2017 Spring Sponsorship Issue

CHILD SPONSORSHIP EDITION |SPRING 2017

12 >> FEATURE STORY

SHUANG’S LAST CHANCE Caught between childhood and adulthood, one girl strives for a better life.

18 >> PHOTO ESSAY Meet Sponsored Children and Families Who Live

IN THE CAVES OF NORTHERN CHINA 24 >> WHERE ARE THEY NOW: Updates on Once-Sponsored Children 6 >> ISSUE FOCUS In Mongolia, these children live in a place that no one should call home.

Holt International Sponsorship Magazine | Spring 2017

in this issue

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4 Around the Globe New initiatives and country program updates.

6 Issue Focus

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What sponsorship means for the most marginalized children in Mongolia.

10 Maddy’s Heart How 8-year-old Madison Sproles celebrates her sponsored child’s birthday.

12 Shuang’s Last Chance Caught between childhood and adulthood, one 14-year-old girl in China strives for a better life.

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18 Life in the Caves Meet sponsored children and families who live in the caves of northern China.

24 Someone Fighting for Me Before joining her family, Malini Baker was cared for by someone she had never met: her Holt sponsor.

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Cover Photo: Two-year-old Liu lives at Peace House — a medical foster home where orphaned and abandoned children from all over China stay before, during and after surgery. At Peace House, Liu is receiving treatment for malnutrition and developmental delays. Read more about how sponsors help care for children living in orphanages on page 9. Photo by Brian Campbell

Holt International seeks a world where every child has a loving and secure home. Since our founding in 1956, we have worked toward our vision through programs that strengthen and preserve families that are at risk of separation; by providing critical care and support to orphaned and vulnerable children; and by leading the global community in finding families for children who need them and providing the pre- and post-adoption support and resources they need to thrive. Always, we focus on each child’s unique needs — keeping the child’s best interest at the forefront of every decision. Visit www.holtinternational.org to learn more.

Holt International Magazine is produced in print and online by Holt International, a nonprofit child welfare organization founded on Christian principles. While Holt International is responsible for the content of Holt International Magazine, the viewpoints expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the organization. Copyright ©2017 by Holt International. ISSN 1047-764

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[ FROM THE PRESIDENT ]

Phil visits with a child at an orphanage in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia in fall 2016.

The smart, talented and very special children you sponsor live in many different kinds of homes. Some sponsored children live in mud huts without running water or electricity. Some live in one room with 12 different family members in urban Manila, Philippines. While others endure the bone-chilling cold of winter in Mongolia and China in a ger or a cave.

Whenever I visit a child or family’s home, I always feel shocked by something I see. But I also feel heartened, and I feel hopeful. I feel heartened by the resilience and the resourcefulness I witness in the children and families you sponsor, and hopeful when I see how your monthly sponsorship is empowering them to overcome their hardships. You are making a world of difference in their lives, and I am so grateful for your kindness and compassion for children.

In this issue of Holt International Magazine, you will read about sponsored children living in all different kinds of circumstances — in orphanages, in a garbage dump in Mongolia, in a rural Ugandan village, and in the caves of northern China.

Phil Littleton

•

Sometimes, it can be hard to imagine how different life is for the children we sponsor.

But remember that all parents want the same things for their child — for them to grow up happy, healthy and with the opportunity to chase their dreams. For once-sponsored children like Malini, featured on page 24, and Ahman, on page 26, life took them in very different directions. But with the support of child sponsors, both of them grew into extraordinary — and thriving — young adults.

As you read their stories, remember how critical you are in the story of your sponsored child or children. While they may face different challenges, you are helping them reach their dreams.

You are truly one of the greatest blessings in their lives, and a constant source of hope during hardships.

Thank you for making the world a better place for children, and having an open heart to learn more about the challenges children continue to face — wherever they may live.

Adoptive Father of 3

•

President & CEO

Our Vision: A world where EVERY CHILD has a loving and secure HOME. 3

AROUND THE GLOBE

NEW HOLT SPONSORSHIP INITIATIVES & COUNTRY PROGRAM UPDATES

UGANDA

Because of your support, Holt’s staff in Uganda is leading a program that will directly empower more than 1,500 families and children to improve their health, nutrition, food security, education and economic wellbeing. The Safe and Stable Homes (SASH) project will focus on preschool-age children and their families. Holt Uganda completed renovations to an early-childhood education center in rural Wakiso district that will serve as the hub for the program. A total of 131 children, ages 3-5, are now receiving consistent nutrition and a critical preschool education at the center. Another 200 children and their families have been identified to participate in the SASH program. “This intervention will contribute not only to addressing survival, development and growth of children and families in Kampala and Wakiso,” Lydia Nyesigomwe, Holt’s country representative in Uganda, says of SASH, “but also contribute towards Uganda’s broader national progress.”

HAITI In early October 2016, a category-5 cyclone dubbed “Hurricane Matthew” ravaged the southern coast of Haiti. After losing all internet communications with our staff in Port-au-Prince for two days, we finally received a very brief email from our Haiti country director: “Lots damaged. I am

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in tears. We need donations and volunteers.” In the aftermath of the hurricane, we felt relieved to hear that the children and families in our programs were safe. But the destruction to homes and orphanages left them more vulnerable than ever, and immediately, Holt supporters began send-

ing donations — raising over $40,000 to help repair the damage. On Christmas Eve, Holt staff in Haiti headed south, working through Christmas to repair the roof of a school building and care center home to 72 children. With homes damaged, small businesses flooded and crops destroyed, several of the single mothers and children in our women’s empowerment and sponsorship program also received roof repairs and support to rebuild their lives.

Our staff used remaining funds to replenish food sources for both the families and care centers — providing seeds to grow new crops and goats to replace lost livestock.

“If not for Holt donors, these children and families would have received no assistance to rebuild their lives,” says Mike Noah, Holt’s director of services for Africa and Haiti. “They don’t know what they would have done without it.”

INDIA In rural villages near Bangalore, India, drought has caused a domino effect in the lives of the subsistence-farming families that reside here. The first domino falls when the country’s annual monsoon rains fail to come — causing widespread crop failure.

And when crops fail, men will often leave their families behind to find work in the city. Women then become the sole provider for their children, but without the means to support them, they often feel compelled

to send their children to live with a relative or in orphanage care. “Farming and agricultural labor are the main occupation of the village, but due to repeated droughts, the income from agriculture is diminishing,” explains Bhumika Tulalwar, Holt’s India program manager. “Single women-headed households have to face more hardships.”

Through a new initiative, Holt aims to keep children in the safe and loving care of their mothers, and equip the women with the

tools and resources they need to help their children thrive. With the support of sponsors, 22 single mothers or women from low-income families have now received goats or microloans to grow their income as well as skills trainings on how to raise their animals and save their income. Forty children will ultimately benefit from this program — empowering them to remain with their families, continue their education and reduce their risk of migration or child labor.

CAMBODIA

Far too often in the countries where Holt works, struggling families are forced to make difficult decisions to meet their child’s basic needs. Without a social safety net like we have in the U.S., many parents take the last resort — relinquishing their child to orphanage care. But through research and collaboration, Holt is now working to create a service model that keeps children out of institutions and with their families. In January 2016, Holt received a generous grant from the GHR Foundation to implement the Building Bridges to Families program in Cambodia’s Battambang province. With this grant, Holt is working with an orphanage to build their social work capacity and case management system and help find the birth families of children in care. “The best place for children to grow up is their birth families,” explains Thoa Bui, Holt’s senior executive for South & SE Asia programs. “Yet, many families have no choice but to place their children in orphanages to seek education, shelter, food or temporary care. Our job, as a child welfare organization, is to educate the public about the harmful effects of institutionalization, while providing needed support to reunify children with their families.”

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ISSUE FOCUS : MARGINALIZATION

A PLACE WHERE NO CHILD SHOULD EVER BE Outside Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia is a place no one should call home. It is the city’s largest garbage dump, where hundreds of families reside, making a living from the refuse. Until recently, the children of this impoverished community mostly avoided school for fear of being bullied. But now, for the first time, they have a safe space to learn, where they are loved and embraced by everyone.

