to connect with kids in refugee camps and in poverty. One of the things I love is going to an area where there’s no hope for kids and bringing out a soccer ball, and seeing the smiles on their faces. I think, if nothing else, I was put on this earth to give these kids a little bit of hope that things can get better. It might not be today. It might not be tomorrow. But there’s always a hope for something better.”

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The post Operation Babylift Changed Our Lives appeared first on Holt International.

Several years ago, Mallory and Aaron Layendecker were the parents of three young children, but they still had love in their hearts and space in their home for another child. Ever since childhood, both Mallory and Aaron had felt a calling to adopt, and at this point in their life, they were ready to take a leap of faith and move forward.

In January 2023, Mallory was looking through Holt’s waiting child photolisting when she came across a child who tugged at her heartstrings. Adelmo was a 5-year-old boy with a radiant smile, dressed in a bright orange shirt. He had been living in foster care and then in an orphanage in  Colombia since he was 18 months old, and his profile indicated that he had apraxia of speech (a neurological disorder that makes it difficult to speak), possible autism and a liver condition.

After reading more about Adelmo, Mallory felt that her family might be a good fit for him. Her husband, a high school Spanish teacher, is fluent in the language, and their neighborhood in Missouri is home to many Latino people. Most importantly, they felt they could meet Adelmo’s needs and help him thrive.

Still, Mallory wondered about all of the “unknowns” surrounding his medical and developmental needs.

Before long, Mallory contacted Holt and requested more information about Adelmo. She asked Holt’s adoption team detailed questions about his known conditions, potential diagnoses and future needs. She and Aaron contacted an international adoption clinic and reviewed Adelmo’s adoption and medical files with a physician experienced in intercountry adoption. Mallory spoke to friends working as child therapists and special education teachers to learn more about autism and speech delays. And she and Aaron researched resources in their community to find out what services would be available to Adelmo should they decide to move forward with his adoption.

At times, it felt as if Mallory and Aaron were being blasted with information, but they understood the importance of being fully informed and prepared to care for a child with special medical and developmental needs. After taking some time to reflect, they ultimately decided to submit their Letter of Intent to adopt.

“When Aaron and I began the adoption process, we knew we had love in our hearts for a child with special needs — a child who needed someone to advocate for them and help them survive,” Mallory says.  “It was a lot to pray about and consider, but we also felt we wanted to take the biggest leap of faith we ever had and bring Adelmo into our family.”

When Aaron and I began the adoption process, we knew we had love in our hearts for a child with special needs — a child who needed someone to advocate for them and help them survive.

Marissa Robello, Holt’s director of adoption for Colombia, worked with the Layendeckers during the adoption process, and can speak to both the preparation it took and the soul-searching required to make such a leap of faith. “When a family begins the adoption process, they receive training on various topics, including the impacts of health and environment on child development,” Marissa says. “Even before completing a homestudy, families research specific pediatric conditions, identifying those they feel comfortable with and prepared for. From the beginning of their process, the Layendeckers demonstrated thoughtfulness, resourcefulness and commitment. They asked good questions, did their homework, sought guidance when they needed it and had realistic expectations. As a result, the many adoption professionals in the U.S. and Colombia who assessed this family saw their capacity to parent a child with complex special needs.”

Overcoming Financial Barriers

Upon starting their adoption journey, the Layendeckers knew they had enough love and resources to give Adelmo everything he needed to thrive once home with them in the U.S, but they faced one significant barrier. They didn’t have all the funds required to adopt from Colombia.

Thankfully, they learned that Holt provides free adoption finance coaching to every family in the process of adopting.

The Layendeckers’ adoption process from start (submitting an application to Holt) to finish (traveling to Colombia to be united with their son) took about 18 months. During this time, the family held a number of adoption fundraisers, ranging from garage sales to plant sales to t-shirt fundraisers. Guided by their adoption finance coach, Mallory also set up a spreadsheet and began applying for — and receiving — grants at different points during the adoption journey. Then shortly before traveling to Colombia, Mallory and Aaron were awarded a $3,000 Special Needs Adoption Fund grant through Holt. Funded by the generosity of Holt donors, the grant is given to families with a demonstrated financial need.

