This Mother’s Day, honor your mother by helping a mother! Many of the gifts in Holt’s Gifts of Hope catalog help struggling mothers to care for their children.

by Jennifer Goette, Holt Director of Programs for South and Southeast Asia

Luang's mom with Luang's younger sister, Kim.

In the remote community of Phu Duong, a two-hour journey outside of Hanoi, most families rely on subsistence farming for their livelihood.  The average monthly income here is 750,000 VND ($30.20 USD).  Supporting early education and family preservation programming is one way that Holt is helping to keep vulnerable families together.

To understand how Holt-Vietnam’s programs have impacted the lives of families, you need only to hear the story of 5-year-old Luang and her family.  Although their story is similar to the stories of many families in Holt’s family preservation program, this is a female-headed household that was truly in a crisis situation when they came to the attention of Holt-Vietnam social workers.  I met this family at their home during a visit to Vietnam in December 2011 – just three months after tragedy changed the family’s life forever.

I am impressed and touched by the strength of the woman seated next to me.

At only 21 years old, she became a widow and the sole caregiver for her two young daughters, Luang and Kim.  I consider what it has been like for her to have the entire future turned upside down by a tragic accident – and I know that it takes more than assistance from a child welfare agency to pick up the pieces and create a new life.  This woman is strong and determined.  She is bold and willing to work hard to survive.  And she is the perfect example of how a few hundred dollars can go a long way to changing a life – in fact, three lives.

Until last year, Luang lived with her mother, father and younger sister on the outskirts of town in a tiny, one-room house constructed of bricks.  Although the family was not able to save money, Luang’s father earned seventy-five dollars each month at his brick-laying job – which brought in just enough income to provide for the family’s immediate needs of food, shelter and clothing.  Luang’s mother alternated her time between tending a small rice field nearby and providing care for her two daughters.

Luang, thriving.

When tragedy struck last year, the situation changed.

In a terrible turn of events, Luang’s father was killed in a freak accident at work.  The family was devastated.  Not only had they lost their beloved father and husband, but they

also lost their means of earning income.  Very soon, there was little to eat and not enough money available to pay the small tuition fee to send the children to pre-school.

In September, Holt-Vietnam learned of the family through the local authorities.  During an assessment of the family’s situation, Holt-Vietnam identified that the family was at risk of separation due to their economic difficulties, but that Luang’s mother was hard-working and motivated.  At the time, she was trying to find work as a day laborer, but was not able to find stable employment.

In discussion with Luang’s mother, it became clear that her dream was to raise chickens.

Holt-Vietnam staff worked with the family to develop a business plan and provided funds for the start-up costs of a chicken-raising business.  Fifty chicks were purchased, along with corn and bran to feed the chickens for four months.  When the chicks have matured, they will be sold at the market or their eggs will be harvested for sale – and new chicks will be purchased.  It is expected that the family will reinvest a majority of the profits to expand the business.  Over time, more and more money can be allocated toward providing for the family’s basic needs.

Now that the first business cycle is almost complete, Luang’s mother is anxious to reinvest her profits.  She beams proudly when discussing her business plans.  She is strong through her tears when she talks about the trauma she and her daughters have been through recently, as she explains that Holt is the reason her girls have been able to cope. Because of Holt’s tuition support, both girls are now attending pre-school regularly.

I asked Luang if she enjoys going to school.

She smiles shyly as she munches on an ear of corn, which was grown in the family’s own garden.  “I have lots of friends,” she says, “the best part is when I get to play with the other children.”

Having an opportunity to socialize with other children her own age has clearly helped her to deal with this difficult time in her life.  Holt sees the link between education and other types of support as critical in situations where families are at risk of separation.

Holt-Vietnam’s involvement with pre-school programming started in 2011.  Recognizing that local pre-school programs in the area were generally under-utilized and largely underfunded, Holt began to expand the reach of family preservation activities.  Holt-Vietnam began working closely with pre-school staff and administrators to provide small tables and child-sized chairs, as well as a variety of educational material, to ensure children have access to interesting activities in a stimulating environment.  Holt also started providing milk three times each week for all children attending classes.

