My Name is Life - Holt International

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Russia, 91–94, 98–02 Ukraine, 2004– Mongolia, 2000– Romania, 1989– Bulgaria, 2002– Uganda, 2002– India, 1979– Bangladesh, 1972–73 Thailand, 1976– Cambodia, 91–93, 05– N. Korea, 1998– China, 1993– S. Korea, 1956– Hong Kong, 1980– Taiwan, 1979–82 Philippines, 1975– Vietnam, 73–75, 89– Finding Families For Children The Holt International movement began in Korea, but the command to “Bring thy seed from the East, and gather thee from the West” quickly moved members of the Holt family to work in other countries. Harry visited Paraguay and Mexico looking for ways to serve the children there. But there was so much work to do in Korea that while Harry was still alive, the work maintained its Korean focus. As the effects of the war subsided and the Republic of South Korea developed a thriving post-war economy, Bertha Holt and staff at Holt International were able to lead the agency in new directions. The brutal last years of another war took Holt International to another part of Asia—Vietnam. In 1972, Holt sent a survey team to assess the needs of children. They discovered that tens of thousands of children had been orphaned by nearly a quarter-century of war. And so it was that country by country, in response to the needs of orphaned, abandoned and vulnerable children, Holt International followed in the footsteps of the Holts, and found ways to help the suffering children. Holt now has programs in Korea, China, India, Vietnam, Cambodia, Bulgaria, Ecuador, Guatemala, Haiti, Mongolia, the Philippines, Romania, Thailand, Uganda, the United States and Ukraine. Over the past 50 years, Holt has also served children in Bangladesh, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras, Hong Kong (when it was a British colony), Mexico, Nicaragua, Peru, Russia and Taiwan. The Wide Ranging Services of Holt International Today Holt is known around the world for its comprehensive programs and services designed to: • Meet children’s immediate needs for health and survival. • Protect children’s rights and interests with a view to their needs in the future. • Follow the highest ethical practices in serving children, birth families and adoptive families. • Respect and honor cultures while striving to identify what’s best for each individual child. The following is a brief description of Holt’s major services. U.S.A., 1956– Family Preservation Desperation sometimes drives parents to relinquish or abandon their children in the hope that someone will care for them. Mexico, 2001–02 Most parents intend to reclaim these children someday, but reality is harsh and reestablishing their livelihood can Guatemala, 1986– be nearly impossible. Holt prevents abandonment and helps separated families get back together. Counseling El Salvador, 1984–86 and other assistance help make it possible for parents Costa Rica, 1986–94 to support themselves and rebuild their lives as families. Holt has helped hundreds of thousands of children through these various services. Ecuador, 1987– Domestic Adoption Circumstances sometimes make it impossible to reunite a child with his birth family. However, every country where Holt works has families capable of loving and nurturing adopted children as their own. Because some cultures resist adoption of children outside of the extended family, domestic or in-country adoption is sometimes a developing institution. Still, Holt’s efforts are bringing about changes that encourage adoption and protect the rights of adoptive parents and adoptive children. Holt has placed over 21,000 children with adoptive families in their birth country. International Adoption Children cannot wait for cultures to change. They need loving, secure families while they are young and developing. Because some children cannot be returned to birth families or be adopted domestically within a reasonable length of time, Holt International unites children with families through international adoption. In 50 years Holt has placed over 40,000 children with U.S. adoptive families. Because of its experience and integrity, Holt’s policies and practices are emulated around the world. Single Parent Programs Holt’s care of children may begin even before they are born. Reaching out to expectant parents—often unmarried young women who have been rejected by their family and abandoned by the birth father—Holt offers shelter, medical care, counseling and other assistance. Holt enables birth parents to make informed and unpressured decisions regarding the best course for themselves and their children. These services help safeguard the health and futures of both the mother and the child. Peru, 1984–85 Bolivia, 1985–88 Honduras, 1983–86 Nicaragua, 1976–82 Foster Care Brazil, 1984–95 Haiti, 2003– Colombia, 1985–86 Between the time a child comes into care and the moment the child is placed in the arms of his permanent parents, Holt helps provide for that child. Food, shelter, clothing and caring attention are all essential for development, even for survival. In many countries Holt has pioneered foster care as an alternative to institutional care. Holt has placed thousands of bright, healthy children, thanks largely to the selfless foster families who love these children as their own, and then let them go to their permanent parents. 14 50th Anniversary 2006 www.holtinternational.org 15
Medical Treatment Every homeless child in Holt’s programs receives medical care. This essential service saves lives and often makes adoption possible for children. Vaccinations, regular exams, surgery, medical equipment and medical supplies are only a few of the vital elements of medical care that Holt provides for children. Children who have experienced developmental delays because of a medical condition can often make dramatic improvement as their health improves. As a result, their chances for adoption also improve. Nutrition Simple food is sometimes all it takes to keep a child with his birth family. Imagine how discouraging it is to see your child become malnourished. Several of Holt’s partner programs offer nutrition and nutrition training to prevent child abandonment. Parents bring their children in for a healthy meal every day while they are in the program. Parents also attend classes that teach economic ways to provide nutritious meals for their children. Almost no families in these programs relinquish their children. Programs for HIV/AIDS Affected Children Innocent children have become the most recent population to suffer terrible consequences because of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, creating two primary kinds of “AIDS orphans.” HIV-positive parents and inappropriate medical practices have infected some children with this deadly disease. For many others HIV/AIDS has left them without parents and sometimes without even extended family members. Holt and its partners have developed a range of services that enable these children to have safe, nurturing homes with loving caregivers. Sometimes the child’s family and school simply need education so that the children receive the support and encouragement they need. The solutions often must take place at several levels—including