In all, the Layendeckers secured $37,000 in grants, thanks to their persistence and help from their adoption finance coach. “When we started the process, Aaron and I thought, ‘How in the world are we going to find $50,000 [to cover our adoption fees]?’” Mallory says. “But our adoption coach encouraged us to just tell our story, and said, ‘If it hits someone’s heart, they’ll be willing to help you.’”

Preparing for Travel

In July 2023, Mallory and Aaron traveled to Colombia to adopt Adelmo. Since they were scheduled to spend four weeks in the country, they thought it best to leave their small children at home in the care of their grandparents. Prior to travel, however, Holt and the care center in Colombia set up weekly video calls between Adelmo and the Layendeckers to help with the transition. This gave the family a chance to meet Adelmo, and allowed Mallory and Aaron to explain to their children how Adelmo expressed himself — through sounds and gestures, rather than words. During the waiting period, the family also read many children’s books about adoption. In addition, Mallory and Aaron met with a Holt social worker who guided them through Holt’s child-specific preparation and training activities to review their resources and expectations.  

On July 27, six months after the Layendeckers had submitted their Letter of Intent to adopt, they united with Adelmo in Colombia. While the legal process of adoption in the country was well organized and went smoothly, there were a few unexpected bumps in the road. For one thing, both Mallory and Adelmo contracted a parasitic infection on their first day together, which impacted them both for much of the trip. In addition, Adelmo had little muscle tone in his legs, and it was hard for him to walk more than a city block. To cover any ground, Mallory and Aaron had to push him in a stroller.

We recognized that we were strangers to Adelmo and the transition must have been traumatic for him.

In hindsight, the experience of managing these physical challenges, learning to bond with their new son, attending to the required adoption appointments and being far from home was more emotionally exhausting than the couple had anticipated. “We also recognized that we were strangers to Adelmo and the transition must have been traumatic for him,” says Mallory. But even within these difficult circumstances, the Layendeckers were able to enjoy many special places and meet many special people in Colombia. And their love for Adelmo — along with his trust in them — continued to grow.

Settling in at Home

After a month in Colombia, the family returned to Missouri in the summer of 2023. At first, Mallory and Aaron placed a bed for Adelmo in their room, so that they could all nest together. “This was important in that I’m not sure Adelmo had ever slept alone in his life,” says Mallory. When Adelmo eventually moved into his own room, however, he struggled to sleep through the night. He would awaken after 45 minutes to pull clothes out of drawers and put them on, and he got excited by all his toys. “Adelmo would be awake all night and exhausted during the day,” Mallory adds. To help support Adelmo, they created a very simple bedroom with no distractions, making it easier to relax and sleep through the night. Gradually, he began to sleep better on his own. Adelmo also made swift progress in several areas — developing relationships with his siblings, showing affection, building confidence in daily activities and gaining six pounds in his first month at home!

Mallory admits that the first six months were extremely difficult, but in time and with help from a medical team, family support groups and education advocates, things began to get easier. Mallory and Aaron were grateful to have Holt’s support during this time as well. Their social worker was very attentive in checking in with them and encouraging them through the difficulties of the initial family bonding stage and adapting to being parents of a child with special needs.

In addition, the Layendeckers advocated for Adelmo at school — ensuring he receive an Individualized Education Plan (IEP). He is now enrolled in a communication, behavior and social skills program, where he is in class with 10 other children who have autism. At school, he has access to a speech therapist, an occupational therapist and a physical therapist, and is learning sign language from his teacher. Outside of school, he sees a chiropractor who works with children with special needs. The practitioner helps to regulate Adelmo’s nervous system through chiropractic adjustments.

Adelmo has been with us for only 18 months, and we’ve seen so much progress. What’s his life going to look like in five years? My hope is that, as a family, we can continue to advocate for him and help our son live the best life possible.

Then a big breakthrough came in May 2024 when Adelmo was diagnosed with a disease called classic galactosemia. People with the illness have an inability to process dairy to the point where their body turns it into a toxin that attacks their vital organs. Adelmo’s doctors explained that this disease may contribute to some of Adelmo’s struggles, such as his speech apraxia, issues with liver function, developmental delays and delayed growth.

As soon as the Layendeckers learned of the diagnosis, they eliminated all dairy foods from Adelmo’s diet, offering him plant-based “dairy” substitutes instead. They also closely read all food labels, looking for hidden dairy products. In turn, the results have been nothing short of remarkable! Within a month, a rash on Adelmo’s face had entirely disappeared. He is now able to fall asleep on his own, and most nights, Adelmo will sleep for 11 to 12 hours at a stretch. In addition, Adelmo seems to have more energy and stamina, and as a result, his muscle mass has improved. “This diagnosis was a game changer for Adelmo,” says Mallory, who continues to make her son his favorite Colombian dishes — without dairy!