TOP RIGHT: Pictured here is the Red Stone School’s caretaker, who — among her many duties — cooks warm, nutritious meals every day for the students. She lives in a building near the classrooms with her daughter and young son, who she adopted after he was found abandoned at the garbage dump.

BOTTOM MIDDLE: Just months ago, these two stacked storage containers served as the Red Stone School’s primary classroom. Today, a new building is used as the main classroom and these containers are level and fused together to serve as a library for the children.

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Hop in the car. We have somewhere to take you.

You’re in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia — an arid tundra and bustling city, home to the largest concentrated group of people in this historically nomadic country.

It’s icy cold outside. But now, you’re fastening your seatbelt in the backseat of an SUV and driving up into the crisp air of the hillsides just outside the city.

As deep ruts turn the car nearly 45 degrees, you hold onto the door to try and keep yourself upright. Dust billows outside your window where you begin to see plastic bags spotting the scraggily roadside — more and more of them the farther you drive.

The car summits one last hill and you see your destination. A concrete and wire fence encloses a space of several square kilometers — every foot of it overflowing with trash.

You are at Ulaanbaatar’s largest garbage dump. But to the families and children you are coming here to visit, this place is home.

“It’s brutally magnificent in its desolation,” says Paul Kim, Holt’s director of Mongolia and Korea programs. “It takes your breath away, but in a really sad kind of way.”

The families who live here are mostly

comprised of parents with young children. They live in shelters they’ve constructed from materials found around them and they spend their days going through the refuse, looking for items that they can either resell or recycle to create an income — or use for their own personal survival.

The desolation of this place makes you wonder how these families ever got here… The answer lies in Mongolia’s not-so-distant past.

After the abrupt fall of the Soviet Union in the 1990s, Mongolia struggled to recover and transition into a free market economy. On top of this, a series of natural disasters severely affected Mongolia’s lifeblood — livestock and herding. Families began to move to the city, and away from the stability of their traditionally nomadic, rural and communal way of life — a lifestyle in which families and friends depended upon each other for support and survival. Instead, many families found themselves alone, for the first time ever.

As they struggled to adapt, alcoholism increased, the number of single-parent households grew and many children ended up abandoned or homeless. Many of the families who have stayed together are living in extreme poverty. For some,

the garbage dump seems to be the only place left for them to make a living.

“The harshness of this environment… it is just not a place where children should be,” Paul says. “[It’s not a place] where anyone should be, really — but especially not children.”

A couple years ago, several kind-hearted donors in Mongolia learned about these children’s situation and decided to take action.

But when the needs facing the community are so overwhelming, where do you even begin? Where every great success story begins. With education.

In Mongolia, public education is free.

Presumably, the only obstacle standing in the way of an education for the children living in the garbage dump is a long walk to the nearest school. But living where they do, far from a clean water source and other basic necessities, they have few opportunities to bathe, wash their clothes or comb their hair. Once they arrive at school, if they arrive at school, these children face an onslaught of bullying and teasing by their peers. They are shunned.

“So these kids, even though they’re brave enough to try and get to school, are then so ostracized that they just give up,” Paul says.

For the vast majority of these children, this heartbreaking reality kept them from an education and the opportunity to rise above the impoverished conditions they live in.

This is what inspired the Red Stone School.

About a 20-minute walk from where the children live is a plot of land with two storage containers fused together, one small building, a concrete basketball court and a traditional Mongolian ger. This is the school where over 30 students gather each day to learn.

Holt’s official partnership with the Red Stone School began in October 2016. Immediately, our staff matched each of the then 17 students with a Holt sponsor, who helped provide school supplies, fuel to heat their classroom through Mongolia’s brutal sub-zero conditions and a school cook to prepare warm meals on site every day. Already, the number of students at the school has nearly doubled — and the potential for this program continues to grow.

In this area alone, an estimated 100 students may soon be able to enroll in the school — and this is just one of several different refuse facilities in Mongolia where families and children are living.

“These are kids who would otherwise not be attending school,” Paul says.

“They’d be rummaging through garbage, or perhaps running away from home to see if they could find better opportunities closer into the city.”

In Mongolia and around the world, we aim to prevent family separation and child abandonment. By providing a safe environment for children where they receive education, basic necessities and nutrition, sponsors help to ensure that their families stay together despite the hardships they face.

“We want [the Red Stone School] to be a place were children are drawn to so we can help them to be happy, healthy and to stay with their families,” Paul says.

For the children at Red Stone School, our hope is not only that their families will stay intact, but that they will be empowered to dream beyond what they thought possible for themselves. That they would discover their full potential through education, nutrition, warmth and the confidence that comes from being accepted and loved — no matter where you come from.

Megan Herriott • Staff Writer

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STORY BEHIND THE PHOTO

We met Veronica on a trip to Uganda in June 2016. She lives in a rural village about 35 km outside of Kampala, where Holt sponsors and donors support 150 children and their families. After a day of visiting families, we met this extraordinary woman, who at 69 is caring for ten grandchildren. Inside her small sitting room, Veronica perched on the edge of a chair with her grandchildren sitting on the floor behind her — filling every inch of remaining space. Ten beautiful pairs of eyes peered at us as we listened to Veronica share her story and explain what motivates her to continue working well into her old age to provide for her many grandchildren. “First, I get my motivation from God, Jesus Christ,” she said in Luganda. “And because I have sponsors who have come to support us, it gives me the motivation to continue looking after them.”

No one on our team can remember what we said that made Veronica laugh so boisterously, but her face lit up in the most beautiful way — creating a moment we will never forget.

WRITTEN BY ROBIN MUNRO | PHOTO BY BRIAN CAMPBELL

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ORPHAN CARE

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NORTH KOREA

F I V E WAY S Y O U HELP ORPHANS

For 18 years, Holt has delivered emergency food, fuel, medicine, warm coats and clothes directly to caregivers and children at several North Korean orphanages with permission from the North Korean government. These emergency supplies ensure more than 4,000 children survive the country’s regular food shortages.

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In many countries, children living in orphanages can’t be sponsored — mainly due to the laws in their country. But through donor support, people like you still help these children receive the care they need while they wait for a permanent, loving family. Here are five places where Holt donors help to provide care to orphans.

PEACE HOUSE

THE ILSAN CENTER

In the wake of the Korean War, Harry and Bertha Holt, the founders of Holt International, opened the Ilsan Center in South Korea — a place to care for orphaned and abandoned children.

Today, Ilsan is an exemplary care center for children and adults with disabilities and developmental special needs.

The quality of therapy, advocacy, vocational training and care is so exceptional at Ilsan, their model has been replicated around the world.

GROWING INDEPENDENT

For children who spent their whole life in orphanage care, Holt’s Independent Living and Educational Assistance program in the Philippines provides a safe, family-like home for teens to learn the skills necessary to live on their own, as well as the support to stay in school as long as possible.

From orphanages all over China, children with serious medical needs come to stay at Holt’s Peace House in Beijing. These children are matched with a 24/7 caregiver who provides the one-on-one attention they need to grow strong enough for surgery and recover fully afterward.

PROPER NUTRITION Many children living in orphanages have some form of physical or developmental disability, and their feeding needs are very specific. As children living in orphanages are already at higher risk of malnutrition — which is the biggest cause of death for kids younger than 5 — Holt’s child nutrition program is working to ensure ALL children are fed in the way and with the food that is best for them.

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LEFT: Madison uses a loom to create the colorful potholders she sells to buy holiday gifts for Hui. BELOW: Holt staff in China describe Hui as generous and kind-hearted, just like Madison.

M ADDY’S HEART

With creativity and smart business sense, one 8-year-old girl in Indiana goes above and beyond for her family’s sponsored child.

Out of her home in Indiana, 8-year-old Madison Sproles operates a thriving business. She weaves colorful checkered potholders. She bakes muffins made of pumpkin and chocolate and blueberries and oats. She designs bookmarks covered in stars and hearts. And she’s learning how to knit. Accompanied by her mom, she sells her handicrafts at the local farmer’s market and through an online shop called “Maddy’s Heart.”

Entrepreneurial is definitely a good word to describe Madison Sproles. So is creative. But perhaps the best word to describe her is generous.

“I don’t save anything for myself,” Madison says, her voice earnest and excited as she shares how all her profits go toward birthday and Christmas gifts, and extra school supplies, for a girl named Hui who lives in China.