By implementing pre-school support in areas with large numbers of vulnerable families, Holt is able to use pre-school programs as an access point to reach out to larger numbers of families in need of assistance.  Parents of enrolled children have access to parent education sessions that promote child nutrition, hygiene, health, and child development.  Counseling and support are readily available for families that need close monitoring and assistance.  The most vulnerable and motivated families, like Luang’s, are supported by Holt-Vietnam social workers to start small businesses that generate income.  Holt-Vietnam staff checks in with these families every three months to ensure they have the support they need to be successful.

Our visit today is one of these regularly-scheduled visits.  Seeing the impact of Holt’s family preservation work first-hand is a humbling experience.  It is clear that Holt’s intervention has been a significant factor in keeping this family together.  With slightly more than $200 and ongoing support from Holt, this determined woman is creating a better future for her daughters.

As our group is leaving Luang’s home, a Holt-Vietnam social worker begins translating a conversation Luang’s mother is having with Holt-Vietnam’s country director.  Now that the chicken raising business is running successfully, she wants to mend the piggery so she can start raising pigs to sell at the market.

I can’t help but smile at her resolve.

Help more mothers care for their children this Mother’s Day!  Click here to give livestock such as chickens or pigs – or other gifts of hope – through Holt’s online catalog!

This day and the days leading up to it remain some of the most dramatic and heart-wrenching in Holt’s history.

To learn more about international adoption from Vietnam and the Vietnam Babylift, click here to read an article Holt published in April 2000 for a special Vietnam Adoptee Reunion. (article written by John Aeby, Holt’s late director of communications)

For more articles, photos and personal stories about this historic event, click here.

Through physical therapy funded by sponsorship, Nguyen is learning to walk!

What I did not prepare myself for was the impact one specific child would have on my perspective of life, opportunity and hope.

As I walked through the tall French doors of the welfare center into a room full of toddlers, one particular child caught my eye.  Most of the children were playing games on the floor, but when they saw my co-worker and I enter the room, they eagerly flooded around us. Although all adorable, enthusiastic children, one child stayed put.  From where she sat in her crib, this little girl shot me the most fantastic, bright-eyed smile I’ve ever seen – one that will be imprinted in my mind forever.

Come to find out, this amazing child’s name is Nguyen Thi A* and she suffers from cerebral palsy – a physical disability that has rendered her with very limited cognitive and muscular control. The disorder has especially shown an effect on her limbs.  With one glance at her crossed legs as she was delicately seated in her crib, I could tell her tiny ankles and calves were beyond fragile.  The array of motor conditions that characterize the disorder are all caused by lack of oxygen to the brain in the womb or during infancy, and symptoms – like delayed development or limited vocal ability – begin to show typically around key developmental times.

At about 2 years of age, Nguyen was found abandoned at a local bus station and admitted to the center on the 15^th of February, 2008.  Because no one could locate her parents or other close relatives, her technical birth date remains unknown. But when she entered care, the center determined that developmentally she was around 2-years-old, and gave her an estimated birthday of January, 11 2006.

As I study Nguyen’s sweet face, I wonder why her mother might have left her.

Did she realize that her daughter wasn’t developing properly? Was she too poor to provide for basic necessities, or proper nutrition? Perhaps she was a young, unwed mother. In Vietnam, the stigma of unwed motherhood remains strong, and often compels single mothers to abandon their children. Did she not want to face the shame? These questions will perhaps never be answered. At least here, Nguyen receives the care and support she needs.

Through Holt’s child sponsorship program, she is ensured food, clothing, shelter and loving care in the arms of trained caregivers.

Upon admission in February 2008, the team at the child welfare center determined that Nguyen suffered from second-degree malnutrition.  They nursed her back to health with formula and devoted countless hours to support her in every way.  After extensive examination and evaluation of Nguyen’s delayed physical and mental development, the team diagnosed her with cerebral palsy the following May.

Now, at about 6 years of age and after 4 years in care, she is one of the oldest children here.

