A Must-Experience, Transformative, Eye-Opening Journey

When Holt donor and adoptive mom Yang Sciscent traveled with her husband, Gary, on Holt’s vision trip to Thailand, she says she was moved and inspired by what she witnessed. In the following Q&A, she shares more about her experience and what she saw that compels her to continue helping children and families in need through Holt.

How would you describe your experience on the vision trip in two sentences?

The vision trip is an exceptionally well-organized, informative and educational experience that meaningfully connects donors and supporters with the children and communities they serve. It is a must-experience, transformative, eye-opening journey that inspires participants to link their personal acts of giving with the broader goal of improving the world.

Can you share a bit about your history with Holt?

We adopted [three children] through Holt about 25 years ago. We have two girls from China and our son is from Vietnam.… A lot of agencies are doing international adoption, but Holt is the most diligent and doing everything to adhere with the law, with the principles. Your work is very thorough and very disciplined. In that way, our adoptions went through very smoothly — very good.

I understand you traveled with Holt once before on a heritage tour to Vietnam, where you adopted your son. What was that first experience like traveling with Holt?

It was an incredible experience for them and also for us, life changing. … With Holt, we appreciate how you organize everything very thoughtfully. The educational part is well balanced with the sightseeing, seeing the culture, and we visited the families who are still waiting to be assisted and [children waiting to be] adopted. I believe at that time it was mostly children in foster care families. … It started to open up our eyes and see the world has all these continuing problems, but Holt is still working diligently to resolve these problems. That moved us a lot and inspired us a lot.

What inspired you to travel to Thailand many years later on Holt’s vision trip?

Neither of us had been to Thailand. We heard Thailand is not very safe, we have to be careful. But when Holt said they are organizing a trip to Thailand, my husband said, “Yes we are going.” I said, “Are you not worried?” And he said, “When Holt organizes something, they know it inside and out for every one of us to be safe.” … And not one minute we felt we might be in some place that is not safe.

How would you describe your experience?

Most importantly, I started to see the [focus of Holt’s work] … has been changing and shifting from international adoption to domestic adoption and domestic care for the children. I am very touched by this. … When we were on the [heritage] tour years ago, we didn’t see this. But now, we start to see the emphasis is so much in the community and trying the very best to keep children in their families instead of growing up in institutions. All these big changes you did seamlessly, very well. That’s our experience on the tour — visiting the orphanage, the families and the single parents.

This Thailand trip was also so beautifully arranged. Not just orderly, but beautifully. Wherever you go, people present you flowers … Such a beautiful welcome and nature of the Thai people and place. That kind of beauty itself made this trip very unforgettable.

Is there a particular program you felt especially connected to or wanted to learn more about?

One thing that struck me a lot is you are helping the single parents, who are [primarily] women. … You are there to teach them, to give them training in skills and for awareness not to be afraid, being a woman, that you have support and you can make it. You can continue to grow well with your child. That kind of program is very inspiring.

“The vision trip is an exceptionally well-organized, informative and educational experience that meaningfully connects donors and supporters with the children and communities they serve. It is a must-experience, transformative, eye-opening journey that inspires participants to link their personal acts of giving with the broader goal of improving the world.”

Did anything you saw inspire you to support Holt in a more specific or deeper way?

For the past 20 years, we have been focused on raising our children. But now, we have started to open our eyes to see what Holt is doing in this world and how we can continue to help. … And this time, we see things a lot clearer. We just feel Holt is very smartly [changing] the focus from the previous [focus on] international adoption to assistance, education and support of children [in their birth country], trying your very best to keep them in the community, in the family. … Children should not just grow up in an institution. Children need a family, adoptive or [birth] family. So that opened our eyes.

The things we saw and were most impressed with was you give economic empowerment to the families — supporting them with milk powder, education, various kinds of needs you try to really meet. That you emphasize education is so important. Not just for single mothers, but also [for children through] after-school programs. You open the door to education. And you promote family reunification. This is really humanism to the highest point. We are very moved by that.

What was the most memorable moment on the trip?

We were so impressed by the Treehouse opening ceremony. [The Treehouse is a community development program in southern Thailand that teaches gardening skills, self-development and economic empowerment. As part of the trip, the donors funded the building of a literal “treehouse” for children to play in while participating in this program.]

Jordan, [a member of Holt’s relational development team], and Thoa organized that and Jordan asked me to talk. I was so moved. … I was thinking when I was a kid how much I wanted to have a treehouse. But at that time, China was very poor. No one could afford to have a treehouse. That’s what I was telling everyone, the adults and the children: ‘You are so lucky because you have it. … And we support you so seize this opportunity, this moment, to study well and develop yourself.’ … I will never forget this night.

What would you tell others who are thinking about going on a vision trip with Holt?

You have to. This is a must-do thing on your schedule. We are big travelers. We have been to many, many countries. …  But only the trips with Holt we could never forget. It’s because that gives us the education we need … It encouraged us to do something, to chip in to help. That kind of feeling brings health to a person. The health of the physical body, but most importantly, your spirit, your mentality. Because you feel more appreciative of the life you are living now, and also [inspired] to go out to help. Otherwise, we aren’t making full use and full capacity of the grace we have received.

Do you have any other takeaways from the trip that you’d like to share?

According to the Holt workers at HSF Nakhon office — and also from my observation at the meetings with government officers — the improvement of the collaboration with the government children’s service sectors was taking place. The [HSF] workers told me, “We have had to prove ourselves, to convince them that we are a trustworthy service force for the children. Now they (government officers) not only use our resources, but also ask us to train their staff with new ideas and methods. When they make legislation about children’s services, they will include our practice and suggestions into their consideration.” I hope this helps illustrate the significance of Holt’s influence on the government and its childcare policies in Thailand.