“She has the exact same birthday as me, except for the year,” Madison says of the 10-year-old girl her family began sponsoring in March 2015 after her dad, Mark, attended a Winter Jam concert in Fort Wayne. At intermission, as the focus on stage turned to Holt child sponsorship, he immediately thought of Madison.

“I knew Madison has this heart for caring for people,” Mark recalls, “and when I saw Hui, I knew this would be a perfect way for her to help a child constantly.”

Adopted at 5 years old, Madison’s heart for children grew from her own early life experiences. “I have a passion to sponsor children because I needed help and so I got adopted,” says Madison, who lived with eight foster families before joining her family. “That was my help and that brought me closer to my passion for children.”

Asked how her life is different now that she has a permanent family, she doesn’t take a breath. “I get loved. I get nurtured. I have a loving family. I get fed well. And I don’t get abused,” she says. “So that’s why I have a humongous passion for children.”

Now that all of her needs are met, Madison is determined to help other children growing up in vulnerable situations. “She lives with her family, but they only have one room,” Madison says, explaining why Hui needs a sponsor. “Her dad has some kind of sickness.”

Madison says their monthly sponsorship helps Hui stay with her family and go to school. But as a kid herself, Madison knows that every kid also deserves a day to feel special, and to receive something special. That’s why every spring, when Holt provides an opportunity for Madison and her family to sign a birthday card and contribute toward a gift for their sponsored child, she draws from her savings to send money for Hui. And since they share the same birthday — July 21 — Madison and Hui both celebrate together! But they also share more than just a birthday. They share the same caring heart for people in need. In 2014, a staff member in China wrote of Hui that “she is a kind-hearted girl and always giving what she has” to those less fortunate.

“My favorite thing about sponsoring Hui is that I can give my money to someone in need. Because,” Madison says, “it makes me happy.”

Right now, Madison is Hui’s sponsor. But one day, it seems, they could be friends.

Robin Munro • Managing Editor

CELEBRATE YOUR SPONSORED CHILD’S BIRTHDAY! VISIT HOLTINTERNATIONAL.ORG/BIRTHDAY.

WHY I’M A Holt Sponsor

“I went to Winter Jam back in 2012, and saw the presentation from Holt. Valentine’s Day was still over a week away, and I hadn’t come up with a good gift that year for my wife. We had talked in the past about wanting to sponsor children in need.

I took the opportunity to pick out a cute little girl from China at the table outside the coliseum. Valentine’s Day was a hit that year.

I surprised my wife with her favorite candy,

“My husband and I adopted our daughter through Holt in 1974 when she was 16 months old. Years later we considered adopting another child, but decided that it wasn’t feasible at that time, so we began sponsoring a child and have continued to this day. We have sponsored many children. Most of them have found their forever home and have been adopted by parents like us who wanted to help a child

flowers and a gift that warmed her heart — helping a child in need. About a year later we learned that our little girl from China had graduated out of Holt’s program, and was in a good place to support herself and her family! We were pleased to continue our support for another child in need — this one a little boy from China.”

Brian & Valerie Goad • Mebane, NC

LEFT: Sponsors Brian and Valerie Goad with their three children.

BELOW: Holt sponsor and adoptive mom Lois Westfall with her four grandchildren.

have a better life. Our daughter is now grown and the mother of four beautiful children. They love to see the pictures of my sponsored child and her picture shares a space beside theirs. Many times our charitable gifts go to nameless, faceless recipients, who definitely need our help, but it is especially satisfying to know that our sponsorship has a name and a face.”

Lois Westfall • Omaha, NE

Why do you sponsor a child through Holt?

Send your sponsorship story to robinmunro@holtinternational.org.

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LEFT: Shuang’s sister, Jiu, walks up the path from their rice paddy and creek to their home. RIGHT PAGE, LEFT IMAGES: Views of the isolated gully where Shuang’s family lives.

Several ponds and a creek flood their rice paddy and also provide water for drinking, bathing and washing clothes. In the bottom left photo, Shuang’s new house and old house sit on the hillside. RIGHT PAGE, RIGHT IMAGE: Shuang stands in her garden.

The yellow-blooming plants behind her are mustard greens, which along with rice are her family’s staple food.

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CAUGHT BETWEEN CHILDHOOD A N D A D U LT H O O D , S H U A N G FA C E S H E R

LAST CHANCE WRITTEN BY BILLIE LOEWEN | PHOTOS BY BRIAN CAMPBELL

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ourteen-year-old Shuang doesn’t have time for fun anymore. There are too many chores and, as a 9th grader, this is a critical school year.

There is only time to study.

After the 9th grade, Chinese students compete for scholarships to continue their education. If they score highly on their exams, admission to a good high school could set them up to perform well on the national college exam three years later. Being admitted to a top college could change their life. However, if their score is only average, the risk of dropping out increases exponentially, especially in rural regions.

Shuang’s mountainous home north of the Vietnam border is so rural, it takes more than two hours on motorbike for her to travel to the boarding school

where she lives from Monday to Friday.

During the school week, Shuang studies with her friends when they have free time.

But when she’s home over the weekend, there is so much work to do on her family farm. Wood to cut. Water to haul.

Mustard greens to harvest for a week of meals. At home, Shuang and her family eat the bitter, leafy plant with rice for every meal.

Shuang knows that if she wishes to escape poverty or one day raise children who don’t subsist on mustard greens and rice, this is her critical year.

How well she performs on her exams could make or break her future.

That’s why she’s studying so hard: for the chance to win a prestigious scholarship and change her own destiny.

And Shuang deserves that chance.

It’s impossible to overlook her potential. She’s got the focus and drive that would allow her to become a doctor, scientist or great academic.

Shuang is short and strong, with a kind face and black bangs that cover her forehead in a perfect, crisp line. She has a natural seriousness about her, and is uncommonly mature and polite — carrying a sense of gratitude well beyond the average 14-year-old. She likes to read and re-read Chinese language books she received from her school. She’s a strong student in her class and her work ethic is unmatched.

But, the hardships she’s faced have aged her. Her smile rarely reaches her eyes.

Shuang just needs a chance.

CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE

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“It’s very frustrating for these kids. They know how important a good education is. But they have no opportunities.

They have no chance.”

A H I S TO RY O F P OV E R T Y Jian Chen, Holt’s vice president of China programs, lived in Nanning during the 1966 to 1976 Cultural Revolution.

During this decade in China’s history, established institutions like conventional education were eliminated. Rather than attending school, children learned from soldiers, peasants in the countryside, and workers in the factories.

The breakdown of formal schooling radically shaped the lives of all those who lived through it. Jian and thousands of other children and teens were sent from the city to work in the countryside alongside the peasants.

Jian recalls at times literally hauling buckets of human excrement across her back. She didn’t receive formal education, and instead spent two years doing farm work as a peasant.

But following the Cultural Revolution, Jian received an opportunity that changed her life.

When the Cultural Revolution ended with Mao’s death, the new leadership re-opened colleges. Jian and all her classmates studied rapidly for their shot at a scholarship. Jian says she received a dose of good luck on her English exam and scored well enough to be admitted to one of the best colleges in China.

“That changed my life over night,” Jian says. “Suddenly, I was important in my village. My father had never given me much attention, but then he was so proud of me. My entire life changed.”

E D U C AT I O N B A R R I E R S In China, as everywhere, education remains the single most effective tool to reduce poverty and create the type of generational change that may even14 www.holtinternational.org

tually eliminate some of the country’s most pressing social issues, from family instability, displacement and child abandonment, to drug addiction and even one of the leading causes of abject poverty in China — lack of access to affordable healthcare.

Primary education is free through the 9th grade — but parents are required to supplement government funding with fees, uniforms, supplies and, as many children from the countryside attend boarding schools during the week, additional money for room and board.

In rural areas, public schools generally receive less government funding than urban schools and the school system is weaker overall. As a result, rural families often pay more supplementary fees. This is counterintuitive as poverty is also more pronounced in rural areas. But because education is highly valued in China, many parents are willing to make tremendous sacrifices to keep their child in school.

“It’s very frustrating for these kids,” Jian says of children living in poor or rural communities. “They know how important a good education is. But they have no opportunities. They have no chance.”

