November is National Adoption Awareness month. This is a wonderful time to spread the word about children throughout the world who need loving families, and acknowledge adoption as one way to build a family.

Many Holt adoptive families have found a great way to raise awareness about adoption and help more children find families through the Holt Ambassadors program.

The Holt Ambassador Network is composed of people who share the Holt story and raise awareness in their communities about the urgent needs of homeless children around the world by: organizing fundraisers, speaking at churches, schools or civic groups; or volunteering at Holt events. One of these families is the Burns family…

Brad and Liza Burns are the proud parents of eight children, five of whom were adopted from China. When Brad and Liza adopted their first daughter, Faith, their eyes were opened to the great need for adoptive parents for children in China.

“After seeing the difficulties these children face, we felt called to look into adopting another child, and that’s how we got our second daughter, Hope.” says Brad. “Hope was five years old when we adopted her. She lived in a state run institution, and her room, which she shared with another child, was eight by five feet with a small bed on the cement floor and a Red Cross blanket. The workers do wonderful things with what they have and truly have a heart to help children, but the fact is, they just don’t have enough resources.”

Brad and Liza later adopted Grace and Joy, and most recently, Jewel, who was 14 years old at time of placement.

Brad and Liza shared their experience of adopting older children with 30 attendees in last month’s Holt Webinar titled “Adopting Older Children – Information for the Decision.” The Webinar attendees were prospective adoptive parents considering an older child through Holt’s Journey of Hope program.

The Burns family talked candidly about the grief process the children went through as they adjusted to their new lives in the United States. They shared how they helped their daughters adjust and become the resilient, happy, vibrant young ladies they are today. Read the rest of this entry »

The China Child of Promise program matches prospective adoptive parents with children who have minor and correctable needs ranging from: missing or extra digits, cleft lip/palate, club feet, and minor heart conditions.

The children in the program do not have life-long health or learning disabilities, and their ‘special need’ can often be corrected with surgery, if it hasn’t been corrected already.

Parents are able to decide which medical needs they feel are within their capacity to care for by filling out a minor/correctable conditions checklist.

Joining this program does not exclude you from the standard waiting process; it simply expands your options and gives you the chance to be matched with a child much quicker!

The following is a story about a little boy named Daniel, a China Child of Promise, who had a minor case of clubfeet. He just recently came home to his permanent family….learn more about Holt’s Child China of Promise program

by Michele Mazzio

Adoption was something that my husband and I talked about many years ago, particularly after we lost our son, Brendan, to SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome) in 2001. After a long grief process we started to explore and research domestic and international adoption. We discussed the programs and met with various people who had adopted internationally.

As a teenage girl I dreamed of having a little girl from China, and my husband was open to this, as well. After a little over a year of paperwork and wait time, we adopted our daughter, Emma from the Province of Guangdong in 2005. After so many years of empty hearts and arms we held our healthy 15-month old little girl. We were so excited and thrilled to have been blessed by this gift.

Emma is now an amazing 5-year-old girl who loves to hula-hoop, do gymnastics, play the piano and just enjoy life every day. As her pre-K teacher tells her: “You are the sunshine in my classroom.” She has certainly been my sunshine and warms my heart every day. Emma has taught us so much more about love and life and the importance of family. She has even taught me how to parent a child after the loss of another.

My husband and I decided that we wanted to take another journey back to China and adopt another little girl. We completed our paperwork and submitted our dossier to China in 2006. At the time we knew that the wait would be longer than before but not that the wait time would get extended each month that went by.

One day I was reading an article about Holt’s China Child of Promise Program and about little boys who need families too. When I think about adoption from China, I only naturally think about the little girls. I had never thought about adopting a boy from China. Read the rest of this entry »

Hope for children and families in Holt’s care in Ethiopia

Maria Nelson, Assistant to Holt President and CEO, recently traveled to Ethiopia with a group of American doctors.  The doctors, there on a 2-week long medical campaign, provided care to the children and families in the small, rural town of Shinshicho and Holt’s care centers in Durame and Addis Ababa.  The group also witnessed the loving care provided to the children at the centers.  The following is Maria’s account of their trip.

