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Ethiopia Adoption Opens
Officially registered as an adoption agency with the Ethiopian government since early January, Holt International is now accepting applications from families ready to begin the adoption process from this African nation. Families are needed for both boys and girls of varying ages. Holt's program is based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia's capital city, with humanitarian aid projects focused on serving the southern region of Ethiopia.
2008 Romania Family Tour
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A summer tour is in the works geared toward families with children adopted from Romania. Adult adoptees are also welcome, as are families who adopted children from Romania through other agencies. The two-week tour will include sightseeing, visits to birthplaces of adoptees, meetings with local authorities and trips to view current Holt community service programs. For more information, e-mail Holt's European and Central Asia Program Assistant, Joanne Stanley
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2008 China Family Tours
To reserve a place on the 2008 Holt-China Heritage Tour, sign up soon. This tour, for families with children from Guangxi Province, includes sightseeing, special visits and group discussions of topics all relevant to the children's adoption story. Participants must be at least 8 years old at the time of travel.
For more information contact Lisle Veach, China Program ; (541) 687-2202 Ext. 118
2008 Korea Tour
2008 Thailand Family Tour
Send Your Photos and Stories
We'd love to receive your family and child photographs for a variety of Holt publications including the Family Tree section of Holt International magazine, brochures, booklets, newsletters and the Holt calendar.
Upload digital photos online. Click here!
Holt also needs stories of 250-1,000 words about Holt adoption, adult adoptee experiences and sponsoring a child through Holt Sponsorship for the E-newsletter, Holt International magazine and China Moon. E-mail Alice Evans for guidelines.
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Calendar
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Holt Artist Concerts
Winter Jam
X-treme Conferences
Holt Auctions/Events
Jan. 27, 2008--San Francisco, CA: Silk Bag Luncheon
Feb. 23, 2008--Omaha, NE: Colors of Hope Dinner Auction
Holt Adoptee Camps
July 20 - 24, 2008: Oregon Camp/Camp Angelos/Corbett, OR
July 27 - 31, 2008: Midwest Camp/Camp Carol Joy Holling/Ashland NE
Aug. 3 - 7, 2008: California Camp/Camp Rockin' U/Dobbins, CA
Aug. 10 - 14, 2008: East Coast Camp/Camp Perlman/Starlight, PA
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Holt's Vision Statement
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Holt International Children's Services is dedicated to carrying out God's plan for every child to have a permanent, loving family.
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What does it take to keep a family together?
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Family Preservation: Livia Trif (left), director of the Holt Romania Foundation, visits with a Romanian mother who has two girls in Holt International's Sponsorship Program.
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Too often, among poor families in Romania, mothers abandon their babies at birth because they want their child to have a better chance at life. Already not enough food to meet the family's needs... and now, one more mouth to feed. Parents who cannot provide for their children come to believe they will be better off with others--a selfless, loving act of a desperate parent.
The Holt Romania Foundation recently stepped in to help Lumi's* girls. By providing counseling at the hospital during the time of Danita's* birth, they met the family's crisis head on. That means Danita and her 3-year-old sister, Adriana*, are still together in the loving arms of their large, extended family.
Because of the support of Holt International sponsors, HRF provided food supplies and other material support to help meet immediate needs. HRF made sure the girls are healthy, have their vaccinations and meet developmental standards. HRF social workers also provided counseling, parent training and access to community resources to support the family through the time of crisis. Meanwhile, the parents found seasonal agricultural work to help pay their debts, and a grandmother cares for the girls while the parents work in the fields.
Once the family is stabilized, HRF continues to check in on the family but uses Holt Sponsorship funds to help another child.
*Names changed
You can be a Sponsor, too. Click here.
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Journeys to Korea
Thoughts about returning to the land of her birth by a Holt International board member
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A family in the United States adopted me at the age of 4 1/2 years. Growing up, I accepted that I was adopted and was "content" not knowing my past. I continued with my life, married and had two children by birth. In 1998 my husband and I adopted a little girl from Korea, something I had always wanted to do when I became a mother. From then on, I got a little more involved with Holt International as a volunteer greeter in Omaha. When escorts fly into the Omaha airport bringing children from their birth countries to their new families in the United States, I am there to make sure they get the help they need.
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Holt Board member Kim Hanson visits with a boy in care in Korea during a Holt-sponsored trip.
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In September 2005, I returned to Korea for the first time at the age of 38 as Holt Children's Services of Korea was celebrating its 50th anniversary. I also went on the 2006 Motherland Tour, to Holt International's 50th anniversary celebration in Oregon, and back again to Korea with my husband, Skip, on the 2006 Gift Team. I went again in December 2007.
The Motherland Tour allowed me to concentrate on myself as an adoptee and to visit my orphanage. Being able to share in the journeys of other adoptees on the trip was simply unbelievable. We were all different ages and at different stages in our lives, but the bond was still there.
In Korea the journey was surreal, and when I got home it all came flooding in. "Does this trip make me feel complete?" I wrote in my journal and continued life story. "No, I was complete prior to this trip. This trip allowed me to say, I'm done; done with all the questions I've had in my head all these years."
--Kim Hanson
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Sometimes children have healthcare needs or other special challenges that make it more difficult to find adoptive families. They may be part of a sibling group, or no longer infants or toddlers. We call these our waiting children, and they deserve to have families of their own.
Name Stuart DOB: 10/6/00 Born in SE Asia
Description: A thoughtful, expressive child, this handsome boy has had multiple placements since birth, including with his birth parents, his biological father's friend and a child protection center. Stuart was placed in his current foster home in February 2005 and has since adjusted well. In 2005, he was reported to be a slow learner and slightly delayed in language and motor skills. He attends appointments with his behavioral health provider on a regular basis for follow-ups. Stuart currently attends school and is ranked 9th out of 25 students in his class. His teachers say that he is well liked and performs well.
Learn more about the Waiting Child Program.
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