the family and the community. Childcare Centers Legal requirements, medical needs and other conditions sometimes require Holt to care for children at childcare centers. Though institutions cannot provide the level of attention that a foster family can, Holt makes the best of this situation by providing high staff-to-child ratios, training child workers and scheduling for consistency in children’s care. Holt’s dedicated, knowledgeable and loving childcare workers provide attentive care to children awaiting permanent families. Programs for Children with Special Needs Children who are older, have disabilities or are part of sibling groups often wait to be adopted, sometimes for years. These “waiting” children need and deserve families as much as other children. But the likelihood of locating adoptive families for them in their birth countries is often very low. Holt offers programs that provide medical treatments and various therapies to help children develop their “abilities.” And, fortunately, many families in the United States find special joy in adopting these waiting children. Holt encourages the adoption of waiting children through advocacy, fee reductions and other financial subsidies. Post Adoption and Adoptee Outreach Holt is pioneering services to address the continuing needs of adoptees, adoptive parents and birth parents. These services cover a wide range of needs such as referral services for families who need counseling, documentation for those who need legal records, a search registry and assisted search services for adoptees and birth parents seeking to contact each other. Holt also offers Heritage Camps for international adoptees 9–16 years old and Heritage Tours, which enable adoptees to experience the land of their birth. Dancing in the Hallways There is a magical moment when adoptive parents learn that they have a child Twelve floors above the busy streets of New York, the annoying honking of horns faded into the pleasing rise and fall of baritone saxophone scales. A yellow legal pad sat on my desk, just a few lines of copy—dark blue-inked words that now marked a memorable and personally historic significance. A few minutes earlier I had hung up the phone with Mike from Holt International, and I played the conversation over and over again in my mind. “Great news” and “Congratulations” were the words that were delivered with emphasized and heartfelt enthusiasm. I tore off the piece of paper along its perforated edge, folded it, and tucked it in my breast shirt pocket. Minutes later, sitting among colleagues at a large table at Asia de Cuba for an intense lunch meeting, I discretely seized the note and unfolded it for another peek. Co-workers continued to speak, but I heard no words as I covertly glanced down at the written words now unfolded on my lap: Eun Sung, Born November 7, 2004—Girl Later on my way home I stopped at a market across from Grand Central Station to pick up a single red rose. The day’s chill seemed to be gone, warmth filled my heart and eagerness overtook my stride. Gia and Ethan arrived on the 7:37 p.m. train from New Haven, after spending the day with cousins. Back at the apartment all three of us danced in the hallways. We ate pizza and cake. We couldn’t stop smiling. Tomorrow we will receive a much-anticipated FedEx package. In it will be forms, paperwork, medical reports, and other fodder. We will put all of it aside for a moment, however, and go right to the photo of our Daughter. We will put the photo in a frame, place it on the dining room table, and begin to complete the forms. This is a ritual we began with Ethan’s adoption. —Scott Anderson; Orange County, California Ethan Anderson pictured above. Korea Russia Left to right: Long-time Holt board member Dr. Rebecca Brandt holds a child in care in Russia, 1994. These two girls received care from Holt in 1994. After he was abandoned at a local hospital in Russia, 8- month-old Ervin lived in the infectious disease ward until he was discovered by staff workers from one of Holt’s Assistance to Russian Orphans (ARO) agencies. They were able to reunite Ervin with his birth father and new mother. In 2001, when this photo was taken, more than 650 children were returned to their birth families through Holt and Holt’s partner agencies. Holt was able to place children, particularly those with special needs, from Russia in the early and mid 1990s. Holt’s work later reemerged at the end of that decade with U.S. government funding in helping to establish model child welfare services to stem the tide of institutionalization. Holt does not currently have a program in Russia, but the results of our technical support and service development lives on and continues to assist children through indigenous Russian agencies. DDesperate conditions in Korea in the years following the war caused the early Holt program to develop methods to help weak and malnourished children survive and regain their heath. Harry Holt along with first Korean assistant, David Kim, developed practices that laid the foundations for Holt’s work today: attentive, loving care along with basic good nutrition, shelter and medical treatment. Harry instinctively knew that all children, and especially those who were dangerously ill, needed the warmth of a caring touch and the encouragement of a loving voice. In response, Holt pioneered foster care to provide family-like environments for young children awaiting adoption. As conditions improved in Korea, needs changed as well. Fewer children were being abandoned due to poverty while the number of children born to single mothers increased. Holt initiated counseling programs for single mothers as well as shelter programs for unwed pregnant women. Tim and Laura Sperry received their daughter Mee Ja from Korea in 1993. Holt International and the government of Korea began promoting domestic adoption in the 1960s, but some cultural traditions change slowly. The number of children needing families continues to exceed the number of Korean families open to adoption. While international adoption has been often a controversial issue within Korea, the government advocated for children to have the families they needed. Through the years the Korean government has regulated a consistent and well-devised adoption process that helped children to have secure, loving families. North Korea Holt International has been working through the North Korean Asia & Pacific Peace Committee since 1998 providing support to this area of the country. Holt provides nutritious biscuits for orphans and children in at-risk families in orphanages and daycare centers in Pyongan Buk/Nam-do and food support to children in the Shinuiju area, because food remains scarce. 16 50th Anniversary 2006 www.holtinternational.org 17
Page 1 and 2: My Name is Life Many call me “Orp
Page 3 and 4: The Holt Story Harry and Bertha Hol
Page 5 and 6: Harry Holt: The Heart of a Humble S
Page 7: Adopting from Korea in the Early Ye
Page 11 and 12: “At KBF, we believe that the fami
Page 13 and 14: Romania A steadfast role in improvi
Page 15 and 16: Mongolia After the abrupt dissoluti

My Name is Life - Holt International

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