Finding Joy as a Family  

Adelmo, now 8, has been home for nearly 18 months. Mallory and Aaron have found joy in watching him grow both in stature and development and in hearing his first words (Mama and Papa). Adelmo’s siblings, who are currently 9, 6 and 4 years of age, have grown to be his loyal advocates, including him in games with other children. In fact, when one neighborhood child asked recently if Adelmo can talk, his 4-year-old brother responded, “Yes! You just don’t understand him yet!”

 As Adelmo continues to settle into family life, there will no doubt be challenges along the way, but Mallory sees in Adelmo a resilient, trusting child who appears to be happy “98% of the day.” She credits him with having a “little servant’s heart” and for being helpful around the house, placing napkins on the table before dinner, for example, or helping to clear the table afterward.  

Although adopting an older child with special needs took a huge commitment of time, resources and effort, Mallory feels that once she and Aaron committed to the process, both the resources and support she needed came into her life — from securing adoption grants to fund their adoption to finding other mothers who adopted children from Colombia with special needs. One mother in particular has reminded Mallory that the challenges she faces today may be different in six months’ time as Adelmo changes and grows. “Adelmo has been with us for only 18 months, and we’ve seen so much progress,” says Mallory. “What’s his life going to look like in five years? My hope is that, as a family, we can continue to advocate for him and help our son live the best life possible.”

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The post With Love to Give appeared first on Holt International.

Thuong is a young single mother who lives with her son in a small city in Vietnam. When Thuong was an infant, her parents worked long hours and had little time to care for her, so they sent her to live with her paternal grandparents. They visited every few days, but life was difficult as the family struggled to cover their basic needs. When Thuong was 18, she left home to find work in Ho Chi Minh City. There, she located a job selling dietary supplements, earning a salary of about 255 U.S. dollars a month.

Thuong remained in Ho Chi Minh City for several years, and when she turned 24, she began a relationship that lasted nearly a year. But in April 2021, with the cloud of COVID-19 threatening to shut down the city, Thuong left her job — and her boyfriend — to return to her hometown.

Two weeks after returning to her family home, Thuong found out she was 13 weeks pregnant.

A Gift of Hope for New Mothers

Thuong immediately called her boyfriend to share the news, and while at first he agreed to take responsibility for the child and marry her, he soon changed his mind. Heartbroken, Thuong became worried about her finances, her health and the health of her unborn baby, especially as COVID-19 continued to shut down services in Vietnam. Fearing a life of poverty and social stigma as a single mother, Thuong considered relinquishing her baby for adoption after giving birth.

But then something wonderful happened! When Thuong was 7 months pregnant, a friend introduced her to a local Holt social worker. She was immediately enrolled in a program for single pregnant women supported by Holt donors. Through the program, Thuong received food and nutritional support for the remaining months of her pregnancy, as well as baby essentials such as clothes, diapers and formula — gifts for new mothers provided through Holt’s Gifts of Hope program. The costs of her pre- and post-natal doctor exams were also covered, as were her hospital fees for the birth of her child.

In November 2021, Thuong gave birth to a healthy baby boy she named Thanh. After leaving the hospital, she and her son returned to her family home, where her parents and grandparents helped care for them. As needed, Thuong’s social worker also dropped in from time to time to offer support.

A Gift of Hope for a New Business

In 2022, as the pandemic began to subside and Vietnam reopened, Thuong started working at her mother’s food stall. With her 7-month-old baby at her side, Thuong washed vegetables, grilled pork paste and meat, and helped her mother sell food. Though the women worked long hours, they earned roughly 8 U.S. dollars a day. Although this amount stretches much further in Vietnam than it does in the U.S., it was still barely enough to feed the entire family.

That’s when Thuong decided to supplement the family income by learning to make Vietnamese-style “hot dog” cakes, filled with cheese, sausage, pork or salted eggs. She took orders for the hot dogs online, then delivered them herself to customers around the city. Lacking the funds to make large quantities of food, Thuong sold about 25 hot dogs a day. After deducting her expenses, Thuong earned less than 4 U.S. dollars per day — but this amount increased her income enough to meet some additional needs, and she began to grow excited about having her own business!

