Preventing a Child From Becoming an Orphan Changes Everything

Saigon, 1972. Eighteen years into the Vietnam War.

That’s when it all started for us. Vietnam was overwhelmed with children who had been orphaned by the war. Don and Marilyn Scott, who were relief workers there, founded a nutrition center to keep as many of these orphans alive as possible. At the same time, they asked Pam Larsen, an adoptive parent they knew, to pursue licensing for adoptions in Massachusetts. Many of these children had fathers who were American servicemen, and the Scotts knew most of these orphans would have a better life in loving families in the U.S.

By 1974, our adoption license had been granted and we began placing orphans from Vietnam in the U.S. This all came to an end when Saigon fell, but as there were so many other countries in the world struggling to handle the number of orphans in their care, it just marked the next stage in our development.

Known as International Adoptions, we soon started building loving families for orphans from South Korea, Colombia, and the U.S. We became Wide Horizons For Children in 1991, and soon started adoptions from China. After 20 years and having placed more than 2,000 orphaned children in their forever families in the U.S., one thing was clear:

The experience of being an orphan never disappears fully from a child’s soul.

We knew our mission from that point onward was to do everything we could to help prevent a child from becoming an orphan.

OUR APPROACH

Keeping a Family Intact

1.

Intervene Early

Before a perfect storm of risk factors overwhelms a family

2.

HELP THEM SURVIVE AND STABILIZE

Make sure the family is safe, getting at least two meals a day, and that the children are in school.

3.

HELP THEM THRIVE

Teach the family life and business skills, help them become economically self-sufficient, guide the children towards graduation.

keeping a family intact | wide horizons for children

Learn About Family Preservation Programs

Building a Family When a Child Has None

For children who are already orphaned when we first meet them, we do everything we can to help build nurturing families within an orphanage.

View our Orphan Care Programs

Testimonials

In their words…

Thank you for being with me in my most difficult times and helping me develop the capacity of helping myself and my family. I am very happy to see another family get my precious chance. —Aberash Mother in Program, Ethiopia

I’m very thankful to you, dear donor. You are supporting me in my education and I promise I will not let you down any time. I’ll keep my words, and I’ll be a very bright person in future. Thank you for your helpful, I’m very thankful towards you, dear donor. Thank you so much. I thank you all from the bottom of my heart. —Dipta Child in Program, India

I am thankful for the ration as it was very useful and helpful for me and my family. Thank you for it. —Dasya Mother in Program, India

The donations provided are fundamental for covering the Home’s operational expenses, as they are used to pay rent, salaries of staff and professionals, and food for the children currently living at the Home as well as other significant expenses without which we would not be able to operate. It is because of this, that without your support, we could not exist or provide the support and care that we currently provide to the children. —Dinora Orphanage Director, Guatemala

When a mother dies in childbirth, it puts her child in a crisis situation. Reducing the region's extremely high maternal mortality rate will not only mean that fewer children will become orphans, but also make those children much more likely to survive through childhood. The building of Leku Hospital [in Ethiopia] was a true partnership between the government, the community and Wide Horizons For Children. —Dr. Fletcher Wilson Chairman of the Wide Horizons For Children Medical Advisory Board and an OB-GYN

Esteban needs neurological evaluations as the pediatrician suspects that he has some level of autism and proving this would make it even more difficult for him to return to his family as his parents have two other children with special needs. Esteban is included in the early stimulation program at a therapy clinic where he receives sensory therapy, speech therapy, and others according to his needs —Esteban Abandoned Child, Gualtemala

I am so lucky to get this emergency food support. Now, I can see happiness and joy on the face of my children and strength and stability in their emotion. It changed our worry and sadness into joy and hope. —Genet Mother in Program, Ethiopia

I used to cry at night because it was almost time to enrol my daughter in middle school, and I did not know how I would be able to afford to send her. After meeting with the social worker, I felt a great relief knowing that my daughter could continue studying and would receive school supplies. —Juanita Mother in Program, Guatemala