In an effort to enhance Nguyen’s chances of living a happy, full life with an adoptive family, she was placed into foster care after a year at the child welfare center.  Unfortunately, her foster family could not address her needs properly, so she was transferred back to the center roughly one month later, at the end of March 2009.  However, the dedicated nurses at the center and the amazing employees of Holt Vietnam refused to give up on Nguyen. After returning to the orphanage, Nguyen was placed into Holt’s child sponsorship program.  With the help of generous sponsor families in the United States, Nguyen was able to receive the proper care she needed to begin treatment for her cerebral palsy.

Upon admission, the nurses at the child welfare center could tell she was an incredibly special child.  Although the cerebral palsy has made it so she has been slow to develop, she is extremely happy and is constantly catered to by the nurses and other children.  She is extremely sociable, and adores being around the other children. She is absolutely charming, and bursts with laughter when she is tickled. I could sense her strong will as she returned my extended gaze and grasped my pen.

Since beginning physical therapy treatment on October 24^th, 2011, Nguyen has developed remarkably well.

For her first round of therapy, she met with a physical therapist three times a week for one hour.  Now, Nguyen is going through her second round of therapy. Holt International budgets around $600 for physical therapy for two children in the center, Nguyen and another child with autism.  To cover the cost, the child welfare center and Holt rely greatly on generous donations and sponsors.

With the help of these donors and sponsors in the U.S., as well as the caregivers here, Nguyen has surpassed all expectations – showing us all a glimmer of hope and promise because miraculously, and against all odds, she is finally able to stand.  I will never forget the tears that welled up in my eyes the moment I saw Nguyen’s frail, tooth-pick-legs unfold themselves.  She extended her tiny hand to me, and placed the other on the crib.  With all of her might she braced herself and wobbled to the most proud stance I have ever seen her in.

Her face instantly lit up with her usual, radiant smile, but this time, it was luminous.

I knew that by committing to come to Vietnam, I would be greatly influenced by the things I saw.  I knew I would be inspired and moved by many things.  I had hoped to make a positive change in someone’s life, and of course better myself, but in no way could I ever have imagined the impact of the work here.  It’s truly amazing how something so little – just $200 worth of physical therapy – can sincerely change a child’s life. Nguyen’s life has been transformed through the sponsorship program. She has made enormous developmental strides, and the stronger and more capable she becomes, the greater the odds of her finding a family; she is literally and figuratively one step closer to finding a home of her own. **

Interested in sponsoring a child in Vietnam or another country? Click here.

Click here to read more about Holt’s work in Vietnam.

* Child’s name has been changed

** Editor’s Note: Although international adoption from Vietnam remains suspended, many children are able to find homes locally through domestic adoption. Holt continues to support efforts to reform and ultimately resume international adoption from Vietnam.

Hunter in July 2011, age 8.

One year to the day we adopted our daughter, Lily – from China through Holt – we got the call about a 4-year-old boy named “Hung” in Vietnam. Holt thought he would be a good match for our family. We had applied to the special needs program only a few months earlier, knowing we wanted to adopt an older child and also that we did not want to wait the 13 months it took to bring our daughter home from China between 2005 and 2006. We had gone to committee once before, but Holt’s social workers decided another family was a better fit for that child. After that, we felt greatly discouraged and weren’t sure we would ever be matched.

We were shocked to receive the call only a month later about Hung.

With a 10-year-old and 2-and-a-half-year-old at home, 4 seemed on the lowest end of the age spectrum we would consider.  And we knew nothing about the Vietnam program.  After praying about it and talking it over as a family for a few days, we requested the file.

One look at Hung’s beautiful brown eyes and we were in love.

In September of 2008, fifteen months after we accepted Hung’s referral, the U.S. and Vietnam decided not to renew their Memo of Understanding regarding adoptions and subsequently suspended all international adoption from Vietnam. We managed to endure the next seven months with the help of weekly telephone calls with Holt staff, hundreds of supportive e-mails, and several visits with our online Holt Vietnam friends and Dong Nai waiting parents group. After our case was finally resolved, we traveled to Bien Hoa, Vietnam, where on April 13, 2009, we met and adopted our son Hung, who we named John “Hunter.”