And then another wonderful thing happened! The generosity of Holt donors came through again. This time, Thuong received a food cart through Holt’s Gifts of Hope, as well as funds to purchase an LED sign for her business and money for baking ingredients, such as flour, baking powder, whole milk, cheese, sausage, salted eggs and butter.  

These days, Thuong operates her food cart in front of her grandparents’ house. It’s open from 11:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily. Although her income is still modest, at about 5 U.S. dollars a day, Thuong believes that over time, more and more customers will learn about her delicious hot dogs, and, through word of mouth, her business will grow. In the meantime, Thuong uses part of her earnings to pay for her son’s daycare and meals at school, and this makes her very happy.

Moving forward, Thuong has two dreams in life. The first is that Thanh grows up to be a healthy, kind, helpful and capable little boy. And the second is that her business becomes stable enough to support her family and her son’s needs. Despite her hardships in life, Thuong has always had a strong, positive attitude, a willingness to learn and a drive to overcome challenges, her Holt social worker shares. But thanks to your support — and Gifts of Hope — Thuong was able to welcome a healthy baby into the world, become more independent and have a dream for the future. For these things and more, Thuong sincerely thanks her Holt donors!

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The post Thanks to You, Thuong Has a Food Cart! appeared first on Holt International.

Who doesn’t love a holiday party? Children living in poverty or in an orphanage don’t always have the chance to have a Christmas or New Year’s party, filled with gifts, games, special meals, songs and laughter. But thanks to you, children in Holt-sponsored programs around the world enjoyed some very festive celebrations in 2024. Here, we highlight two celebrations that you helped make possible through your generosity — a Tet party in Vietnam and a New Year’s Smile party in Thailand.

Vietnam

In Vietnam, 200 children living in child welfare centers celebrated Tet, or Vietnamese New Year, thanks to Holt child sponsors and donors who gave gifts for Christmas and holiday celebrations last year. Tet is the most important festival and public holiday in the country, heralding the arrival of spring! Children began their celebration by decorating their homes and playgrounds in the vivid, festive colors of kumquat trees and apricot blossoms, plants that represent warmth, wealth and good luck for the upcoming year.

During the celebration, the children sang, danced and played games. Best of all, they enjoyed chung cakes, a traditional food made of sticky rice stuffed with green beans and pork and wrapped in dong leaves.

The children also loved dressing up for Tet in their new clothes and taking photos. And they were happy, as always, to receive their New Year’s envelopes filled with lucky money! “The gifts touch our children, and they definitely feel they are cared for and encouraged for all their good work during the past year,” one Vietnam program manager shared.

Thailand

In Thailand, Holt sponsors and donors made it possible for our partner, Holt Sahathai Foundation (HSF), to hold two New Year’s Smile parties for 140 families. The events celebrated the achievements of children and families in HSF’s family strengthening programs with food, gifts, games and fun activities.

During the events, participants dressed in bright, colorful clothing, and each family brought homegrown gifts to share with friends, such as bananas, watermelons, corn, pumpkins, rice and papayas. In addition, children and their families performed traditional dance routines.

Children also enjoyed face painting and drawing activities, gaming booths with quizzes (and prizes!) and other fun events throughout the day. “Every child and guardian received encouraging gifts to take home, making the New Year’s Smile event a source of inspiration and happiness for everyone,” says an HSF program manager.

Thank you for your kindness and generosity for children living in poverty and in orphanages around the world! Because of you, children who rarely get anything “extra” felt celebrated and loved at their special holiday celebrations last year.

Give the Gift of Joy this Christmas

Provide a child in need with a festive party, a warm holiday meal and a special gift.

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The post It’s Time for a Holiday Party! appeared first on Holt International.

Bordered by 14 countries — including Mongolia to the north, Russia to the northeast, Vietnam and India to the south and Afghanistan to the west — China is an ancient and beautiful land, embodying thousands of years of history and culture. It is marked by the towering Himalaya mountains in the west, the 13,000-mile-long Great Wall of China, winding from east to west, and the massive Yangtze River, the third longest river in the world.

With more than 1.4 billion people, China is the second-most populous nation in the world. About 67 percent of the country’s inhabitants live in highly dense urban areas, such as Shanghai (30.5 million people) and Beijing (22.5 million people), with many migrating to cities in search of work.