These supplementary costs can overwhelm already struggling families.

Not only do children from poor rural families have fewer educational opportunities, they also have more exhausting household duties and generally poorer health and nutrition. In order to eat, many children help cultivate rice and gardens, and do more time-consuming and exhausting chores like hauling water and washing laundry by hand.

These responsibilities are more heavily felt by girls, who are traditionally expected to carry this workload.

For a student like Shuang, the responsibilities outside of her classwork are so distracting, so exhausting, so time-consuming, it’s easy to see why she is at a severe disadvantage in the competition against more wealthy students.

“What I experienced as a child, it’s not the same in China anymore,” Jian says.

“But the lack of opportunities is still the same. I have so much empathy. For poor children, there is no investment in their education. They don’t have any hope unless someone helps them.”

BOTTOM LEFT: Shuang holding one of her new chicks.

BOTTOM CENTER: Shuang gathering water in buckets from the family’s spring. BOTTOM RIGHT: A chicken picks through a trash pile outside Shuang’s kitchen. CENTER: Shuang’s mother stands at the kitchen door. TOP RIGHT: Shuang’s brother Dao sits on his bed in the room he shares with both his sisters.

H O LT P R O G R A M S In the seven years since Holt began family strengthening services near Shuang’s village in Nanning, this program has twice been named one of the 40 most influential projects in China by the Civil Affairs Ministry and China Charity Federation. A total of 2,500 of the most vulnerable children in the region are enrolled in sponsorship.

With the support of their sponsors, they receive assistance with their school fees, as well as nutritional support.

Every child chosen to participate in Holt’s family strengthening program comes from one of the poorest families, and most children have lost one or both parents. More often than not, students from poor families — like Shuang — drop out of school soon after the 9th grade to begin helping on the family farm or to work in nearby factories.

But in Holt’s programs, every child is matched with an advocate who encourages children to stay in school.

Children receive school uniforms and supplies, which helps reduce the burden on their families. They also receive a few dollars in pocket money so they can purchase things like toothbrushes and

soap, clothing or, during the New Year, some food and snacks that they would normally not have, like meat or treats.

“Sponsors also make children feel special,” Jian says. “It makes them feel good to know that someone is thinking about them and supporting them. Sponsors give kids confidence.”

Eventually, the goal is to help the family earn enough income that they can provide for their children independently.

And when sponsored children score so well on their exams that they are admitted to great high schools or universities, Holt donors may provide additional support.

H O M E L I FE If you stumbled upon Shuang’s home by accident, you would probably assume the house had been long abandoned.

Shuang and her family live on a one-acre plot of land in an isolated gully overlooked by three hilly peaks.

Shuang’s two eldest sisters moved to the city to find work, so now it’s just her mom, dad, 17-year-old sister, Jui, and 8-year-old brother, Dao. Their three-room mud hut is built on a shallow cutout in the side of one of the hills. Their house has no electricity or running water. One room serves as a kitchen, where besides a small, clean metal table and a few shiny knives, everything is covered in soot and dirt from the indoor fire pit that they cook over.

In the second room, Shuang and Jui share a wood-plank bed. Dao has his own small bed, too. Their tiny room is so full and muddy, it’s hard to think that the three of them sleep here.

“I don’t have anything special,” Shuang says, looking around the room.

Her eyes settle on a stack of books and CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE

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notebooks on one corner of the bed. “It’s hard to study here. It is dark and there is no light at night.”

Outside the mud walls, in a 10-foot “yard” that drops dramatically down the hill, there’s a brick chicken coop, where about 10 chickens and 10 new baby chicks chirp quietly. A small, disheveled mother dog watches her two rambunctious puppies. If anyone walks too closely, they duck into a burrow they’ve dug under one wall of the home. A clothesline marks the perimeter of the yard.

A flock of white ducks swim nearby.

Shuang is excited that because it’s Chinese New Year soon, they will get to eat duck. In the north pond, the family also raises fish, which they can catch with hooks on string. Once in a while, they will also eat fish with their meals.

“I eat chicken sometimes, once per year,” Shuang says. “Otherwise, we sell our chickens and eggs in the market.”

To make additional income, Shuang’s parents gather kindling from the mountains around their home. It’s backbreak-

“Shuang’s family is the poorest in this area.

Their lives are very hard. They are very isolated. During the rainy season, I can’t even reach them because the path to their house is too muddy.”

Shuang looks past the clothesline, down the 30-foot drop to a small creek where the family washes their clothes, and beyond that, a small rice paddy that’s flooded with an inch or more of water. Both sides of the rice paddy are marked by small ponds, which form here because rain channels down from the mountains.

“Both our ponds have a spring, too,” Shuang says.

Three times a day, Shuang carries two 5-gallon buckets down a steep and overgrown path and fills them from the spring water, which is cleaner than the muddy ponds, but barely.

16 www.holtinternational.org

ing work, even with the help of their horse and cart. The selling price is low.

“It’s hard to find wood to gather close to the house now,” Shuang says. “Sometimes my parents walk two hours to gather firewood.”

The family’s only connection to paved roads, rural markets and nearby villages is a small, dirt footpath, wide enough for their horse cart, but too thin, steep and unstable for a vehicle. It takes 40 minutes to walk from Shuang’s house to the two-lane highway that winds over a particularly dense stretch of mountains. From there, the closest village is a 30-minute drive.

TOP LEFT: Shuang’s new house is ready for move-in as soon as the concrete floors dry.

People from Shuang’s village plan to bring furniture and other items for the family. TOP CENTER: A panorama of Shuang’s old house, with a clothes line to the left, followed by their chicken coop and then the room where Shuang and her siblings sleep. The door to their kitchen is on the far right. RIGHT: Shuang with her mother and sister, Jui.

A N AC T O F C H A R I T Y Shuang’s Holt sponsorship advocate is a kind and compassionate man named Mr. Pan. Mr. Pan worked as a teacher before joining China’s government in the Ministry of Education. Now, in partnership with the local government, Mr. Pan meets with children and families in Holt’s programs and works to keep them in school, ensure their basic needs are met and explore long-term solutions to reduce or eliminate poverty.

“Shuang’s family is the poorest in this area,” Mr. Pan says, “So I’ve spent more time trying to find ways to improve their situation. Their lives are very hard. They are very isolated. During the rainy season, I can’t even reach them because the path to their house is too muddy.”

When Mr. Pan first visited Shuang and her family, he was struck by how difficult life is for this family.

“How can you study here? How can Shuang find enough time to study?”

Mr. Pan asks rhetorically, standing in the muddy yard in front of her home.

“Shuang is so happy and positive, but still her life is very difficult. The father had a leg injury, and that makes work

says, pointing to the left room. “My parents may sleep in this room or this may be a living room and they will keep sleeping in the other house.” Shuang walks into the third room — the kitchen — which has a half-wall separating off a small, closet-sized space near the back corner. “We have a bathroom now!”

Shuang says. “Before, we had no privacy.

We had to wait until night.”

“They still won’t have running water or electricity,” Mr. Pan says. “I have asked other companies to help with solar panels, but I haven’t had luck yet.”

As the family has little furniture, Mr. Pan asked the nearest village to donate some items. In early February, villagers will help carry new beds, a stove and some other home goods along the same long, slippery path that Shuang and Dao walk on the days they go to school.

“We have a new home for the New Year,” Shuang says. “I am so happy.”

Shuang is also excited for another big change coming to her family’s farm — another opportunity that Mr. Pan helped create for her family. Soon, they will be hosting 100 cows or more at a time, cows owned by the largest landowner in the area. About 50 yards from Shuang’s new house, two laborers are building short, brick walls that will eventually be a roofed, but mostly open-air, barn.

“The family will get money for keeping the cows here,” Mr. Pan says. “It’s not too much extra work for them, but the extra income will really help.”

S E CO N D C H A N C ES difficult for him. Shuang’s mother has kidney problems. And they live so far from anyone. Even it is hard for the community to help them. I want to help Shuang stay in school.”

Three days before the Chinese New Year, Shuang and her family have reason to celebrate, and a genuinely excited smile breaks through Shuang’s typical calm when she shares her good news.

Shuang is moving into a new house as soon as the concrete floors dry.

