A simple idea changes the life of a little girl

The Nolan family’s journey in China continues (see entry directly below) as they tour the Nanchang Social Center.  The following is Brian Campbell’s account of their experience.

by Brian Campbell, Holt Creative Productions Manager

The Nolans and I traveled to the Nanchang Social Center where Holt has several programs, including the baby care unit and foster care programs. When we arrived at the center Lisa Xu, a member of Holt’s China staff, had just started the tour when a little girl came darting by our feet. Lisa giggled as the energetic little girl leapt into a caregiver’s open arms.

“I have to tell you a story about this little girl”, said Lisa. “Qui* was born with no feet. As she got older and tried to walk, she experienced great pain unless she was on the padded mat or floor.”

As Lisa continued her story, the little girl began dashing about once again. The Nolans started to play with her and observed that she indeed had no feet at the end of her busy little legs.

“As Qui was getting ready to transition into Holt’s foster care program,” Lisa continued, “a caregiver decided to make Qui some little shoes. She made them out of a ball that she cut in half. The little cups have cloth straps that are strapped around her lower legs to keep the cups in place. Ever since Qui received her shoes, she has been so busy running around that she is difficult to catch up with sometimes.”

We watched Qui take small steps back and forth to manage her balance as she chatted to the Nolans and snacked on the candy they brought.

“Was this part of the caregiver’s responsibilities?” asked Tony.

“No.” Lisa replied. “The caregiver just had an idea of a way to make this little girl’s life easier and made these shoes in her off time.”

“I am amazed at how much passion Holt staff has for these children, and how they demonstrate that passion in little and big ways,” said Tony. “To have someone at Nanchang who would have the creativity, desire and motivation to do something above and beyond the call of duty is just awesome!”

Read more about the Nolan family’s trip to China on Tammy Nolan’s blog

Tony Nolan, special guest speaker at Winter Jam 2009 and dedicated advocate for Holt International’s work, is currently in China with his wife, Tammy, to receive the newest member of their family, Joy. On this trip, the Nolans visited a Holt-supported foster family in Nanchang.

The following post from Brian Campbell recounts Tony’s experience at the home, and how a foster mother’s devotion dramatically changed the life of a child in her care.

By Brian Campbell, Holt Creative Productions Manager

“This is one of the hottest days on record in Nanchang,” Lisa Xu, a social worker on Holt’s China staff, tells me. The Nolan family takes this in stride as we board the van to visit a foster home. We hike the flights of stairs to the 6th floor. Sweating and panting, we arrived at the modest apartment occupied by the Lee family. Tony brought his whole family and with the social workers and myself, it was difficult to squeeze the 12 of us into the foster family’s small (by U.S. standards) 2-room apartment.

The Lees care for two foster children: Ling and Ruo*. When Ling, who was about 2 months old at the time, came to live with the Lees, little was known about her medical history, outside of the normal medical exam she received when she was first admitted.

As Mrs. Lee interacted and played with the children, she noticed that Ling exhibited behaviors that didn’t seem normal. Mrs. Lee researched ailments with similar symptoms, and during Ling’s next check-up with a Nanchang social worker, she pointed out that Ling showed signs of hearing difficulties.

The social worker scheduled a hearing examination that later confirmed Mrs. Lee’s suspicion. Although it is difficult to know how severe Ling’s hearing loss will be, because of the attentive care and actions taken by Mrs. Lee, and her love and concern for this child, Ling will receive the treatment and attention she needs. Mrs. Lee will also be better equipped to care for her.

Tony was quite moved as he listened to this story and held Ruo.

“What can you say?” he starts. Read the rest of this entry »

Holt is trying to keep children in foster homes until they can be adopted

Loss of funding has put many children currently in foster homes at risk of returning to orphanages. Holt is committed to taking over the funding of these foster care programs in order to keep the children with their foster families until permanent families can be found. But we need donations to provide the food, supplies and program support to make this happen.

Jian Chen, Program Director for China is currently in China, and she sent this message about how loving care and support of stable foster families is so important in the lives of vulnerable children.

By Jian Chen

I can’t imagine what kind of trauma it would bring to a young child or a baby in China if they lost their foster family. Would they still trust us, or another human being if we let this happen?