Kamali was born with a health problem (asthma) and she was hospitalized for 2 month after birth. Her mother also died while giving birth to her and her father could not take care of her with her health condition. She was, therefore, taken care by her aunt after her mother’s death. She was brought at the orphanage by her aunt. She has now recovered well from asthma and she is now in second year of nursery school. —Kamali Orphanage Director, Burundi

I got rations in March months. And it was helpful for my family. Thank you for giving me rations! —Lopa Child in Program, India

My husband and I never finished our education and I was worried that if Eduardo didn’t understand something there would be no one to help explain things to him. I am excited for his future now that he has the support of the teachers from the program. —Maria Mother of Child in Program, Guatemala

Meleak was brought by his father at the orphanage 2 months after birth. His mother died after giving birth to him. He is a 7th child in his family. After his mother died, he was being breastfed by his aunt but could not manage 2 children therefore they had to look for another alternative. He was in a serious malnutrition when he was first brought at the orphanage but due the availability of milk, was able to recover and is now in good health. Very soon he will start nursery school. —Meleak Orphanage Director, Burundi

We received 20 bars of soap, one quintal flour, and 61 kg of Teff as emergency support. It was a great chance for us to manage our lives successfully! And if Wide Horizons For Children had not provided us with support, it would have been difficult to save the lives of our family members. —Messeret Mother of Child in Program, Ethiopia

Due to COVID-19 we were living under difficult condition because my mother was not able to do her daily work. But your help and support through WHFC enable us to safe at this hard time. With your support we are provided different food items such as flour, macaroni, oil, hand sanitizer and face masks. We are very happy for your support. —Natnael Child in Program, Ethiopia

My mother lost job and in my house there was lot of problem of food and really thank you that you came for support and gave ration. Very happy and thank you for your help. —Pavani Child in Program, India

The program gave me self-confidence and taught me how to save. I was able to contribute towards our family expenses. This made me feel good and strong. —Priya Mother in Program, India

My parents had a meeting with the Social Worker who mentioned that [the program] would help us with our education. It was then that I decided to continue, one of my dreams is to be a nurse and to have my own clinic to help my parents, I want to be a successful woman, to help my parents with what I can. —Roberta Child in Program, Guatemala

I am thankful for the ration as it was very useful and helpful for me and my family. Thank you for it. —Suhani Child in Program, India

First of all I would like to give thanks to you all. Because in the coronavirus pandemic, you all were standing with us as helpers. And really you all helped us a lot. You are not just giving us money, but you give us the confidence to reach our goals. So thank you! —Vidya Child in Program, India

OUR WAY

We Are High Impact and Agile

At Wide Horizons For Children, the verifiable impact of our work at transforming the life of each child and family we help is what matters. We look to expert evaluators to review our program design, and we use data to continuously review and monitor our impact — and make changes accordingly. We cease programming that is not performing at the level of our expectations and expand programming that demonstrates true impact for children and families.

Our willingness to re-work any and all of our initiatives — no sacred cows — has paid off. We are a hugely impactful organization and punch way above our weight — we have transformed the lives of 1,000,000 children and their families beyond all recognition.

We are child-centered and personalized — leveraging our adoption social work roots, we know that a “one size fits all” approach doesn’t work.
We are data-driven — we constantly monitor and measure the impact of our work, changing what we do in response to this.
We are agile, responsive, and ingenious — we have no stifling bureaucracy and work in communities where we have a deep connection, using local staff.
We are disciplined — we are intentional and responsible in everything we do.
We are collaborative and respectful — we listen to our local staff and the families themselves and take our direction from them.
We are holistic and deep — we know the most life-transforming approach is multi-faceted and deep, not scattered or shallow
We lead with our values — compassion, transparency, accountability, non-judgement and kindness guide us and we only work with partners who share these values.

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family preservation burundi success story