After Mr. Pan first visited Shuang and Dao — who is also in Holt’s sponsorship program — he took it upon himself to see how he could help. He contacted several companies in Nanning to ask if any business would help Shuang’s family.

Finally, a printing company offered to

build a new home for Shuang. As charity is a relatively new and novel concept in China, this offer was exceptionally rare.

Adjacent to their current home, a new, whitewashed cement structure waits for the family to move in. The roof is tin and the windows and front door are just hollow frames, but already this is a clear improvement to their current home.

This new house will greatly increase the family’s overall security. It will help Shuang and Dao perform better in school, reduce the children’s chores and help the family grow stable.

Shuang walks through the door to the main room, with doors to the left and right leading to the home’s two additional rooms.

“We will sleep over there,” Shuang

Like most children in China, Shuang is not sure what she wants to be when she grows up. That would likely be determined by the needs of her country, and she would accept the offer to study in any college, regardless of subject.

Generally, Shuang’s attitude is one of joy and gratitude.

“I love my family,” Shuang says. “I’m happy to help them.”

But, if she receives the opportunity to continue her education, she will take it.

As she leads up to her exam day, Mr. Pan and Shuang’s sponsors will do everything they can to help reduce the burdens she faces and give her the confidence and support she needs to keep pushing forward. To give her a chance at the future she dreams of. <<

17

IN CHINA, MANY CHILDREN CALL A

CAVE HOME Y

uncheng is a sprawling, mountainous region of rural China, nearly 560 miles southwest of Beijing.

In the summer, the ancient land bursts and blooms with every imaginable crop: apple orchards and orange groves, fields of wheat and massive gardens.

Almost everyone survives on what they grow — relying on their crops for both their income and their food supply. In the winter, it is unbearably cold — often staying below freezing for months at a time.

Poverty is widespread, but the most vulnerable families are usually single-parent families, families impacted by illness or disability, or a combination of multiple factors. As healthcare is extremely expensive, one illness can send a family spiraling into despair.

“In China, most people become poor because they get sick,” says Jian Chen, Holt’s vice president of China programs.

In the north, many of the families in

Holt’s programs live in traditional caves carved out of the mountainside — a way of life that immediately identifies them as the poorest of the poor in their community.

“You see the worst poverty when you visit the caves,” says Mr. Lee, the deputy director of programs for vulnerable children in 87 villages near Yuncheng.

“People move into caves because they lack other affordable housing options.”

A representative from the local government, Mr. Lee partners with Holt staff to ensure that every one of the 589 children we serve in Ruicheng County has what they need to thrive — including two 14-year-old boys who are each living with grandparents and a single parent in a cave in Ruicheng.

What is a typical day like for a child in Holt’s sponsorship program in China?

Read about Qing and Loi. Their stories are unique, but their lives and dreams are much the same.

TWO: his sister, grandparents QingQing withwith his sister, daddad and and grandparents 2

18 www.holtinternational.org

4 Qing’s house & bed

3

Woodstack

1 14-year-old Qing

5 Grandma

7

6 Qing’s sister, Yu

Winter food ration

The door to Qing’s home in Ruicheng, China

Qing’s Life 2

sponsors cover the $150-perterm fee that Qing must pay to stay in school.

1

Qing turned 14 in March.

He can’t remember his mother anymore. She disappeared shortly after he was born. Qing wants to be a soldier like his uncle when he grows up. An above-average student, Qing is especially good at Chinese. His boarding school is about 12.5 miles away, a distance he must walk twice per week. At school, he likes to play basketball with his friends. Qing has many friends, and sometimes he uses the pocket money he receives as a sponsored child to do fun activities with his friends, like eating in a restaurant in the closest town — about 19 miles from his home. Usually, though, he uses his pocket money to buy stationary and other school supplies. Qing’s

These days, Qing’s grandparents are too elderly to work as hard as they once did. Qing’s father does most of the farmwork that provides their only income. Qing’s father was born with developmental delays, but the exact condition or cause has never been identified. The whole family openly admits that Qing’s mother likely left because she didn’t want to remain married to a man with special needs. In China, it’s commonplace to view people with special needs or physical differences as less valuable and capable than those without special needs — and to treat them accordingly.

3

During the freezing winters, Qing is responsible for cutting firewood, hauling water from a public spigot and helping to feed the family

chickens. In the summer, he helps his father on their farm.

4

Qing’s family only has one bed in their house. It’s made of cement and elevated off the ground to combat the winter cold. When he’s home over the weekends, Qing shares the bed with his sister and both of his grandparents.

But he says he likes to stay at school more because he has more space to himself.

5

Qing’s grandmother’s hands feel like wood.

Strong and dry with thick callouses and toughened skin, her hands have spent countless harsh winters cutting firewood, hauling water in buckets and knitting blankets for her husband, son and two grandchildren. From spring to fall, her hands are buried in soft, fertile soil, delicately caring for the pumpkins, cabbages, wheat, apples and walnut trees that her family relies on to survive

the winter. “Grandma is the one who shoulders everything in this house,” Jian Chen, Holt’s vice president of China programs, says. “You can tell.”

6

Qing’s 21-year-old sister, Yu, is a college student.

She took out student loans to pay for her engineering classes. Someday, Yu hopes to build roads and bridges near her village. She pays about $6,200 per term to attend college. Her family only makes about $900 per year, so this is an incredible expense. Yu isn’t sure how she will repay the loans, but she is hopeful she can find a good job when she graduates.

7

Qing’s family keeps their winter ration of crops in one of their caves. They usually eat cabbage, pumpkin or onion with rice. On special days, they eat some of the walnuts that they grow, or trade them for apples.

CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE

» 19

Loi’s Life 1

Loi’s mother died during childbirth. Without air for several minutes, Loi was born with some permanent brain damage that caused learning delays.

He was raised by his maternal grandmother, father and uncle.

His grandfather died when he was young, and his photo hangs in a place of prominence in the cave Loi shares with his dad and grandmother.

2

“Think about when it rains,” Jian says, as she hikes a steep dirt road to 13-year-old Loi’s cave.

“Sometimes they are trapped here because there’s only one way out, and if the rain washes the road out, they are stuck.”

1Loi with his grandma and father in their home

3

During the week, Loi lives at a boarding school a 12.5-mile distance from his home. A 7th grader, Loi likes English, and has received many awards for being the “Most Improved” student in his classes. Loi also likes school because it is warmer and there is more to eat. At home, Loi only eats two meals a day — usually homemade noodles his family makes from the wheat they grow as well as some vegetables.

4

Loi’s sheep

2

The path outside Loi’s cave turns to mud in the rain

4

Although Loi’s father and grandmother raise sheep and chickens, the family can rarely afford to eat meat. The animals provide much-needed income in addition to the income they receive from growing wheat and apples. They can sell a full-grown sheep for about $30 in the local market.

Grandma with sheep

3

Loi’s uncle cooking dinner

SPEAKING

FOR THOSE WHO HAVE NO

VOICE

Pastor Marc Pritchett is the founder of RUSH Ministries and this year’s spokesperson for Holt International during the Winter Jam concert series. Here, Marc shares why he gets on stage every night and inspires concertgoers to become Holt child sponsors.

In 2004, I was the keynote speaker at a student conference in Trinidad. The hour came for me to make my grand entrance, and as I walked by the main gate, I saw eight young local boys — their faces pressed partly through the gate’s bars, as if imprisoned in a jail cell.

The walls of the conference center were surrounded with rolls of barbed concertina wire, reminiscent of a military war zone. But why was the place so fortified? Why did we want to keep some people out, while allowing others to come in?

The truth revealed to me that day would forever change my life!

As I made my way past the children at the gate, I asked the conference director, “What about those kids?” “What about them?” she responded.

“Can we let them come into the session too?” I can still hear her haunting response. “Well, those kids can’t come in. They are not the kind you would want in here with us,” she said. “They’re orphans and probably trouble.” Though I was shocked by her response, I did what any guest speaker would do... nothing! After all, I was her guest. But throughout my sermon, I was thinking of the ones on the outside looking in! I couldn’t shake the image in my head of the orphans and the words “... they are not the kind you want...” The only problem was, they were the kind I wanted! And moreover, they were the exact kind Jesus died for!

