Recent program updates from Holt-supported family strengthening and orphan care programs around the world!
Vietnam
In Vietnam, 500 children living in Holt-supported child welfare centers celebrated Tết, thanks to Holt child sponsors and donors who gave gifts for Christmas and New Year holiday celebrations! Tết Nguyen Dan, commonly referred to as “Tết,” is Vietnam’s most significant and traditional celebration, marking the arrival of the Lunar New Year. Tết is celebrated according to the Vietnamese Lunar Calendar, with the official holiday lasting around seven days.
It was a happy celebration, full of festive foods like bánh chưng (sticky rice cake) and kho (simmered caramel sauce dishes). The children enjoyed singing, dancing and playing games. And in the spirit of celebration, the child welfare centers were decorated with red banners and the vivid colors of kumquat trees and peach blossoms. It was a truly joyous occasion!
Cambodia
In late January, Her Excellency, the Deputy Provincial Governor of Battambang Province — who also serves as the Chairperson of the Provincial Women’s and Children’s Consultative Committee (WCCC) — visited our foster care program in Battambang. This was an honor for Holt’s team in Cambodia, as our programs have been highly recognized by the Cambodian government. Representatives from the Department of Social Affairs (DoSVY) and the District Governor of Sangke District of Battambang Province also visited.
Holt supports programs in four rural provinces of Cambodia, serving some of the country’s most vulnerable communities. Many families in Cambodia live in poverty, particularly in rural areas. With the pause in U.S. federal funding announced in late January, some of Holt’s programs in Cambodia have been directly affected — in particular our foster care, kinship care and family reunification program piloted in partnership with Save the Children. As USAID funding remains uncertain, donor support has become more crucial than ever in helping to ensure children can remain in nurturing foster or kinship families instead of orphanages, and children already living in orphanages can reunite with their birth families in Cambodia.
India
In the bustling city of Bangalore, Vathsalya Charitable Trust (VCT) remains steadfast in its commitment to empowering the next generation in India.
With the support of Holt sponsors and donors, VCT provides a safe place for children of migrant workers to go during the day. The daycare is free for these families, providing children with a nourishing lunch and a critical early education while they gain the skills needed to transition to a more formal school setting. The migrant daycare program also helps prevent families from separating from one another due to the stresses of rural-to-urban migration.
India is home to 139 million internal migrants, including children. For children living in impoverished communities, VCT child development teams often provide support and guidance as they grow up — keeping them on track with their studies and helping them navigate the different challenges they face.
With donor support, VCT also holds special celebrations for children in the daycare program — children whose families can rarely afford anything extra like a party. In January, the children celebrated India’s Republic Day with pride and creativity!
Philippines
Kaisahang Buhay Foundation (KBF), our partner agency in the Philippines, was invited by the National Authority for Child Care (NACC) to help develop a new foster care training curriculum. Holt helped found KBF as a local organization in 1976, and in the mid-1980s, KBF introduced a model of foster care that provides a more nurturing, one-on-one care alternative for children growing up in orphanages. Today, KBF is recognized as a leading child welfare organization and a cornerstone of alternative care for children growing up in care systems in the Philippines, providing guidance and insights on best care practices.
Ultimately, Holt and KBF’s goal for children in foster care is to reunite with their birth families or, if that is not an option, to join families through domestic or international adoption. Through family reunification efforts, in recent years, our staff in the Philippines have helped an average of 20 children rejoin their families every year. In some situations, birth families may lack the resources or ability to provide a safe home environment for their children. When this is the case, foster families continue to provide one-on-one care, attention and development that children need while Holt and KBF work to unite them with a permanent adoptive family. In collaboration with the NACC, KBF is providing ‘training for the trainers’ — i.e., empowering trained foster families to train new foster families, which furthers alternative care advocacy and ensures children receive the loving care and support they need.
China
It was a happy Lunar New Year in China! The celebration welcomes both the arrival of spring and the new year and is recognized as the most important holiday in China. Hundreds of millions of people travel within China to reunite with their families in their hometowns or to enjoy sightseeing and festivals. Lunar New Year is celebrated in many of the countries where Holt works — from Seollal in Korea to Tết in Vietnam — and worldwide, 2 billion people celebrate Lunar New Year each year.
In Holt child welfare centers in China, Lunar New Year was a happy occasion! The windows and doors were beautifully decorated with red paper cuttings and festive paintings. It was a lively celebration, filled with vibrant lanterns, firecrackers, delicious food, dancing and performances! Holt sponsors and donors made the occasion even more special by sharing gifts with the children in Holt programs to celebrate Lunar New Year. Thank you for making this a celebration to remember!
Become a Child Sponsor
Connect with a child. Provide for their needs. Share your heart for $43 per month.