By Maria Nelson

As we walked into the Shinshicho Clinic courtyard, on the first day of a 7-day community medical care campaign, I was immediately struck by the big crowd of people gathered there for the free medical visit.

My eyes glanced over the crowd then stopped straight in front of me. A woman carrying a baby in a blanket on her back, reached for me and pulled me close to kiss each cheek. She had a look of desperation, and I could tell instantly that she was seeking immediate care for her sick baby. As she unwrapped her baby boy, my heart sank. Her child was as sick as I have ever seen in person. Pale, fragile, listless and so very thin. His wrist was no bigger around than my thumb. Her sad eyes locked on mine as she pleaded for help. Tears began streaming down her face.

Her story was heartbreaking. Widowed in the past months, she was alone now with two very small, sick children. Barefoot, she walked to the clinic and was only able to bring her youngest child, whom she carried all the way.

The Shinshicho Clinic in southern Ethiopia, with help from Holt International, is able to provide some hope even for cases like these. It is the only medical facility in this rural area of over 250,000 people.

The clinic is funded by Holt International to address child and maternal health care in this area. They provide a full range of services including vaccinations, labor and delivery, nutritional support, and general medicine. The Shinshicho clinic also offers HIV testing and Anti-retro viral support, as well as education and counseling.

I learned that the woman and her baby, after receiving care, both tested positive for HIV and will now begin receiving the care they need, as well as counseling and nutritional support for the mother.

Without the support of Holt International and Holt donors, there would be no clinic in this poverty stricken region, which is rife with infectious diseases such as malaria and typhoid. Funding of the clinic supports Holt’s goal of improving maternal and children’s health and strengthening families… It also saves lives.

Holt’s childcare center

Our team also traveled to the Holt childcare centers in Durame and Addis Ababa, where we were able to witness a farewell ceremony for all of the children traveling home with their permanent families. Read the rest of this entry »

A graduating college student and aspiring journalist credits her parents for her accomplishments in life

by Kristin Sherrard

Being a journalist means that you are responsible for recording the events and experiences that will become the history for tomorrow. You learn that everyone has a unique story to tell, including yourself.

My story begins on March 23, 1988, not on the date of my birth, but the start of my life. At eight months and ten days, I was still new to this world and didn’t know much. But from the moment I was held in the arms of Gene and Pat Sherrard, I knew I was home.

My parents have always played an important role in my life. Birthdays and vacations, sporting events and school projects, they were there for every one. It is with their love and guidance that I have become the person I am today.

Throughout my life, people have asked me if I ever wanted to try to track down my “real parents,” and every time I respond in the same way: I already know who my parents are and have no interest in finding my birth parents. While I would love to travel to South Korea one day as a tourist to see what it is like, I have everything I need and could ever want here in Kentucky.

As I sit here writing this, a college graduate looking for her first “real” job in the professional world, I worry about things like the economy and insurance for the first time in my life. However, one thing I do know is that I want to be a journalist. Through my words and photos, I want to record today’s history for future generations to find and to learn from.

My parents always told me to give my best effort in everything I do and to never give up on my goals or on myself. I believe that as long as I continue to work hard and pursue every opportunity, things will eventually fall into place. No matter what happens, I know that I will always have parents who love and support me, and I will always remain thankful to Holt International for bringing us together.

the Fall 2009 issue of Holt International magazine, available in November, is filled with many more stories of Holt Adoptees who have graduated from high school, college or vocational school.  We look forward to this issue every year and applaud each graduate for their impressive accomplishments.  Although starting out abandoned and homeless—with help from their parents—the 2009 graduates have become vibrant and talented young adults with promising futures ahead of them.  Congratulations to the 2009 Holt Graduates!

A team of doctors from the United States is currently in Ethiopia helping to provide for families and children in Holt’s care.