After the session, I quickly proceeded to the gate only to find five of the original eight boys — their faces still pushed through the gate. As I approached them, I anxiously reached through the gate’s bars for one of the children’s hands. I touched and held their rough little hands for what seemed like an hour — each one patiently awaiting his/her turn to touch me, the “man of God.” But I didn’t feel like a “man of God.” I felt like a man who chose not to “…speak up for those who had no voice…” (Proverbs 31:8).

The truth is, it was me who was waiting to touch them. My spiritual lament for their souls must have been heard by every angel in Heaven.

Today, considering this and many other glorious encounters, God has opened a door for me to be one of the spokespersons for Holt International. I now share my story with thousands across America and get to see God’s glory revealed through child sponsorship! It’s an honor to feel I can become the voice of those who have no voice. And by grace, I will keep going until every child has a safe and secure home. To God be the glory!

Marc Pritchett • Pastor, Winter Jam Speaker

21

EVERYTHING

FIELD STAFF PROFILE

WILL BE OKAY

Life is not easy in the rural Ugandan district where sponsorship officer Tom Ndawula works directly with the children and families in Holt’s child sponsorship program.

But he feels hopeful, because he is not working alone.

T

om’s head pops in and out of view as he pushes a play structure full of children in yellow school uniforms, lit aglow by the midday sun.

On this June day in Wakiso, Uganda, we are visiting the Kolongero Early Child Development (ECD) Center. A brick oneroom schoolhouse with homemade dolls hanging from the window, this preschool fills a critical need in the community — providing a safe space for children to go while their parents work during the day.

“Action started them some time back, but now they are self-sustaining,” Tom says of the ECD centers in Wakiso, an impoverished district of Uganda where for the past ten years Holt has served children and families alongside our local partner, Action for Children.

Although the Kolongero preschool has the resources it needs to operate independently, some parents still struggle to pay the monthly fee of 10,000 Ugandan shillings — roughly $3 — that goes toward the teacher’s salary.

But that’s where Tom comes in. As a sponsorship officer, Tom works to ensure that every child has what they need to succeed.

A younger guy, soft-spoken and gentle in his mannerisms, Tom Ndawula grew

22 www.holtinternational.org

up in a rural community very much like the small farming villages that make up Wakiso. In many ways, he identifies with the children and families he works with.

“My dad died when I was 8,” he says. “I struggled to finish my studies. My mom helped me, but we did not have much income. Life was not easy.”

Tom worked through college, but it was in a different kind of work — work for which he didn’t get paid — that he found his true calling.

“Before university, I was a volunteer helping with sponsorship programs,” he says. As a volunteer with Feed the Children and other organizations, he saw the need facing communities in Uganda — an experience that ultimately guided his choice of study. “I felt social work was best for me because I don’t like to see people suffer,” Tom says, his soft voice struggling against the joyful roar of children playing in the background.

Now, Tom is tasked with ensuring that every child supported by Holt sponsors in Uganda is on track to reach their potential. He works directly with the families in our family strengthening program — helping them grow their income so they can independently meet all of their children’s needs, including their school fees.

ABOVE: Tom (far right) with members of the Kolongero Action Support Group — each holding baskets or mats made from the materials that they mutually invested in as a way to grow their income.

In Wakiso, the need for sponsorship is particularly critical, he says.

“This community was very affected by the war,” he says, referring to a violent anti-government uprising that broke out in Wakiso in the early 1980s. “Some families were left with zero.”

Many people fled their homes, and many children lost their parents to the conflict that also devastated their villages — destroying schools, homes, farms and businesses. When the HIV/AIDS epidemic hit the region around the same time as the conflict ended in 1986, even more children lost their parents. The impact of both tragedies continues to be felt to this day, as many children are growing up in the care of elderly grandparents and many families are still struggling to rebuild their lives.

As they work to rebuild, however, many of these families have a tremendous source of support in their Holt sponsors.

“We identify families when they are at the rescue stage,” Tom says of the families Holt serves in Wakiso. “That’s the stage where families are not able to meet their basic needs, like food, clothing, education.” While monthly sponsorship meets these basic needs, families work to gain skills, grow gardens and build a

more stable income. After about a year, most families graduate to the next stage — the stability stage. When the family reaches the “permanency stage” — a stage at which they can sustain themselves independently — their sponsors begin supporting a different child and family.

“All of this is done by Holt sponsors,” Tom says. “They are supporting it.”

As their advocate in the field, Tom is also a great source of support for the families and children in sponsorship. On the same afternoon that we visit children at the preschool in Wakiso, we also meet up with the Kolongero Action Support Group — a group of ten families who regularly meet to give advice and support to each other. “It is a social work method that when you find people with the same problems,” Tom explains, “you put them together so that they can share experiences and improve their ways of living.”

When we arrive, the Kolongero group is sitting in a circle — making baskets and mats from materials that they mutually invested in to help grow their income.

The sky has darkened and the winds have kicked up since earlier in the day, but the families have waited patiently for our arrival. They have a lot to share.

“We are grateful to the sponsors who-

have been supporting us for quite some time — especially our children at the ECD center,” says Laurence, a tall, slender gentleman who seems to be a spokesperson for the group. “We are working very hard and we are working together.”

“We are also grateful to Tom, Elizabeth and Jack,” Laurence continues, listing the field staff that works with their families.

“They have done a wonderful job because the situation in the community was not good at all. But now, we can walk with our heads high.”

At the moment, Tom says that most of the families Holt serves in Wakiso are at the stability stage. But they have made enormous progress from when Tom began working with them, and sponsors began supporting them.

“Thank you for what you do, especially for these vulnerable children. You mean a lot to them,” he says, speaking directly into the camera to deliver a message to sponsors. “We still need your support so these families can reach that level where they are able to sustain themselves. But I know with your support and prayers, everything will be okay.”

Robin Munro • Managing Editor 23

SOMEONE FIGHTING

for me

Malini Baker was adopted from India when she was 3 years old. But before she came home to her family, she was cared for and loved by someone she had never met — her Holt sponsor.

As a way of staying connected with her Indian birth culture, Malini (right) and her friend Dhruti donned saris and performed a traditional Indian dance at their school’s talent show.

“That’s me!” exclaims Malini, her long black hair falling over her shoulders as she leans closer to the photo on the table before her. “And that’s Blair, Kavya Chaitra, Robert — we were playing fire around the mountain.”

For most teenagers, looking through their baby and toddler photos is happenstance at least and embarrassing at most — especially if your parents pull them out to share with prom dates or out-of-town-guests. But for 16-year-old Malini Baker, a Holt adoptee who joined her family from India in 2003, looking through her early childhood photos is a rare opportunity, and one she doesn’t take for granted.

Even more rare for adoptees is the opportunity to talk with people who knew them in those early moments — someone who held them as a baby, remembers their first steps and heard their first words. For Malini, this person is Mary Paul, who for 19 years served as executive director of Vathsalya Charitable Trust (VCT) — Holt’s long-time partner in Bangalore, India. Last summer, when Mary Paul traveled to Eugene, Oregon for Holt’s 60th anniversary celebration, Malini and her mom were more than eager to drive the four and a half hours from their home in Steilacoom, Washington to reconnect with her.

“Being adopted, you kind of don’t really have the full story,” Malini says. “So the fact that someone knows [about me], that’s amazing — it does fill in part of my life.”

On this same day, Malini also learned of another person who knew about her while she was living at VCT in India. Someone who provided care for her, tracked her development and maybe even had her photo hanging on her fridge — Malini’s sponsor.

For one year, Malini was sponsored by Angie Wharfield Ford — Holt’s Oregon and Washington branch adoption director — along with one of Angie’s friends who wanted to team up with her to sponsor Malini. And on this summer day at the Holt office in Eugene, Angie and Malini got to meet.

WHERE ARE THEY NOW

“I think it is super cool to have met her and know that my friend and I helped to support her until she came home,” says Angie.

Meeting her sponsor filled in a part of Malini’s life that she didn’t know about until today, but that was so crucial to her early years.

“I think child sponsors are really needed,” Malini says. “People don’t realize how much time and care orphans in an orphanage need.”

Today, most of the children in Holt’s child sponsorship program live with their birth families — and sponsors provide support to ensure that they can remain together, and have everything they need to thrive, while the families work toward stability and self-reliance.

