Guatemala

The Gift of Giving that Keeps on Giving

Submitted by LisaS on Wed, 12/30/2009 - 23:46

Happy New Year and prospero Año Nuevo from Mayan Families! We hope you and your loved ones had a happy holiday season.

This year your generosity made it possible for us to deliver 1,160 Christmas Tamale Baskets to families in need of food. This represents approximately 11,600 people who were fed this Christmas due to your kindness!

A big thank you for all the toys you sent us to give to children. Over 4,800 children who otherwise would not have received a single gift, will treasure the toy they received. We were also able, thanks to you, to distribute clothing, shoes, baby blankets, hygiene kits and so many other wonderful things. Your gifts demonstrated the spirit of sharing and caring here in Guatemala.

We received so much heartfelt appreciation from the people who received these gifts --people who lined up each day, even enduring the rain and hot sun. These people waited patiently, hoping they would receive a basket of food. The loving thanks, blessings, and best wishes, which they expressed to us, belong to each of you who helped make this miracle a reality this year.

Our Adopted Daughter’s Chanukah Miracle: Her Birthmother Has Been Found

Submitted by LisaS on Thu, 12/24/2009 - 00:49

We have found my adopted daughter’s birthmother in Guatemala. The searcher who took this upon herself has sent us photographs and updated information.

Three years and ten months ago I was getting acquainted with my soon to be adopted daughter in a hotel in Guatemala City. A new friend and fellow adoptive parent asked me if I’d ever want to meet my daughter’s birthmother. At that time, I clearly remember saying “no”; having an “involved” birthmother was not something I wanted.

No sooner had I brought Ella home from Guatemala and I found myself poring over the adoption documents learning whatever I could about the birthparents and trying to fill in the spaces between the lines. I wanted to meet the person who had given birth to this baby who was incredibly adorable and loveable, to share the important milestones with her, and thank her for the ultimate and painful sacrifice she had made. I decided that one day I would search for her even though she had requested no future contact. Perhaps she had changed her mind.

My gut instinct said “go ahead, do it.” 

It was the right decision

Other reasons I had a birthmother search done:

1. Listening to adoptees over the last four years convinced me of an adoptee’s need to have as much information about her birthparents as possible, and in some cases the opportunity to meet them as well.

2. Most birthmothers in Guatemala want to know that their child is alive, healthy, and loved. So many rumors about the welfare of adopted children circulate in Guatemala, the worst being that they are adopted for their body organs.

Guatemala “Might” Initiate an Intercountry Adoption Pilot Program

Submitted by LisaS on Tue, 12/08/2009 - 08:39

The National Adoption Council of Guatemala, the central committee responsible for handling adoption in Guatemala since the previous adoption system was shut down in 2007, is initiating a pilot program for intercountry adoption. This pilot program will include only four countries, but which countries has yet to be announced.

The JCICS (Joint Council of International Children’s Services) has verified that the U.S. Department of State has submitted a letter of interest to the Guatemalan government regarding participation in this pilot program. Seven other countries wrote a letter of interest as well.

The JCICS also made it very clear that this does not mean that adoption is reopening. The JCICS also reported that:

1. Potential adoptive parents may initiate a Hague adoption by submitting an I-800A with the National Benefits Center for a Guatemalan adoption, but this application cannot be processed through to a completed adoption. Guatemala is still not compliant with the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption.

2. The Government of Guatemala has not published a time-line for country selection nor initiation of the pilot program.

3. The Government of Guatemala has not provided assurances that the pilot program will actually be initiated.

4. The Government of Guatemala has not published the criteria by which they intend to accredit foreign adoption service providers. Based on the announcement published on the Guatemalan Central Authority’s website, only one (1) adoption service provider will be selected per country for participation in the pilot program.

Day 2 of Wake up Unicef!

Submitted by LisaS on Wed, 12/02/2009 - 08:10

                         

From Tracy Hoehn:

Today is Day 2 of the attack on UNICEF and is going to be much easier. Call 212-326-7000 – which is the main number for UNICEF. Ask for Ann Veneman (don't be surprised if she is not available).

Here is the script (use what flows comfortably with your own voice):

I am calling for Ann Veneman today in support of the Guatemala900 initiative. I respectfully request UNICEF directly intervene with the Guatemalan Government on behalf of the hundreds of children whose Grandfathered Adoptions have been in process since 2007. Please end the victimization of these children and support their basic right to a family."

Call whenever you get a chance and know that when you speak, you are giving voice to a child who has none. And when you call - you are shutting UNICEF down for the day. They will hear us!

WAKE UP UNICEF!!!

Submitted by LisaS on Tue, 12/01/2009 - 12:59
                       

I am posting this information today in hope that many of our readers will participate in the campaign to jolt UNICEF into helping the children in Guatemala whose adoptions have been stuck in limbo for almost 2 years.