The team, including Holt Board Member and physician, Dr. Becca Brandt, will be there for two weeks providing training to a group of Ethiopian doctors. They will also be providing necessary medical supplies that will benefit the children and families served by the clinics in southern Ethiopia.

Since their arrival on October 5th, the group has traveled to Holt’s  child center in Addis Ababa, where they were able to witness a farewell ceremony for all of the children traveling home with their permanent families. Each family spoke to the caretakers at the center, thanking them for their love and devotion that they provided to their children while they waited to go home. During the farewell ceremony, the medical team was able to interact with the children and listen while the children sang for the group. Read the rest of this entry »

A 13-year-old boy leaves the loving care of Ilsan

by Jake Krob

Parents who adopt have heard it time and time again. “You are so special!” people say.

“Your child is so lucky,” others remark.

It’s pretty clear after six months with Sonny that he’s the special one…that we’re the lucky ones.

It’s true that how Sonny came into our lives is a bit uncommon. As far as Holt has records, he’s the oldest child with special needs to be adopted.

“You know, you had quite a bit going against you,” our social worker said.

We didn’t take this adoption – and all the “issues” – lightly. But our motives, if that’s what you call them, were grounded in the same reasons most everyone adopts: Every child is a miracle. Every child deserves a loving family.

That’s what led us to Holt in 2003. Eli, now 5 1/2, arrived in Eastern Iowa from Seoul, South Korea, as a six-month-old blessing. We were blessed by birth with the arrival of Ella, now three, in 2006.

And then we met Lee Soo-Hoon (Sonny), through the pages of Holt International magazine. It arrived midday. I’d had a long evening of work as editor of the newspaper we own. Niki, Eli and Ella were in bed when I came home. On the kitchen counter was Hi Families, opened to the Waiting Children pages. Niki stuck a Post-It next to his picture.

“Our new son?” she inquired in writing.

“Yes.” I replied, for her to discover the next morning.

Our faith told us, deep in our souls, that this was right for us. But we knew it wasn’t for us that we were deciding. We spent hours contemplating what would become the first of many decisions we made for our son: Was this the right thing to do for Lee Soo-hoon?

He’d been in the care of Holt since birth. He clearly loved his housemothers. He loved his family at Ilsan. He reveled in activities – from a choir that toured the country, and beyond, to TaeKwon-Do and wrestling.

We knew that if for whatever reason the adoption didn’t work out, he would have a fine life in Korea. After all, he was in the care of Holt. There’s always that shred of doubt with faith, and we won’t deny that here, but miracles along the way cemented our decision for Sonny. It was the right decision to bring him home. Read the rest of this entry »

brighten the life of a child in Korea this Christmas

Holt needs volunteers to sign up for this year’s Gift Team trip to Korea. Every December volunteers on Holt’s Korea Gift Team deliver gifts and host celebrations for the children, foster mothers and caregivers at the Ilsan Center and Jeonju Babies’ Home—A tradition that the children look forward to every year.

All year long the children, of all ages, make gifts and practice songs and skits as they prepare to entertain for the Gift Team’s arrival.

Members of the Gift Team also get the chance to tour the grounds and cottages of the Ilsan Center, and learn more about the history of Holt’s work in Korea.

If you would like to join the Gift Team to Korea and help bring some holiday cheer to the children in Holt’s care, please contact Ann Marie Pentacost at annmariep@holtinternational.org  for more information and to receive a registration form.

Travel: December 1-8

Registration Deadline: October 4th

Estimated Cost: approx. 2,800-3,330 per person to include airfare, hotel, ground transportation in Korea, most meals.

A 25-year friendship has brought perspective on life

By Kim Fenneman

Life takes unexpected twists and turns over the years, but when you’re 7 years old it’s still a simple, extraordinary world of wonder and possibilities. But as you grow older you understand the important things in life…health, happiness, family and friends.

Friends. How simple yet life-changing they can be. Let me start from the beginning….