Today, China boasts the world’s second-largest economy, but its wealth is not distributed equally. In rural communities, some children and families live on less than $1.90 a day. In addition, basic living costs in the nation have skyrocketed in recent years due to global inflation, and all of these challenges have affected families in Holt’s programs.

Holt began working in China in 1992, first uniting children in China with families in the U.S. through international adoption. In the years since, Holt’s mission has evolved from an international adoption focus to developing numerous programs and services for the most vulnerable children and families in China. In China, Holt sponsors support family strengthening programs that focus on education to lift children and families out of poverty. Sponsors also provide medical and nutritional care to children living in foster homes and orphanages. Every year, sponsors and donors provide life-changing support for over 47,000 children and families in China.

Basic Facts

Capital

Beijing

Population

1.4 billion people (est.)

Official Language

Mandarin, also called Putonghua (“common language”)

Area

3.705 million square miles, slightly smaller than the U.S.

Climate

China’s climate ranges from subarctic in the north to subtropical in the south. During the summer wet season, monsoons cause frequent floods that are both deadly and destructive. Sandstorms are also common in the nation’s drylands.

Religion

Folk religion, 22%; Buddhist, 18%; Christian, 5%; Muslim, 2%; unaffiliated, 52%

Ethnic Groups

56 ethnic groups are officially recognized in China. The Han Chinese is the largest group, at more than 91% of the population.

Type of Government

Chinese Communist Party-led state

National Celebrations

Chinese has seven major national holidays, which celebrate the nation’s culture, history and working people.

Lunar New Year — also known as the Spring Festival — is the most important holiday in China. It begins on the first new moon of the year and ends 15 days later at the full moon. Lunar New Year is marked by banquets, family gatherings, carnivals, dragon dances and firework displays. At the start of Lunar New Year, children receive red envelopes with money (“red pocket” money) for good fortune.

The Lantern Festival takes place on the final day of Lunar New Year. At night, children hang red paper lanterns in the street as a way to let go of the past and usher in the coming year. The lanterns often contain riddles, and those who guess the correct answer may receive a small gift or prize. Families also gather together to eat traditional foods like rice balls with sweet fillings. The round shape of the rice balls is said to symbolize “togetherness” and bring the family harmony, happiness and luck in the new year.  

The Mid-Autumn Festival — also known as the Moon Festival — has been celebrated in China for more than 3,000 years. It typically takes place in the month of September or October, at the time of year when the moon is at its brightest and fullest. In Chinese culture, the full moon symbolizes reunion, so this is a time for families to gather together. During the Moon Festival, families eat (and exchange) moon cakes, a small, round pastry stuffed with red beans, nuts, meat or other ingredients. They hang colorful paper lanterns in trees and outside their homes, and sit outdoors to admire the moon — a symbol of peace, prosperity and family reunion.  

Chinese Food & Drink

Chinese cuisine is rich and diverse, varying in taste and style from region to region. Dishes from the Sichuan province are bold and spicy in flavor, for example, while dishes from the coastal Guangdong province may be rich in seafood. Tofu, noodles, potatoes, rice and other grains are staples of the Chinese diet, and tea is widely consumed.

Some common Chinese dishes include:

• Steamed or boiled dumplings, filled with minced meat, such as pork, and/or chopped vegetables

• Hot pot, a flavorful broth to which thinly sliced meats, seafood, vegetables, dumplings, tofu and/or other ingredients may be added

• Rice noodles, topped with beef, bamboo shoots, beans, peanuts and shallots

• Chow mein, a stir-fried dish of noodles, meat (usually chicken, beef, shrimp or pork), onions and celery

• Fried rice, to which eggs, vegetables, seafood, meat or other leftovers may be added

• Mapo tofu, a dish consisting of bean curd and minced meat in a spicy sauce

• Char siu or roast meat, often eaten with rice or noodles

• Beijing roast duck, often consumed with thin pancakes and a sauce

• Crayfish, stewed in a broth with ginger, garlic, pepper and spices

Chinese Tea Ceremony

The Chinese tea ceremony — an elegant ritual that involves the preparation and presentation of tea — originated in the Tang dynasty (618 A.D. – 907 A.D.). In modern China, it is often held on important occasions such as weddings, and also as a way to welcome guests into one’s home.

