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In honor of National Foster Care Month, learn about Holt's long-standing foster care program in Thailand as well as one first-generation foster mother who cared for 13 children over 20 years. 

scanned black and white photo of woman holding small girl
Mrs. Bayan is one of Holt's first foster mothers in Thailand. She and her family started caring for children in 1977, one year after Holt Sahathai Foundation (HSF) introduced foster care as a more nurturing alternative care option for children living in orphanages in Thailand.
woman holding baby with older girl on the left and older boy on the right
Mrs. Bayan was in her 40s when she started fostering children in Thailand. Over 20 years, she and her family cared for 13 children waiting to join permanent, loving families through adoption.
woman delivering food to an older man and woman
Today, Mrs. Bayan and her fellow first-generation foster moms are in their 70s and 80s. To help ease their stress during COVID, the HSF team recently delivered care packages full of food, clean water and other essentials to these first-generation foster families.
four people wearing masks standing in front of food supplies
As HSF posted on their Facebook page, "Today, the Sahathai team brought a mental support bag to our first generation of foster mothers. ... Auntie said, 'Thank you for thinking of me' with many blessings. Who can forget the good things aunties give to kids?"
young boy and young girl playing outside
Today, Holt's foster care program in Thailand is the model for both governmental and NGO child care institutions in the region.
young boy coloring sitting in the lap of foster parent
Most children in Thailand who are waiting to join Holt adoptive families stay in the loving care of foster families while they wait.
family playing together
Who can forget the good things aunties give to kids?

In 1977, Mrs. Bayan and her family became one of Holt’s first foster families in Thailand — joining the program just one year after Holt introduced foster care as a more nurturing alternative for children living in the country’s orphanages.

“Mrs. Bayan was a full-time housewife and Mr. Boonsong, her husband, was a captain serving the Royal Thai Army. They were both in their 40s, and their two children — a son and a daughter — were in high school by then. The family was residing in an army residential compound in Bangkok,” shares Kobgarn Trakulvaree, executive director of Holt Sahathai Foundation (HSF), Holt’s local partner in Thailand. “All members in this foster family loved children and were always very happy to welcome the homeless little ones to their heart and their home.”

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