Hunter came to us with a huge smile and an open heart.

Hunter in his first referral photo, as "Hung."

“Hung” in Vietnamese means “hero” or “brave.”  That describes our son exactly.  We were told he had “special needs” due to his age and an “expressive speech delay.”  We were stunned in Vietnam because he never stopped talking to anyone and everyone in fluent Vietnamese. Apparently, he just wouldn’t speak to his social worker during quarterly visits!

At age 6, after bouncing from an orphanage to two different foster homes, we were his final “placement.” Hunter joined our family and never looked back.  He bonded with all of us immediately, especially his older brother, Marshall, and younger sister, Lily.  He started understanding English immediately and after a few months, we stopped counting the number of new words he acquired each week.

When he started kindergarten, we worried that other students might tease him because of the language barrier, but his teacher told us that he was so confident and helpful that no one would tease him. Initially, Hunter had extreme tantrums of frustration when we could not understand what he was trying to communicate. As we all adjusted to our “new normal,” those heart-wrenching fits of wailing and flailing in frustration disappeared.  Hunter still struggles mightily with reading and writing, but his ESOL teacher tells us he has exceeded all expectations.  He is right on target for science and math and excels at art!  He is in a regular classroom and keeping up with his classmates.  Hunter is all boy – active, active, active and a total ham bone!  He revels in making others laugh.

Hunter with brother Marshall, dad Jim and sister Lily on his adoption day in Vietnam.

A dream that every Vietnamese boy and girl had a home.

This year, the PTA of Hunter’s elementary school held an essay contest for students in grades 2-6.  The kids were asked to submit an essay completing the statement, “If I had $100, the charity I would give it to is…”

Hunter chose Holt and wrote:

I pick Holt International Children’s Agency.  They helped my family adopt me from Vietnam and my sister from China.  They help kids around the world.  They need animals to help poor children with no food.  They need clothes and medicine for kids.  They help kids find forever families.  They build houses and schools.  I would ask them to send the $100 to my orphanage in Vietnam to buy toys, books and crayons for the kids who still wait for families of their own.  Please pick Holt.  They rock!

A winner was chosen from each class and given a $100 check from the PTA for their charity.  Out of hundreds of essays submitted, Hunter won for the second grade!

The winners were asked to read their essays at a “Gift of Giving” assembly at school right before Thanksgiving.  Hunter practiced reading his essay for days and was the last speaker of the night.  There was not a dry eye in the house!

So often we are approached and asked, “Does he know how lucky he is?” Often, Vietnamese people will tell us how “blessed” Hunter is.  Our response is always the same – He is our gift.  He is our special gift from God.  In the two and a half years he has been with us, we have learned many lessons in patience, faith, forgiveness and courage from this little boy with the big smile and the open heart.  We know that his love and compassion will be a gift to the world for the rest of his life.

Hunter's family on Mother's Day 2011. From Left: Jim, Hunter, Lily, Mary Li and Marshall Duda.

Visit Holt’s sponsorship page to learn how you can change a child’s life in Vietnam or another country! 

Click here to read more about Holt’s work in Vietnam.

Know of a child or family who helped raise funds for Holt? Share your story with Holt’s senior writer, Robin Munro, at robinmunro@holtinternational.org.

Many of the children who enter Holt’s care have living parents or relatives whose lack of resources, not lack of love, compelled them to seek outside care for their child. Rather, relinquishing a child is an act of love. What parent wouldn’t rather separate from their child than watch their child grow sick and malnourished?

At Holt, we believe poverty – or disease or discrimination – should not prevent children from growing up with otherwise loving birth parents. That is why, everywhere we work, we strive to keep at-risk families safe, stable and together.

To that end, we provide basic nutrition and medical care for physical health, and counseling for psychological wellbeing. We assist with education, sending children to school and training parents in income-generating trades. And through microloans for small businesses, we help families achieve both self-reliance – and lasting stability.

One small business is particularly adaptable to many of the regions we serve: raising livestock. After Holt provides the resources and know-how, families can quickly take the reins.