I always knew I was adopted and it never bothered me. I didn’t always know exactly what it meant; I just thought I was special, and since no one in my family or community treated me any differently than anyone else, I had no reason to feel awkward or self-conscious. I was just a young Korean child running around and exploring the broad countryside of a small, dairy farm in north central Iowa. What’s so unusual about that? I value the time I had on the farm, but that all changed on July 18, 1983. It was a day that drastically changed my life and the lives of my family. It was around 7:30 a.m. when my older brother screamed, “The house is on fire!”

A few months before that tragic day, I wrote Holt to request a pen pal. They published the request in an issue of their magazine. I received over fifteen letters from girls all over the country and was shocked and excited that so many people had responded. I wish I could have kept in contact with all of them, but I kept a few and let my friends write to the others. As the months went by some had stopped writing, but one continued to write. Ironically, her letter was the very first one I had received. Read the rest of this entry »

Some foster parenting programs in China are in danger of closing

by John Aeby, Director of Communications, with Tony Nolan, special guest speaker at Winter Jam 2009 and dedicated advocate for Holt International. Tony recently adopted a daughter from China and visited Holt-supported foster care programs in that country.

“As I witnessed the love that Mrs. Lee, one of Holt’s devoted foster mothers, showed to the babies in her care,” said Tony Nolan recently, “I thought about how God has a great love for every child in need….”

Tony isn’t the first person to be overwhelmed by the devotion and sacrificial love of Holt foster parents. Their selfless love nurtures homeless children while Holt completes the adoption processing for permanent families. When that processing is done, the foster parents release these children to their new adoptive families. Despite the tears, emptiness and loss that foster parents may feel at the end of that process, most are willing to take in yet another child.

However, in China recently, some foster care programs are in jeopardy due to the tightening world economy. Many of these foster programs were initiated and developed by Holt: Holt’s expertise in this field provided the training for foster parents as well as social work and medical staff. In some cases Holt turned over the maintenance funding for these programs to other agencies, so that Holt could develop foster programs in other areas.

Now, some of those agencies are no longer able to continue their funding. But Holt cannot allow these children to be brought back into the orphanages. Holt is stepping out on faith to raise the necessary funds to keep these children with the only families they have known—their foster families.

“Without foster families like the Lees…” said Tony, “these children don’t stand a chance. With the help that [Holt donors] provide, foster parents can take such good care of the children. It truly is something to celebrate.”

“The caregivers and foster families are providing tremendous care, but they can’t do it on their own. We will do all that we can to help these children and to tell people to help.”

Donate to help keep children in China with their foster families…

A family is completed through the China Child of Promise program

by Kim Esser

My husband and I went to an informational meeting on adoption in our hometown in 2006. We have three wonderful kids but were open to adding to the family through adoption. After the meeting we immediately started in on the paperwork.

As the one-year anniversary of our log-in date approached we saw the wait time increase triple fold. What were we to do? Stay in the process? Drop out? Switch to special needs?

In the end, we decided to go the China Child of Promise route. My husband and I filled out a minor/correctable needs checklist and then compared our lists, deciding on needs that we thought we could handle. We filed the paperwork in late August 2008 and three weeks later we had our referral! She was a beautiful little girl, about to turn one that week, and she was missing some fingers on her left hand…that was it!

We immediately said, “Yes! This is our child!” and started the process to bring Seren SuPing home. It seemed like everything then took the long route but in reality we were on our way to China in February 2009 to bring home our girl!

Seren SuPing has added so much joy to our family,and we can’t imagine life without her. If you are a family trying to decide if the Child of Promise program is right for you, take that leap of faith. In reality, you are the ones in control because you decide what “special needs” you are open to. There was never any pressure from Holt, and they never tried to persuade us into needs that we weren’t open to.

Holt wants you to feel comfortable with what you decide upon and only wants what is best for the children. I look at our new daughter and can’t imagine not having her. She fits our family perfectly and has made us all appreciate what we have and what we do as a family.

Learn More about the China Child of Promise option…..

View the Minor/Correctable Conditions Checklist