For many of the children in China, especially children with special needs, their foster parents are the only stable, caring family they have known. It would break their hearts to be removed and taken to orphanages. I have heard of some children who have been moved from foster parents to orphanages and they cried and cried.

Recently I met a boy in a loving foster home named Hong Hong, who was yanked back to the orphanage for a brief time. When I visited the foster family with the orphanage director, Hong Hong saw us and started to scream at the top his lungs and looked panicked. Quickly he hid his face into his foster mother’s chest, kicking his feet into the air while the foster mother tried to hold him. The orphanage director explained to me: “He must think we’re here to take him back to orphanage.” The foster family is the only family that he has ever known.

A few weeks ago, I also visited Holt’s Meihekou project, where I was informed that Xiao Li, a young woman I have known for many years, took the college entrance examination and got very high score.  She lived with her foster mother who she called “Nai Nai”. I remembered the last time I visited there was 4 years ago, and her Nai Nai was 80 some years old. Nai Nai held my hand in tears, and told me she was getting older and her health condition was deteriorated. She was ready to give up everything in this world but still couldn’t let go of Xiao Li.

Xiao Li was still a freshmen in the high school at that time. Nai Nai said Xiao Li still needed help…She asked: “If anything happens to me, will Holt continue to support her?” When I said: “Of course we will”, she was very relieved. Nai Nai passed away two years ago, and Xiao Li continue to work very hard in school and got a very good score in the recent entrance examination. When we congratulated her, she started sobbing, she said: ” If it weren’t for my Nai Nai, I would have never been able to pass the examination and go to college. I think about her every day. She inspired me to work hard… I really miss her and want her know I did it.”

Foster homes are the only home to some of the children in China. If a child lives and grows in an institution, it is just like a tiger living in the zoo cage. It looks like a tiger and eats like a tiger but can’t function like a tiger because it can’t go back to live in the wild. But if a child lives with a foster family with love and care, she or he can attach to a permanent family and adjust to family life much better. The transition may be hard at first because of the love and security they have with foster family, but as they realize that they’re now with their permanent family, they will form a new bond based upon the trust they had with their foster family. Read the rest of this entry »

A return to Korea, with the Holt Heritage tour, brings understanding and an unexpected connection

by Courtney Rader, Holt Adult Adoptee Outreach Director

Is this your first time back to Korea? I don’t know how many times I was asked this question. Technically, the answer is no. I was in the airport for a layover to Hong Kong once, but that doesn’t count. I was adopted in 1980, and this was my first time back to Korea.

I tried not to have high expectations. I wanted to share this experience with my husband and the 45 people on the two-week tour. For many this was the first time back to Korea. Smiles and laughter seemed to be a constant theme, however, I saw and experienced many tears. In a country so foreign to me, I felt this connection as if I had never left. I saw myself in so many faces, including the children, but at the same time, I realized that we didn’t have much in common besides being Korean. It felt so weird to see people who look like me everywhere, but to feel so disconnected to them at the same time. Yet, I felt a close connection with the other adoptees on the Tour.

The Heritage Tour took us to Incheon, Seoul, Gyeongju, and Busan. We visited the Korean Folk Village, Changdeok Palace and were invited to a special dinner hosted by the district mayor of the Jongno District. We did our best at making kimbop at the Kyoungbuk University Korean Cultural Program, visited the Jeonju Babies’ Home, the Daejeon Maternity Shelter, and Holt Ilsan Center. We were honored in the Mapo District with a ceremony that granted us honorary citizenship commemorating our visit and reestablished our roots and ties to Korea

My most memorable experience was the host family stay. Where we were guests for one night. You would think the language barrier would be an issue, but it was not. The youngest daughter translated very well and at times I could tell she was nervous and rubbed her face in embarrassment as I complemented her English. Her pronunciation was perfect. Later in the week, we met them for an evening, and in a touching moment our host mother gave me a hug and said in English that she was my “Korean mom”.

There is no way to clearly describe my experience back to Korea. Just like the nod many adoptees give each other, there is a common understanding among those who have experienced their first trip back. It’s a journey I have opened my heart to and have no expectations as to where it may lead. I do know, however, that I have gained a better understanding of my birth country and knowledge of Holt’s services. I have seen how beautiful and proud the Korean people are. I know I will return to Korea and look forward to growing my relationship with a country I once called home.