Here are three short family stories from Vietnam, a country where – with international adoption suspended – family preservation efforts have become a major focus, and livestock a major source of support. All three of these children are supported by Holt’s sponsorship program as well:

 A few little chicks can make a big impact…

When Cara’s* mother died in November of 2009, she and her three siblings went to live with her grandmother and aunt. For income, the family harvested rice and raised a few chickens. This barely provided enough to meet their basic needs, however, let alone pay the fees for the children to attend school. Cara and her siblings were at risk of dropping out of school when the local district referred the family to Holt-Vietnam.

To ensure that Cara and her siblings could stay in school – and with their family – Holt provided funding to support the family’s chicken-raising efforts. Holt social workers regularly visit Cara’s family to check on their health and wellbeing, and to advise her grandmother and aunt on how to manage their small business.

Today, Cara and her family are doing well. Now 4, Cara attends kindergarten and is developmentally on track. “She walks, runs and jumps without any problem,” a Holt social worker wrote in a recent sponsorship report. “She is learning colors and counting from 1 to 100.”

A couple pigs can support a family…

Suong* lives with her mom and her sister.  Her parents are divorced, and her father provides no support. As a single mother, Suong’s mom struggled to provide the basics for her two daughters. The girls rarely had enough food, and paying school expenses posed a significant challenge.

To help Suong’s mom care for her daughters, Holt-Vietnam provided start-up funding for the family to raise pigs. When the pigs grew big enough, Cara’s mother was able to sell them at market – generating income to cover the girls’ school fees, and provide nutritious food for her family. She reinvested the money left over by buying more pigs – creating a stable, self-renewing source of income for her family.

Suong is now 3. “She loves dressing up and playing dolls and with new toys,” writes her social worker. “The little girl is really adorable and active.”

Even send a child to school…

After Hai’s* father died in May of 2010, his mother became the sole income-earner for the family. Her work as a farmer provided some support, but not enough to adequately care for her children. After a local women’s union referred the family to Holt-Vietnam, Holt supplied the family with pigs to help generate income. With this resource, Hai’s mom is able to pay the school fees for her children.

Although Hai was sick when Holt began supporting his family, he has recovered and is now in good health. “He loves to go to kindergarten every day where he can play with toys with his friends and learn new things,” writes his social worker. He loves riding tricycles and playing on the slide, knows some children’s songs, and is learning to read poetry and tell stories, his social worker also writes. He is a healthy, happy, 4-year-old boy. Overall, his family is faring much better with the regular income from raising pigs.

* names changed

This holiday season, you can help a struggling family achieve both self-reliance and lasting stability. Click here to give livestock or other gifts of hope to children and families in need.

To learn more about Holt’s sponsorship program, click here.

For more information about Holt’s work in Vietnam, view our Vietnam country brief.

In the spring issue of Holt magazine, Minalee Saks, executive director of Birth to Three, described a workshop she led last February – in India. Birth to Three is a non-profit organization in Eugene, Oregon that provides parenting education and support for families of young children. Organized by Holt, the workshop drew 19 social workers from six countries for a four-day training in Birth to Three’s “Make Parenting a Pleasure” curriculum.

At the end of the workshop, the participants returned home to put Minalee’s practices to work – making the act of parenting both more enjoyable, and more effective, for families from Ethiopia and Uganda to the Philippines and Vietnam.

In Vietnam, the two social workers that participated are making quick progress.

With the lessons still fresh in her mind, Holt social worker Nguyen Thu Ngan led a one-day training session for fellow social workers and staff in Vietnam. In turn, the Holt-Vietnam staff will soon begin training families we serve throughout the country – beginning with 50 struggling families we support in the north, near Hanoi. The children of these families are all in preschool, and all at risk of neglect or separation from their parents. Through basic support services, we are helping these families give their children a safe, stable home. And now, thanks to Minalee Saks and Birth to Three, we can help them become better parents for their children as well.

Read about Minalee’s time in India….

Sponsor a child in Holt’s care today!

When it comes time to share your spirit of giving, what better way to do so than by helping a vulnerable child. Together, we can make the world a better place for children–one child at a time.