Building bridges across the Pacific Director of Holt International Children's Services devotes life to finding homes for young victims of war and turmoil by Cynth. D. Siowell An Oregon farmer and a Korean youth who met in war·torn Seoul in 1956 had only their compassion in common. But together they collected tiny victims of the Korean conflict and cared for them until permanent homes were found. Harry Holt often left the child care center and 24·hour hospital in the young Korean's hands, going back to Creswell. Oregon to help raise the eight children he and his wife had adopted in Seoul. Hyung Bok (David) Kim ('S5 MSW) devoted himself to the "temporary" service, and 27 years laler he Is in the executive director of Holt International Children's Services, now based in Eugene, Oregon. "I took the job as a way of earning bread and butter," said Kim, who had to care for his mother, brothers, and sisters after his father, a Presbyterian minister, was killed in the war. "But this changed. I saw in Mr. Holt a setf·made millionaire with no blood relations or cultural ties with Koreans, just Christian compassion. It made a great impact." Fresh from the Korean Army, Kim had unknowingly stumbled into his life's work. ~~ work was getting deeply into '[IY heart," he The PSU graduate and international figure remembers vividly the earty days at the Seoul child care center, where the diapers of two hundred babies dried in the sun on a barbed wire fence, and 600 bottles were prepared daily. "I was a father of 3,000 children before I even got married," jokes the man who provided legal guardianship while homes were being found. Double china and fat cheeks The first babies were of mixed race, the unwanted offspring of Korean women and American G.I.'s. They were social outcasts with no future. "Our extended family system is so strong, if you didn't have a family, you had no chance," explained Kim. It wasn't until 1970 that Korean law changed to allow the adoption of children with dtfferent sumames, and there have been obstacles In the U.S. as well. In order for Hany Holt to bring his eight children back to the States, a private bill had to be passed by Congress, And it was only last year that the United States recognized Its responsibility for Amerasian children by permitting immigration and sponsorship, althoogh adoption has been legal for years, While it was unusual In the '50s for Americans to adopt children of a different racial background, families wrote to Holt and asked how they too could take In Korean children. During the first year, 120 youngsters were placed, a figure that rose to almost 600 in subsequent years. Soon, full Korean children orphaned by the war or abandoned due to hardship were also In demand. 4 Not a/l the chikjren survived their unfortunate starts in life. "Mr. Hoft and I buried a lot of babies," said Kim, Though struck by the vacant eyes and withered bodies of infants deprived of maternal love, Kim discovered that, given proper care, the children were resilient. Now, with the movement away from abandonment in favor of planned placements, "our babies are coming with double chins and fat cheeks." To date, Holt International has found permanent homes for 34,000 children and has helped develop programs In Vietnam, Thailand, Bangladesh, the Philippines, India and Nicaragua, While adoption outside the children's country is still frequent, one-quarter of the Korean children now find homes with Korean families, and Holt's primary goal Is to keep natural families together whenever possible. "An economic reason is no reason to separate mother and child," said Kim. Holt programs around the world are tailored to meet the special needs of the host countries, and have expanded to Include counseling for unmarried mothers, nutrition education, and training for the handicapped. "Our work is the David Kim, '65 MSW development of programs with indigenous people so they can take over," said Kim of Holt's diverse efforts. "We don't want to perpetuate oursetves." Holt Korea is now independent, as are the agencies In Thailand and the Philippines. Recently Kim made a five-week tour of Asia to evaluate established programs and to determine child wetfsre needs in Sri Lanka and Nepal. "We go humbly," says Kim of his agency's exploratory trips. But the director of Holt is adamant that "racial pride should not be bigger than the children'S needs," An American education By 1963, Kim felt the Korean program was stabilized enough so he ooutd leave H and realize his lifelong dream of getting an American education. He had managed to work his way through Seoul National University, earning his BA in 1959. Aware of his own need for formal training In social work. as well as Korea's lack of trained social workers, Kim resigned from Holt and enrolled at Portland State, the only MSW-granting institution In his mentor's home state. They were a challenging couple of years for
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