Hi Families Features

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BRANCHING OUT

The Holt Sahathai Foundation, Headquartered in Bangkok, Thailand, has developed and grown in many ways during the 23 years since its founding. Holt President John Williams recently visited HSF and observed its newest branch located in southern Thailand.

A group of children at the Nakhon Sri Thammarat orphanage. Some of these children will be able to rejoin their families and some will be placed for adoption.

    Twenty-three years ago - just a month after my youngest daughter, Jennifer, was born in Bangkok, Thailand - Holt and a few dedicated individuals in Thailand launched a new partner program, the Holt Sahathai Foundation (HSF).
    Although the comparison goes only so far, seeing both my daughter and HSF grow through the years has brought me tremendous joy. This past June, we celebrated another joyous event - Jennifer's wedding - thus adding a new branch to my family tree.
    I have also derived great joy from my role in the creation of HSF and nurturing its development over the years. And now, 23 years later, in the month following Jennifer's wedding, I have traveled to Thailand to visit a new branch of the Holt Sahathai family tree.
    The new HSF branch, located in Nakhon Sri Thammarat, one of Thailand's southern provinces, is the largest and poorest of the southern provinces. Buddhism, the national religion of Thailand, first entered Thailand in this province and spread to the rest of the country. Nakhon Sri Thammarat also holds a dubious distinction: in earlier days some of the less desirable elements of central Thailand's society were sent into exile there because the province was remotely located from Bangkok. This distinction may also account for why services for the less fortunate members of today's society have been slow in reaching Nakhon Sri Thammarat. HSF is among the first non-government agencies of its type to establish work there.
    Upon arriving at Nakhon Sri Thammarat, I immediately saw evidence of the urgent demand for HSF services. And I thought of the old Yogi Berra saying “It was like deja vu all over again.” When HSF first began work in Bangkok, we found hospitals to be the primary place where birth parents abandoned children. Most of these children either languished in one of the hospital wards or went to a government orphanage. Only a few of the lucky ones might be adopted.
    Now, I learned that an average of 5–6 babies a month are abandoned at Nakhon Sri Thammarat’s main hospital. The hospital staff reported that just a few years ago, they received only 3–5 abandoned babies per year.

The 9-year-old girl on Nim's lap is just one of many children she sees during her home visits.

    In the Bangkok region, HSF has effectively reduced the rate of abandonment by providing a variety of crisis intervention services - such as pregnancy counseling, family preservation programs, early childhood development programs and foster care. Working in close cooperation with the Thai Department of Public Welfare, HSF developed an effective adoption program that continues to reduce the number of children in institutional care, particularly in the Bangkok area. These services are now expanding into other parts of Thailand. The Nakhon Sri Thammarat program has already shown some exciting progress.
    One new and tragic problem that did not exist 23 years ago has added to the work of HSF in Nakhon Sri Thammarat and elsewhere in Thailand - the devastating impact of HIV and AIDS on children. I was shocked to see so many children orphaned in a place as remote as Nakhon Sri Thammarat. I visited a number of homes where children who have lost both parents to AIDS are living with relatives with the help and encouragement of HSF. I also visited several homes where mothers with AIDS are working with HSF social workers to plan for their children's future. And I visited a government orphanage where HSF social workers are working with the orphanage staff to improve the conditions for the children and helping to facilitate their placement into permanent families.
    In the two short years since it was established, the Nakhon Sri Thammarat branch of HSF has grown to serve a case load of more than 275 children each month. And the demand for services continues to grow as more people become aware of its existence.
The creation of this HSF branch represents just one more example of the continuing need for Halts mission throughout the world. It also represents a growing up of the fledgling program that started in Bangkok 23 years ago.
    I am deeply proud of the HSF staff and board as they seek to meet the needs of children throughout Thailand. They exemplify the heart of Harry and Bertha Holt who recognized the value of all children and their need to have families of their own.