Recently, Holt program directors around the world sent letters to child sponsors — sharing about the impact they made in the lives of children and families in 2021. Read the letter from Kobgarn Trakulvaree, the executive director of our partner in Thailand, Holt Sahathai Foundation!

Dear Sponsors,

Sawaddi ka! On behalf of your sponsored child, all our children and families and the HSF team in Thailand, I would like to express our heartfelt thankfulness for your kind support and to wish you peace and joy for 2022 and beyond. 

We are deeply moved by the sufferings of people all over the world who have endured the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic and its far-reaching social and economic consequences. In Thailand, over 100,000 children are at risk of malnutrition, 65,000 have been forced to drop out of school, 250,000 do not have access to online learning, 70% are concerned about their future, and 300 have lost their parents to COVID.

Despite the ongoing lockdowns, our staffs have taken turns coming to the office because lives cannot be put on hold, and it is our mission to be there for them.

Throughout 2021, you helped step up efforts to provide basic necessities such as food, milk and crop seeds for families in need​. At the height of the pandemic, you also helped distribute emergency first-aid kits containing medicines, a thermometer and an oximeter, and a survival bag complete with food and necessities for 950 infected patients and their families. 

Your support also helped provide financial assistance to families who had lost jobs or income due to COVID, learning materials and educational support, and creative online activities to keep children occupied while they were at home. All of this is in addition to online counseling service to keep children from being abandoned or neglected.

Nutrition support helped 227 babies whose mothers could not produce enough breastmilk or whose families could not afford infant formula. In addition, we enrolled 750 more babies into our nutrition program to alleviate stress on parents who had been financially impacted by the pandemic. 

We also welcomed 96 young children into our foster care program this year. Sunny was among them. Her mother developed serious complications from a COVID infection when she was six months pregnant, prompting the doctor to perform a C-section in order to save the baby. Sunny is now maturing into a healthy 6-month-old under the loving care of her foster family. 

You also helped provide toys to help many children cope with isolation and stress of COVID — including for 110 children receiving COVID treatment at a hospital. Your generous support also provided free mushroom sprouts to families and schools as an additional food option that saves money and provides a new income-generating opportunity. All of this would not have been possible without your tremendous help. I want to thank you again for your generosity, which allowed us to create a better and brighter future for 10,000 impoverished children. Whatever the future holds, we will continue to create a safe environment for children and ensure that they receive the love and support they deserve. Thank you so much, and I wish you a very happy, prosperous, healthy and safe new year.

Kobgarn Trakulvaree | Executive Director of the Holt Sahathai Foundation