Mealtime Customs

• Eating is an important way of socializing and building relationships among family, friends and business associates in China.

• The Chinese typically eat three meals a day, with dinner being the most hearty.

• Chopsticks are used at most meals.

• Spoons are used for eating soup, but the Chinese do not use knives as most foods are already cut up when prepared.  

• Various dishes are placed at the center of the table and served family style. Most main dishes are eaten with rice.

• Elders, young children and guests are usually served first.

• The eldest person in the family is given the “seat of honor,” typically the one facing the entrance of the room.

Social Concerns

Children “Left Behind”

Today in China, millions of children are growing up without their parents. Many are left behind in rural villages in the care of elderly grandparents or relatives who struggle to provide for them on their own meager resources. In some cases, parents leave their children when they divorce, or when they remarry and their new spouse won’t accept children from a previous marriage. But most parents leave when they migrate to cities in search of work. They leave out of poverty and desperation. Children who are left behind often experience a profound sense of loneliness, loss, neglect, abuse and poverty.

Learn how Holt donors and sponsors are helping children left behind in rural areas of China.  

Children With Special Needs

Since 1992, Holt has helped more than 7,700 children from China join loving, permanent families in the U.S. In more recent years, Holt’s China team has helped find loving families for many children in China’s orphanages living with medical, developmental, cognitive or emotional disabilities or special needs.  

In August 2024, the Chinese government officially ended its international adoption program, leaving such children to grow up in institutional care. Though Holt will no longer be able to facilitate foreign adoptions, we will continue to provide in-country programs and services for orphaned and vulnerable children — improving the quality of care children receive in orphanages and group homes, and providing support and resources to strengthen families that might otherwise separate under the strains of poverty. 

Learn how Holt sponsors and donors help children living in group care in China.

Food Insecurity & Malnutrition

Over the past two decades, rapid development in China’s urban centers has lifted millions of people out of poverty. But in rural communities today, some children and families continue to live on less than $1.90 per day. According to the World Food Program, some 150.8 million people in China are malnourished and 56 million people in rural areas live in poverty. On top of that, China is one of the most disaster-prone countries in the world. More than 186 million people are exposed to the effects of droughts and floods, which are estimated to reduce the country’s potential grain output by about 20 million tons a year.

Learn how Holt donors and sponsors help address malnutrition and hunger-related diseases among children in China.

Overcome the Funding Shortfall

In order to keep serving all the children in our care, we need to raise $469,000 by the end of our fiscal year on September 30. Your gift today will provide food, education, supplies to orphanages, lifesaving medical care and more.

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Education

Education in China is free and compulsory until the ninth grade, but families still face a lot of costs to educate their children. These include books, uniforms, supplies and supplementary classroom fees. Many families also live in rural or mountainous areas without access to a nearby school. For these families, their only option is to pay room and board for their child to attend a boarding school far from home. Collectively, these fees can overwhelm families living in poverty and cause children to drop out of school early.

Beyond these concerns, inflation in China has had an impact on education-related costs, with items such as uniforms, school supplies, books and bus prices (for boarding students) continuing to slightly rise. Because of these price hikes, students in Holt’s family strengthening programs face greater economic pressure and worry about whether they can afford their school expenses.

Learn how Holt sponsors and donors are helping students in China receive the gift of an education.

Holt Donors Help Orphans in China Receive Critical Care at Peace House

In 2011, Holt began overseeing a special medical foster home called Peace House for children in orphanage care who are in need of critical medical procedures. At Peace House, located in the city of Tianjin, children receive pre- and post-operative care, and each child is matched with a medically trained caregiver who provides one-on-one, round-the-clock care. The dedicated care children receive at Peace House helps them grow strong enough for surgery. Post surgery, they return to Peace House to recover and heal before returning to orphanage care.

Learn how caregivers at Peace House helped one little girl in China get the critical care she needed.

Read more stories about how sponsors and donors help children thrive in China.

Learn more about Holt’s work in China!

See how sponsors and donors create a brighter, more hopeful future for children and families in China!

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The post All About China: Facts for Sponsors appeared first on Holt International.

On a warm, sunny day last April, students at the Holt-supported Wakivule early childhood care and development center and primary school in central Uganda received a special treat. In honor of the country’s first-ever National Play Day, pupils traded their pencils and schoolbooks for jump ropes, building blocks and other toys. Parents and caregivers were invited to attend school that day — and before long, they were crafting play materials from clay, plastic bottles, and the leaves of palm and banana trees. They also took part in competitive games with the children, including relay races, dodgeball and soccer.

