Holt's 2014 Heritage Tour of India; A Recap

Holt's 2014 Heritage Tour of India; A Recap

1

Dean Hale, director of programs in India, reflects on Holt’s first heritage tour of India.

Our inaugural heritage tour of India went off well! We had four adoptees on this tour, all of whom traveled with family members. All the adoptees visited the orphanage where they lived in India and met staff members who remembered them.

The India tour group in front of the Taj Mahal. “This iconic wonder of the world is up to the reputation, and a testament for a man’s love in honor of his late wife,” says Dean.

We first visited one of Holt’s legacy partners, Vathsalya Charitable Trust (VCT) in Bangalore, where two of the adoptees were welcomed by VCT staff who knew them before placement. They also met their foster mothers. While in Bangalore, one of the adoptees met a group of adolescent girls whose education she and her family help to support through VCT’s educational sponsorship program. Shanti, the adoptee, also demonstrated some traditional Indian dances that she learned in the U.S. The girls were very impressed!

Shanti Grossman with a young girl her family helps to support through VCT’s educational sponsorship program.

We then went to Pune to visit another Holt legacy partner, Bharatiya Samaj Seva Kendra (BSSK). Here, one member of our group was greeted by many staff members who remembered her from when she was little. This adoptee was 6 years old when she joined her family in the U.S. Today, she is 26. It was a reunion of sorts. There were few dry eyes.

One member of our group grew up in another center in Pune called Society of Friends of Sassoon Hospital. Staff remembered her well and welcomed her with a sand painting by the front entrance with a “Welcome Home” message. While in Pune, she also met her foster mother. This, too, was a happy and tearful event.

We continued on to New Delhi where, at the invitation of the Immigrant Visa section of the U.S. Embassy, we took a guided tour of the embassy by officials and vice counsels. The embassy officials expressed their delight at getting to meet grown adoptees for whom their staff had issued visas years ago.

Not to be outdone, we were also invited by India’s central adoption authority to meet with Minister Gandhi of the Department of Women and Children. As this is the equivalent to a U.S. cabinet position, security was tight. The minister was welcoming and gracious. She also affirmed adoption — sharing that she recently sponsored new regulations that may help streamline the international adoption process.

The group with Minister Ghandi of the Department of Women and Children.

Laurie and Kendra Sandy visiting VCT in Bangalore.

After the tour, one adoptive parent — Laurie Sandy — shared her reflections on the experience. “The trip was absolutely wonderful and met all the hopes I had for Kendra to experience,” Laurie wrote. “She is a more confident young woman for having experienced this trip of joining with her birth culture and meeting the special folks who took care of her during her infancy. I am so proud of her. Our group was a unique blend of folks from all over the USA, but we shared those most important bonds with our children. Thanks Dean and thanks to Mary (Holt’s India program coordinator). I can’t imagine the work that went into this gigantic project, but I felt the love and kindness you gave.”

For some, like Kendra, the trip was life changing as the adoptees learned more about their origins, their cultural heritage and the circumstances that led to their adoption. It was exciting to meet the people who provided them love and care in India during their early lives. And they were able to see where they lived. It was also affirming for adoptive parents to travel along so they, too, could share the experience. Based on the success of this trip, we do plan to offer another heritage trip to India next year.

Dean Hale with with some children who attend the BSSK Deesha after-school family strengthening program located in the slum area of Pune.

.