Holt Chairman, Will Dantzler remembers his childhood as he connects with the children in Ethiopia
Something happened to me as I hugged and kissed the children at Holt’s Durame intake center in Ethiopia. Walls that had shielded me from dwelling on my beginnings began to crumble, and windows to my past began to open as I saw a reflection of myself in this generation of orphans. As most of the group began leaving the center, I found myself openly crying as I felt the loneliness of these children without a family—buried feelings that I knew once all too well were now surfacing again.
I loved seeing the children that came out to greet us at the Durame Center and I just had to hug every one of them because of the connection I felt with my little brethren. The conditions and environment were the same as I vaguely remembered from fifty years ago…the only difference was the country.
As a Korean War adoptee with no information regarding my birth, I always assumed that my biological father was an American GI. During this trip, I learned that Ethiopia, as the only independent African country, had sent soldiers to the Korean War as part of the UN coalition. This new information had implications of my biological father being Ethiopian. Quite an enlightening discovery and one that made me think even more about my unknown beginnings in life.
As we visited the remote areas, the windows to my past continued to open up as we went over terrain not unlike the war torn streets of Korea, and I saw many children running alongside our vehicles and gathering around us once we got out. I then remembered running alongside people on bicycles fifty years ago under similar conditions.
After witnessing the hardships of the mothers in rural Ethiopia, I have acknowledged my birth mother for the first time ever, recognizing now the painful process she must have gone through to let me go and somehow hope that I would get an opportunity at a better life. It is a new awareness in my circle of life, and I am a better person for it. I will always remember Ethiopia for awakening the memories of a past I thought was long forgotten, and I thank God for his revival of those memories in Ethiopia.
As we met Holt staff in both Addis Ababa and Durame, I found the Ethiopian people to be gracious, humble, very engaging and appreciative. I was also very impressed with Dr. Fikru and the entire Holt staff for how well they have continued Holt’s mission with limited resources as the needs of so many orphans are great and increases daily.
So many abandoned children deserve an opportunity to have a loving family just as my generation of adoptees received. We must do our utmost to see that Ethiopian children get that same opportunity.
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Wow. A very moving article. I’m really looking forward to my trip to Ethiopia. I’m sure that it will be a life changing experience and hope to return to the States with a burning passion to make it a life long mission to help the children of Ethiopia in any way that I can.
Thank You, Thank You, for sharing your story.
Hello,
We met at Susan Cox’s brunch –Old Ebbitt’s Grill in DC. You shared your travel excitement with us at brunch. I read your article with great interest. My biological past is a mystery and I too felt such overwhelming emotion the first time I visited Seoul. My husband and I were part of the “first” couples tour to Korea in 1984. It was a memorable trip,,,,I was morning sick across the pennisula.
Hope that your family is well, tell your wife Hello from me.
Katy Johnson
Dear Will:
As a fellow Korean adoptee and an international advocate for children, I found your account here deeply moving. Thank you for your courage to share such profoundly personal thoughts and feelings. Your account of the experience in Ethiopia is a testament to the love and humility that is behind the work that Holt International does. I hope you will have a chance to visit Cambodia where I am working with UNICEF and the national government to establish a comprehensive system of child welfare with an emphasis on family preservation.
Sincerely,
Jini Roby, JD, MSW, MS
UNICEF Consultant, Cambodia
Associate Professor
Brigham Young University
Provo, UT 84602
This is a beautiful article! thank you for sharing some of your heart!
Will:
Thank you for sharing your story. I just returned from Addis in January, having taken our four adopted Ethiopian children back to see their grandmother (for the first time since they were adopted 6 years ago). Our girls (now 14 and 16) could remember very little of their earlier life, but the connection to home/grandma and culture was strong and very moving. Our prayer is that they will, like you, live out a destiny of care and concern for the least of these, in Ethiopia or in some other place that God may guide them to. It is moving to me to hear that how you have been led. Many thanks!
[...] Holt Chairman, Will Dantzler remembers his childhood as he connects with the children in Ethiopia By Holt International [...]
Will,
I have printed your touching story and will share it with our son when he is older. He is one of the children you hugged and held while at the Care Center in Durame on this very trip. I hope he too will find a way to reflect about his beginnings when he is older and will appreciate the wonderful country of his birth.
Thank you for taking the time to love on our boy while you were in Ethiopia. The HOLT Eugene staff has sent us pictures of your trip and we were touched to tears to see you and our son together. You have no idea how much seeing your interaction with him meant to us.
Sweet Blessings,
Christa Bertram