National Play Day officially took place on April 30, 2024, and was organized by the Uganda Ministry of Education & Sports in partnership with UNICEF and other global child advocacy organizations. Its goal was to celebrate the power of play! Because Uganda has one of the youngest populations in the world, with a median age of 16.2 years, the government has placed a special emphasis on quality education and play-based learning, viewing them as vital to the nation’s future and economic development. On National Play Day, the ministry encouraged government officials, decision-makers, educators, caregivers and members of the private sector to take steps to ensure that all children have safe play spaces and opportunities to integrate play into their school days and home lives.

The Value of Play

Play is thought to be one of the most transformative forces in a child’s life, especially in a country like Uganda where more than 20% of people live in chronic poverty and many children have lost one or both parents to brutal fighting among ethnic groups or HIV/AIDS.

According to child development experts, creative play can:

• Help children develop literacy and critical thinking skills

• Encourage physical fitness and the development of fine and gross motor skills

• Teach children how to work together as a team to solve problems

• Help children learn how to interact with others and make friends

• Allow children to build confidence and develop their identity and self-esteem

• Facilitate resilience in children and recovery from trauma

• Connect children with the world and help them to understand it, especially when adults join children in play

Play Reigns at Holt Schools!

On National Play Day, Holt Uganda organized formal play days at each of its eight partner schools, including the one in rural Wakivule. As parents and caregivers entered the school grounds, they learned about the importance of play in children’s lives — and how it can help them thrive. In many Ugandan households, children have often been reprimanded when they take time to play rather than focus on their studies or household chores.

But on National Play Day, the scene at the Holt sponsor- and donor-supported schools was joyful!

Grown-ups happily helped children build clay sculptures and make dolls from woven materials. They also showed off their soccer and jump rope skills. Most important, they shared the fun with their children. As one child exclaimed, “I was glad to see my mother and other parents play with us!” Children were also delighted to watch their fathers jump rope as fathers are often known for being strict and harsh at home.    

As the school day ended, caregivers and teachers pledged to continue to provide the time and space for children to play at home and at school — and to make National Play Day an annual event at Holt-supported schools.

“The parents in our programs have shown incredible commitment to their children’s education, and National Play Day was a great reminder that learning extends beyond the classroom,” says Malia Robello, Holt’s program manager for Uganda. “This day of fun was the perfect opportunity to highlight the power of play and the important connection between children and the adults in their life.”

Help Children & Families in Uganda

Many children in Uganda have lost parents and live with extended family or are cared for by their eldest sibling. Children here need food, safe shelter, medical care and education. Nearly 20 percent of people in Uganda live in chronic poverty. Your gift will help a child or family in Uganda in greatest need.

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The post What a Joy! appeared first on Holt International.

Nearly 250 million children around the globe suffer from malnutrition. Today, malnutrition and hunger-related diseases are the biggest killer of children under age 5 in the developing world. Even if they survive, children who experience hunger or malnutrition are less likely to thrive or reach their potential in life. They are often sick, routinely miss school and experience long-term effects on their overall health and wellbeing. Children living in institutional care are among the most vulnerable to malnutrition.

“Most children who enter the program are under the age of 5. Since the early years are the most critical for a child’s nutrition and development, we try to reach and help children early in life.”

Emily DeLacey, Holt’s director of nutrition and health services

In 2014, Holt worked to establish an innovative nutrition and feeding program to help address these issues among the children we serve alongside our dedicated sponsors and donors. The Holt International Child Nutrition Program (CNP) is a multifaceted effort that seeks to strengthen nutrition and feeding practices for vulnerable children living in orphanages, foster homes and impoverished communities across the globe.

 “Most children who enter the program are under the age of 5,” says Emily DeLacey, Holt’s director of nutrition and health services. “Since the early years are the most critical for a child’s nutrition and development, we try to reach and help children early in life.” As so many children living in institutional care have disabilities or medical needs, the CNP also takes a special focus on meeting the nutrition and feeding needs of these children. In many cases, the reason children with disabilities are malnourished is due to incorrect feeding practices — for example, feeding children with cerebral palsy while they are laying down, which can cause them to choke on their food. But through training with feeding specialists provided by Holt’s CNP, caregivers around the world have learned correct feeding and positioning practices, significantly reducing malnutrition and hunger-related illness among the children in their care. Currently, a quarter of the children in the program — including children living in orphanages and with their families – have a disability or medical need.