For information about next summer’s China and Korea Heritage tours, contact Lisle Veach at lislev@holtinternational.org (China tour) or Paul Kim at paulk@holtinternational.org (Korea tour)

Holt’s staff in Beijing, China, have asked all of us to keep a little girl in our thoughts and prayers.

Chun Chun has a serious heart condition. We hoped that Holt could provide surgery, and had her transported to a specialist in a larger city. However, her condition has worsened, and doctors now fear that surgery or moving her again to more advanced care in Beijing would be too risky for her in her current physical condition. At this point Holt staff is trying to make sure she is staying as comfortable as possible in the arms of her foster mother.

Urgent Advocacy Needed On Proposed New Haitian Adoption Law

Haiti is currently operating under an adoption law that was decreed in 1974 by Jean Claude Duvalier. The 1974 adoption law is outdated, has serious limitations that are not in the best interest of children and causes confusion in its application resulting in significant delays in legal processing of adoption cases.

Children in Haiti matched with adoptive families are waiting as long as 4 years to complete their adoption. Other children awaiting adoption will endure this same wait unless a law is passed now.

With the help of UNICEF and others, a new adoption law has been developed for both domestic and intercountry adoption in Haiti. The law clarifies adoption processing protocols and mandates clear government oversight responsibilities which will correct many of the problems with the present adoption system.

Many Haitian children are in desperate need of adoptive families and will benefit from this new law. This includes children who have been waiting in the adoption system (many up to three years) due to confusion and difficulties surrounding the outdated law.

URGENT ACTION NEEDED:
The Haitian Legislature will convene soon. It is URGENT that the new Haitian Adoption Law be included for approval in the agenda for the upcoming session.

Contact your Congressional Representatives and urge their strong support of the new proposed adoption law in Haiti. Please ask them to contact the Haitian authorities.

Please share this Call To Action with friends and family to join this effort

The following article was published on Monday, June 22nd on Brewtonstandard.com.  It tells the story of a young woman adopted from India in 1991, and all that she has accomplished since coming home to her family.

by Lydia Grimes, Feature reporter Brewtonstandard.com

Father’s Day is an important day in any father’s life. Mike Perry is doubly blessed, having both a son and a daughter.   Perry, who is a local attorney, and his wife, Tammy, who is a retired school teacher, have a son, James, and a daughter, Melissa. In 1990 their son was several years old and the Perrys wanted to complete their family with a daughter. Because of some medical problems, they decided to check into adoption as a way to get the daughter they both wanted.

“I had a couple of little girls in my class at school that had been adopted and they were just the cutest little girls,” said Tammy Perry. “We started to talk about going to an overseas adoption agency and settled on Holt International in Eugene, Oregon, which is one of the leading agencies handling adoptions from foreign countries.”

They had decided to adopt a child from India. Adoption sometimes can take a long time and that was the case with the Perrys. They were given the number 36 and had to wait until it counted down to number one. Melissa was born in 1990 and it just so happened that the countdown to number one was Melissa.

“I sometimes think about how close we came to getting another child instead of Melissa,” said Tammy. “Thank goodness, we were lucky that it worked out the way that it did.”

The Perrys got the word that their child was going to arrive early in 1992, but instead she came a little bit early. They were supposed to travel to Chicago to meet their little girl, but again they were lucky enough to have a volunteer escort Melissa to Birmingham on Dec. 20, 1991. Read the rest of this entry »

by Susan soon-keum Cox—Vice President of Public Policy

We at Holt International want to inform our constituents about a movie entitled “Orphan” scheduled to be released in July by Warner Brothers. We are concerned about media depictions that demean or degrade children. We are especially alarmed about the movie’s negative portrayal of adoption and children in need of families.

As adults we have a responsibility to speak out and advocate on behalf of our children. Many people have already contacted Warner Brothers with their concerns, and at least two groups have developed petitions to respectfully protest the messaging of this movie. One group, Orphans Deserve Better, has developed a website to mobilize efforts against the film. Please review their petition’s information and include your voice among those who are making it clear you do not support the movie “Orphan.”

Warner Brothers has already responded to initial protests about the movie and made efforts to remove some the offensive language from the movie’s original trailer. In response to pressure from adoptive parents and other concerned individuals, Warner Brothers has removed the line: “It must be hard to love an adopted child as much as your own,” from recently released trailers. However, it remains unclear whether or not the line was removed from the movie.