But a small fraction of the children in Holt’s child sponsorship program — about 15 percent — do live in care, like Malini once did, and are either waiting to rejoin their family or are on track for adoption, like Malini once was. For these children, their sponsor meets their needs until the day they go home to a family.

“This is going to be my fourteenth year here in the U.S.,” Malini says. “It’s been pretty great.”

So much has changed in Malini’s life since she was a Holt-sponsored child living at VCT — since Angie would have gotten the last report about her as a 3-year-old.

She came home to Washington to two doting parents and a big brother named Connor, who she looks up to to this day. Her childhood was filled with family dogs, trips to her grandparents’ house at Christmastime, ballet, gymnastics, soccer, T-ball, family clam-eating competitions and swimming in the summer.

“I was just all over the place!” Malini says.

Once a year growing up, Malini’s family would have “family day.” She and Connor would put on puppet shows for her parents, and sometimes they would talk about her adoption together.

“My dad used to tell me this story when I

was little,” Malini says, “about how he got the most perfect little girl in the entire world … I think he would make it up, but I still loved it.”

Today, Malini is a gymnastics coach, on student leadership, the head of three different committees and her cheer team just got back from competing at nationals. Along with a classmate, Malini also just led a project to assemble 152 shoeboxes of supplies for homeless children in their community.

Motivated and passionate, Malini has her dream school already picked out, where she wants to study to become a surgeon.

Through the years, she’s also managed to get in touch with six other adoptees from VCT who are now living with their families in the U.S. This summer, she’s flying down to California to see one of her friends from VCT graduate.

“It’s interesting learning more about kids who were in the orphanage with me,” Malini says. “It might be a little weird, but I think it’s cool.”

Listening to her share about her life and her family, it’s clear that Malini was loved deeply and has had the support to become all she was meant to be — even before she came home.

“Even though I was an orphan, I did have a lot of opportunities,” Malini says. “I’m really fortunate that I had so many people back me up and so many people fighting for me to go to the family that I’m in today.”

Malini’s life is a powerful reminder of the impact sponsorship can have on a child’s life. A powerful reminder of how when sponsored, vulnerable children can grow up to become healthy, thriving and inspiring young adults. A powerful reminder that even if you never meet your sponsored child, you can trust that your sponsorship made a difference in their life. “[Sponsors] help a child have the opportunities that everyone else does,” Malini says.

“It really is beneficial.”

Megan Herriott • Staff Writer

“I’M REALLY FORTUNATE THAT I HAD SO MANY PEOPLE BACK ME UP AND SO MANY PEOPLE FIGHTING FOR ME TO GO TO THE FAMILY THAT I’M IN TODAY.”

TOP LEFT: At their school’s last football game of the season, Malini cheered especially hard for her brother, Connor!

TOP RIGHT: Malini got to meet one of her former sponsors, Angie Wharfield Ford, at the Holt International office in August 2016.

25

WHERE ARE THEY NOW

INVISIBLE

NO MORE

Ahman says that leading activities for children in his village helped lessen his shyness and grow his confidence. Here, a teenage Ahman teaches younger children how to sing.

Thirteen years ago, in December 2004, the “Boxing Day” tsunami off the coast of Thailand left unbelievable devastation in its wake — including in the life of one young man growing up without the protections of Thai citizenship.

26

On December 26, 2004, Ahman woke to blue skies in Ranong, Thailand. It was “a pleasant Sunday morning,” he says, but a day also muted by an enduring and troubling fact in Ahman’s life.

“I was a nobody,” he says.

The second of five boys, 13-yearold Ahman was one of an estimated 200,000 ‘invisible children’ who lived in Thailand but lacked Thai citizenship — a status inherited by his migrant parents. Although a 2005 law gave undocumented children like Ahman and his brothers permission to receive primary education, Ahman’s stateless status made him subject to ridicule, and kept him “in a shell,” he says. “I wasn’t confident when I attended school for fear of being made fun of because I didn’t have papers.”

Ahman dreamed big, though. He longed to receive an education beyond high school and wanted to be a teacher. But, as many do when facing scorn, Ahman began to hide — hide from school and from his potential. “I didn’t want to face it,” he says. And, slowly,

Ahman began to see himself as much of Thai society saw him.

Unsophisticated. Inconsequential.

Invisible, with no hope and no future.

But on that blue-sky morning in late December, something else was invisible, too.

The sea.

For a moment, the Andaman Sea, quickly and without notice, receded.

Unaware of the imminent danger, beach-walkers ran towards the departing water, exploring the unearthed sea life that had suddenly found itself without protection. When the water reemerged, minutes later, it came as a 100-foot wave, overcoming many of those still on the beach and surging toward the unsuspecting locals and tourists working and shopping in the town above. Many of them would also be swept away by the massive swell.

In just moments, the 2004 “Boxing Day” tsunami — and preceding 9.1-earthquake off the coast of Sumatra, Indonesia — had left an estimated 250,000 people in 14 countries dead.

Ahman’s family survived, but many

of their friends did not. Thousands of fishing boats were also destroyed, including the boats that Chate, Ahman’s father, worked on. “Our sole source of income was destroyed,” Ahman says.

“We were desperate.” And because they were also undocumented, they were ineligible for government aid.

Learning of this displaced group’s difficulties, Holt International’s local partner, Holt Sahathai Foundation (HSF), started a rehabilitation program for the 18 undocumented families living in Ranong — first training the parents in child caring skills and proper hygiene, and providing medical care for the 106 malnourished children in the group. Monthly support from sponsors also helped the children start or continue school. HSF provided the men with a microloan to start a mussel farm, an income-generating project that the group mutually agreed on.

And they helped the women, including Ahman’s mother, Limah, start a women-led Trust Savings Fund.

Seeing his “hidden potential” and desire to educate, HSF also invited

Now 26 and pursuing a master’s degree in educational administration, Ahman teaches at a school in Ranong.

Ahman to teach a Thai reading and writing class for the women. “Through this class,” he says, “the women — our mothers — grew confidence and were able to get jobs in the market.” Ahman also became the group’s secretary and led several activities for the district’s children — duties he says helped lessen his shyness and grow his confidence.

But Ahman was still undocumented, and he still feared bullying at school.

Ahman attended several counseling sessions through HSF, and finally, he agreed to attend high school, receiving sponsorship support to help him through. “My sponsors’ generosity made a big difference in my life,” Ahman says. “Because of their support, I always tried to do my best and work hard.”

Ahman graduated in 2009 with straight A’s, an accomplishment that would have made him eligible for many scholarships, if only he had Thai citizenship. Jintana Nontapouraya, the executive director of HSF, remembers how this last hurdle was too much for Ahman’s family. “Although they made

tremendous financial progress,” she says, “Ahman’s family just couldn’t afford to send him to college.” But HSF was unwilling to let Ahman give up on his dreams. So they provided a loan to help him pursue a bachelor’s degree in education.

Ahman graduated from college in 2014, and passed a competitive exam to become a teacher.

The same year that Ahman graduated high school, the tsunami rehabilitation project came to completion.

Ahman’s mother found a job as a cook, Chate continued with the mussel farm, and Ahman’s younger brothers continued their education with HSF and sponsorship support. Every family in the group had become self-reliant and stable.

And after proving that his mother was of Thai descent, Ahman finally received Thai citizenship. “I finally felt like somebody,” he says. “No words can explain enough how wonderful and how delightful that day was.” Soon after, Ahman’s family received their citizenship papers, too.

While he admits to being proud, Ahman says he doesn’t get too caught up in all that he has accomplished. “What is really important to me is being able to help make a big change in my students’ lives, the same way that I got that opportunity,” he says. “HSF has been an invaluable support system for my parents, my brothers and myself as well as my community.”

Ahman currently teaches at a school in Ranong, while simultaneously working towards a master’s degree in educational administration. He says that many students in his class are undocumented, like he once was, and he hopes he can be an inspiration to them.

“If I hadn’t received an education, I wouldn’t be able to reach my goals and help others reach their goals,” Ahman says. “HSF taught me to become brave enough to dream, and now I get to help others be brave enough to do the same.”

Ashli Keyser • Staff Writer

Dear Sponsors...