What the CNP Has Achieved

Over the past 10 years, the CNP has reached a number of significant milestones:

• The CNP was initially launched at two pilot sites in India, serving 267 children. Since then, the program has expanded to more than 110 sites in eight countries. Over the past decade, we have reached more than 55,000 children in China, Ethiopia, Haiti, India, Mongolia, the Philippines, Uganda and Vietnam.

• Over the past 10 years, this donor-funded program has provided approximately 287,780 nutritious meals to children. For example, students at a kindergarten for children with disabilities in Mongolia receive a healthy lunch every day. The program also has distributed more than 172,000 essential vitamins, minerals and supplements to children, including those in rural Vietnam who are at risk for malnutrition due to anemia.  

• Since its inception, the CNP has conducted multiple-day, in-person training sessions with on-the-ground staff and caregivers at community centers, foster care homes, health centers, residential care sites and daycare facilities for children with disabilities. To date, more than 7,000 caregivers have been trained in life-changing nutrition and feeding practices! Once caregivers are trained, they become CNP champions who are then able to train others. “This allows the program to grow exponentially,” says Emily.

• In 2019, the CNP team created Holt International’s Feeding and Positioning Manual: Guidelines for Working With Babies and Children. Used widely by caregivers involved in Holt’s CNP, the manual has been translated into nine languages. It provides information on safe feeding practices as well as general information on infant and child development, critical milestones for caregivers to monitor, and helpful strategies that support and enrich the overall wellbeing of every child.

• Following the release of its feeding and positioning manual, the CNP team began to publish peer-reviewed research papers on the needs of vulnerable children around the world in an effort to share its findings. The first paper on the nutritional status of children living within institutionalized care was published in 2020. Since then the team has published 15 more papers in addition to 10 technical resource manuals, including the Child Nutrition Program Community Resource Manual.

• In 2021, the CNP team created the Child Nutrition Program Community Flipbook to further its community outreach efforts. Soon to be available in nine languages, the flipbook is designed to support education for families on proper nutrition and health practices. It offers questions and activities on topics such as general nutrition, health conditions, women and infants, nutrition by age, feeding support and mealtimes, and hygiene sanitation. Because of its emphasis on simple pictures and storylines, the flipbook is geared to participatory engagement of audiences with various literacy levels.

Recently, 357 flipbooks were distributed to social workers in Xinxiang, China, a city with nearly 3,000 vulnerable children. The social workers will visit children and their families at their homes to learn more about their needs, help them gain access to essential services and offer fundamental nutrition and health education through use of the flipbooks.

The CNP Has a Lasting Impact

As the CNP team looks to the future, it can reflect on its success over the past 10 years — as it plans to expand its programs. Here are some of its achievements:

• Malnutrition has been substantially reduced! Of the children who entered the CNP malnourished, 38% are no longer malnourished after one year of participation. This includes 42% of children with disabilities and 28% of those without disabilities. Before entering the program, malnourished children may have experienced stunting (they were too short for their age) or wasting (they were too thin for their height) among other issues.

• With support from their trained caregivers, many children see their feeding difficulties resolve after one year in the program. About 33% of children with disabilities and 54% of children without disabilities no longer have feeding difficulties after participating in the CNP.

• At every evaluation, site directors have shared that since the implementation of the CNP, children are less sick less often, have more energy and seem happier. In short, their quality of life has improved! According to one caregiver in the Philippines, “We’ve seen many positive changes in children’s health and development since implementing the CNP at our site. Children’s nutritional intakes and feeding quality were much improved and so their health condition became better.”

“Programs like the child nutrition program have a lasting impact on the lives of children,” Emily adds. “By early intervention and prevention or treatment of malnutrition, we change the entire trajectory of a child’s life. When children are well-nourished, they can grow to their full potential!”

Support Holt’s Child Nutrition Program

Your gift to Holt’s child nutrition program will provide life-changing nutrition and feeding support to children living in poverty and in orphanages around the world.

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The post Celebrating 10 Years of the Holt International Child Nutrition Program! appeared first on Holt International.