Notes from the Field: August 2025

Recent updates from Holt-supported family strengthening and orphan care programs around the world!

India

Bharatiya Samaj Seva Kendra (BSSK), Holt’s long-time partner in Pune, recently organized a successful tree planting drive, which allowed children and staff to plant a variety of saplings in and around BSSK centers. The initiative emphasized the importance of environmental responsibility and encouraged hands-on learning and teamwork. From digging in the soil to watering the young plants to watching them grow, every step of the process was filled with enthusiasm, care and a shared sense of purpose!

China

Children living at a Holt sponsor- and donor-supported HIV group home in Nanning recently attended a five-day summer camp. The children spent half the day playing in the fields and getting exercise and half the day taking part in events that built their social skills and enhanced their mental health. Twelve children from the local community were also invited to join in the camp activities. In addition, a Chinese adoptee from the U.S. volunteered at the group home for two months this past summer, engaging with and encouraging the children.

In China, HIV is not well understood, and carriers of the disease — even children — face intense stigma and prejudice. But since 2013, Holt sponsors and donors have supported several group homes for children with HIV in China. With your support, children living in these homes receive everything they need — from food and medical care to school tuition. For children who have lost their parents to the disease, the group homes offer a loving family environment, where they are surrounded by caregivers and other children.

Korea

This past June, a group of 60 travelers embarked on Holt’s two-week Korea Heritage Tour. Of the group, 26 were Korean adoptees, ranging in age from 15 to 63, and 34 were adoptive parents, family members and friends. The 2025 tour marked the 50^th anniversary of the Korea Heritage Tour, which began in 1975 when Holt pioneered the concept of heritage tours for international adoptees.

This year’s tour participants had the opportunity to travel to national and historic sites to learn about Korea’s rich cultural heritage and to visit Holt sponsor- and donor-supported programs like the Ilsan Center, a long-term care facility for children and adults with disabilities or special needs. Some Korean adoptees had the chance to meet their birth families and foster families, as well as visit their birth cities and birth hospitals, thanks to the support of Holt’s post-adoption team. The Korea Heritage Tour is open to all Korean adoptees and adoptive families, whether or not their placing agency was Holt.

Mongolia

For more than 25 years, Holt sponsors and donors have transformed the lives of orphaned and vulnerable children in Mongolia. Each year, your life-changing support reaches over 7,250 children and families in need — providing vital services such as education for children living in and near Mongolia’s largest garbage dump, help for women and children escaping domestic violence, therapeutic care for children with special needs, emergency food programs, and more.

This fall, we invite you to extend your support by joining us on Holt’s Mongolia Vision Trip, which will take place from October 18 through October 25. Trip participants will travel to northern Mongolia, where they will help build traditional Mongolian homes (gers) for families in need and visit herding families who have received livestock through Holt’s Gifts of Hope. They will also meet other families in Holt-supported programs throughout Mongolia and enjoy the culture and natural beauty of the country.

Please reach out to Jordan Love at jordanl@holtinternational.org with questions or interest in this trip or future travel. 

Philippines

In July, the Philippines were lashed by a series of storms that brought heavy rains, high winds and widespread flooding to many parts of the island nation. The impact was especially felt in the impoverished communities where children and families in Holt-supported programs live. Many families were forced to leave their homes and seek shelter in evacuation centers, and many children lost personal belongings and school supplies due to the flooding.

But with the support of Holt donors and sponsors, our partner in the Philippines was able to mobilize emergency care packages, including school supplies, hygiene kits and other essentials. These efforts helped affected children recover from the devastation and resume their education as soon as possible.

Thailand

Deadly clashes along the Thai-Cambodian border last July resulted in the evacuation of more than 100,000 children and families in five nearby provinces. In response to the crisis, Holt’s local partner, Holt Sahathai Foundation (HSF), worked with the Department of Children and Youth to help address potential issues affecting young people. With your support, HSF also donated 1,200 cans of infant formula to evacuation centers in the affected areas.