Many children love to send handwritten letters and drawings to their Holt sponsors. See what Ada Belle, Vaijnath and Erdene lovingly made and sent to their sponsors in the U.S.

Ada Belle • 5 Years Old • Philippines Ada Belle lives with her mother, father and grandparents in Quezon City. She attends a free preschool through Holt’s long-time partner in the Philippines, Kaisahang Buhay Foundation (KBF). At school, Ada Belle is building skills and growing in her self-confidence. Her father drives a tuk-tuk for a living, and her parents receive additional financial support through a sponsor-supported incomegenerating project. They also attend parenting classes through KBF. Ada Belle is a lovely child and is doing very well in preschool — she can identify numbers 1 through 10 and knows the whole alphabet! She loves eating fruits and vegetables, sculpting people out of clay, dancing and running. With the support of her Holt sponsors, this sweet girl is happy, healthy and has the strong, early foundation she needs to thrive.

Vaijnath • 14 Years Old • India

28 www.holtinternational.org

With the support he receives from his Holt sponsors, caseworker and parents, Vaijnath is growing up to be a wonderful young man. His parents sell vegetables in the market, but this income usually isn’t enough to pay Vaijnath’s school fees. The added educational support that Vaijnath receives through our local partner, Bharatiya Semaj Seva Kendra (BSSK), is a huge help to his family and ensures that he gets the education he needs and deserves. Vaijnath especially looks up to his father, and with the encouragement of BSSK staff, his father has re-arranged his busy schedule to include more quality time with his son. Vaijnath loves playing outside, especially cricket and Kho-Kho — a popular tag-like game. He is also a wonderful artist!

Erdene * • 13 Years Old • Mongolia Friendly, chatty and sweet, Erdene is cherished by everyone who knows her. She lives with her mother and four siblings, and is always quick to help her mother with cooking and caring for her younger sister. Erdene has lots of friends who attend the same school and church and, like most 13-year-old girls, they spend lots of time talking about “everything!” Erdene also loves to read and about three times a week she goes to the new Holt library with her friends. Because of her sponsors, Erdene has the resources she needs to thrive in school and has a wonderful community of friends and mentors to support her as she grows up.

Letter Translation Dear Sponsor, My test results of Mongolian language, Mongolian script, literature and math were good. I love reading books and during my one week of school break I read books. At the church I was selected for choir, singing “Praise the Lord.” The church will also teach dance. When I grow up, I want to become a policewoman. I want to try hard in my physical exercise lesson. But I’ll also do my best in other subjects. I thank you for your love and support.

Erdene

*Name changed to comply with Mongolia’s confidentiality requirements

Sponsor Melissa Baltz with her son, Christopher.

WHY I’M A HOLT SPONSOR “I have been sponsoring a child from Thailand for I believe over 25 years. In 1989, my husband and I were third on the list to adopt a toddler from Thailand when at 37 I found myself pregnant for the first time. At that time, our local agency or the state of Maine had a policy where you had to wait a year after adding a child to your family by birth or adoption before you could adopt again. I had wanted to be a mother my whole life and to be pregnant was a wonderful thing, but I also felt a little sad. I waited until I was five months pregnant but had to tell the agency that we could not go through with the adoption. So the little boy who would have gone to us went to another family. My son was born in 1990 and he has been the light of our lives. I still sponsor a child from Thailand in honor of that child I never got to see, who I hope had a happy life with his adoptive family.”

Melissa Baltz • Brandon, MS

Why do you sponsor a child through Holt? Send your sponsorship stories to robinmunro@holtinternational.org.

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Sponsor a Child

THESE AND OTHER CHILDREN NEED SPONSORS.

Asifya

Rehan

15 Years Old

9 Years Old

India

India

Asifya is a kind and studious 15-year-old. She says she wants to have a good career someday and understands the important role education plays in reaching her goals. But public school is not free where she lives, and although they, too, understand how important education is for their children, Asifya’s parents struggle to afford school fees for both Asifya and her older brother. Your sponsorship support will help Asifya receive an education, and alleviate the worry and stress Asifya’s parents feel about their daughter’s future.

Rehan has a lot of friends, and likes to play cricket, soccer and other outdoor games. He has a close relationship with his mother, who is also the sole provider for the family. While she is at work, Rehan often helps with the household duties.

Rehan’s older sister also attends school, and his mom finds it difficult to provide education and meet basic needs for both children. By becoming Rehan’s monthly Holt sponsor, you will help his family meet their son’s needs, including the cost of school fees.

Tul

Sok Ly

10 Years Old

11 Years Old

Mongolia

Cambodia

Tul is a healthy 10-yearold who loves sports and school, though changes in his life have made it difficult for him to stay focused.

After his father left, Tul migrated with his mother and three siblings from the country to the city, where his mother hoped to find work. Currently unemployed, she struggles to provide for Tul and her other children. At home, Tul helps with the household chores and likes to help his mom with cooking. Your sponsorship will help Tul excel in school and provide food and support for his family.

Sok Ly lives in a rural province of Cambodia with her mother. She is an only child, and her mother became their sole provider after Sok Ly’s father died.

Because opportunities are limited where they live, Sok Ly often stays with her grandmother while her mother works far away from home.

Sok Ly is currently in the fourth grade, where she is a great student. She aspires to be a doctor when she grows up. By sponsoring Sok Ly, you will help her stay in school and remain in the loving care of her mom and grandmother.

When you sponsor a child, you will also uplift their family and community.

To sponsor one of these children, email sponsorship@holtinternational.org.

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Children snuggle under Cat’s blankets at Peace House, Holt’s medical foster home in China.

The Peace House provides nurturing care for children while they wait for and then recover from medical treatment in Beijing.

Wrapped In Love Why Holt adoptee Cat Fisher knits blankets for Holt-sponsored kids.

Growing up, Cat Fisher had a special blanket.

It was blue and made of an old Disney sheet and she loved every ratty corner of it.

“I took it everywhere with me until it became rags,” says Cat, a Korean adoptee who now lives in Georgia with her husband, James, and two hound dogs, Annyong and Toby.

Cat was just 3 months old when she arrived on an airplane in Memphis, Tennessee accompanied by a team of nuns. This is a story Cat’s mom and dad have shared with her throughout her life — describing the frenzied nuns, the anxiety when her flight was delayed, and the quick handoff of a tiny baby with nothing more than the clothes she wore on her long flight home.

“I didn’t have anything when I came over other than the clothes on my back,” says Cat. No pictures or mementos from her brief time in care. No loved stuffed animals. No blanket.

But looking back — and listening to her parents tell her arrival story — Cat had an idea.

“I thought, wouldn’t it be great if kids had an opportunity to have a memento from that in-between time?” she says. “Something positive that someone made for you? So I started knitting.”

Applying a skill she learned from her grandmother, Cat began knitting blankets for children in Holt’s sponsorship programs around the world. Some are large and rectangular for everyday use. Some are square with a border, intended for “tummy time” on the floor. The biggest ones have a zigzag chevron pattern, useful for both mom and baby or many children to snuggle under.

“I wanted to create a blanket that kids can grow into and grow out of and create memories with,” says Cat. The first of Cat’s blankets went to the Nazareth Home — a shelter for women coping with the stigma of unwed motherhood in Manila, Philippines. Here, with the support of Holt sponsors, women receive love and support while they carry and nurse their newborn babies.

Cat felt especially moved to see photos of infants at the Nazareth Home wrapped in her blankets, and sleeping in their mothers’ arms.

“I think it was more amazing for me to see the smiles on the mother’s faces,” she says. “I wanted to make an impact for the children, but to see that I could have an impact on other individuals, that was really amazing.”

Children in several Holt programs have now received Cat’s blankets — including children in foster care in the Philippines and China, as well as children with special needs who are awaiting or recovering from surgery at Peace House, Holt’s medical foster home in Beijing.

Ultimately, Cat hopes her gifts to these children will be as loved as her own childhood blanket — becoming, she hopes, a positive memory at the beginning of a “really positive, happy life.”

“For me, it’s really about giving something to children who need community,” she says, “and to know they’re loved.”

Robin Munro • Managing Editor

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THANK YOU! This year, at Winter Jam concerts across the country, over 7,500 volunteers joined forces to sign up new Holt sponsors for orphaned and vulnerable children!

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