Here is the email to be sent to Ann Veneman, executive director of UNICEF.

The goal is to “shut UNICEF down” on Tuesday, December 1st and make them know that many people are fighting for the rights of these children.

Thank you to Tracey L. Hoehn for taking this initiative.

 

Dear Ms. Veneman, aveneman@unicef.org

I am writing to you in support of the Guatemala 900 initiative to request timely due process and transparency for the children (some of whom are the legal children of US Citizens and possess US Visas) whose grandfathered adoption cases are still languishing in bureaucratic delay. We request your support and advocacy for the hundreds of children whose futures are at stake.

Understanding Your Adoption Story is a Work in Progress

Submitted by LisaS on Thu, 10/22/2009 - 06:50

If you are anything like me, you’ve been telling your adopted child their adoption story since they first joined your family. I started telling my daughter when she was a mere seven months old so that it would be more “polished” by the time she was old enough to understand it and I would be comfortable and more at ease.

So I am always pleasantly surprised by the questions my daughter comes up with about her adoption. For example, after we drove a long distance to Canada and back this summer she asked me if her “tummy mommy” drove her to our house from Guatemala. She knew that Guatemala was far away, but so was Canada and we had driven there. The fact that we’ve talked a lot about us taking her to the airport in Guatemala and flying here and then driving home from the airport was not important. She had grasped the idea that you could cover long distances not only by airplane but also by car.

State of National Calamity

Submitted by LisaS on Tue, 09/29/2009 - 06:44

During the month of September, President Alvaro Colom declared Guatemala in a State of National Calamity. More than half of the citizens of Guatemala are suffering from hunger and chronic food shortages. Given the dire situation, Colom is hoping for aid from other countries. Guatemala has the highest rate of malnutrition in the Americas and fourth highest rate of chronic malnutrition in the world.

Colom blames this situation on drought, global warming and the global economic crisis. Food prices are high and poor families are unable to meet their minimal nutritional needs.

Mayan Families, a Not For Profit organization that helps Guatemalan families with food, education, and crisis situations is making major efforts towards increasing donations to Guatemala at this time. They remind readers that in the rural areas malnutrition among children is over 80%, with many children’s only source of nutrition being tortillas. This diet is damaging to the body and the brain and already many children have died.

Judge Blocks Completion of Adoption

Submitted by LisaS on Thu, 09/17/2009 - 16:55

More news from my friend “P” who is doing everything possible to bring her daughter home from Guatemala has all of us in a state of despair. After the judge ruled that a further search for the birthmother must transpire even though the search had been completed by PGN last year, said judge set the next court date for June 2010.

There is no reason under the sun for setting this date so far ahead as the search and follow up report that must be presented to her usually take around 4-6 weeks. It is obvious that this judge does not want this adoption to go forward and she has complete control. Baby “N” has been in an orphanage for over a year – her first year of life she spent with foster parents. Now it seems that the judge would prefer she spend at least another year in an orphanage or her whole childhood. Even if she rules that the case can proceed to PGN next June, it will be several months until the adoption is completed.

What is Your Black Daughter’s Name?

Submitted by LisaS on Thu, 06/18/2009 - 15:53

The setting is a beautiful children’s park on the edge of a pristine lake hugged by mountains. The park is bordered by tents set up for the Sunday morning market. The aromas of fresh bread from a bakery along with waffle cones from the ice cream truck fill the air. A palm reader has a steady business of people lining up beside his tent to find out if just maybe their future includes winning the Canadian lottery (tax free by the way). Beautiful homemade jewelry as well as water colors and photography grace several of the tents. The weather is perfect and the day is gorgeous.

I finish shopping and take my Guatemalan born daughter over to the kid’s park to let off some steam. At the top of a slide a boy about nine years old eyes my daughter, turns to me and asks:

What is your black daughter’s name? “

My first reaction was “wow,” he didn’t call me her grandmother, but then it hit me what he had said and not believing that I had heard him correctly, asked him to repeat himself. He did but didn’t change a word in his inquiry. I told him her name and said no more. Honestly I was speechless.

Even now as I sit and write this blog I am not exactly sure how I should have responded to this child. If I had seen a parent nearby, I might have suggested that they explain to their child that there is no need to identify other children or people by their color; then again maybe I would have said nothing, because it can be really difficult to come up with a response when you are so shocked by the question.

The Guatemala 900 Campaign

Submitted by LisaS on Tue, 06/16/2009 - 00:29

I'm a little late with this release, but it is important information none the less.

The Guatemala 900 Campaign is a SERIES OF ACTIONS that calls attention to the stagnation of the approximately 900 remaining Guatemalan adoptions that were begun before 2008.

The Guatemala 900 Campaign asks that the US and Guatemalan governments take immediate steps to deliver timely due process and transparency for the children who wait to join their future families. It is imperative that these cases do not languish while children wait in limbo, losing their childhood one day, month, and year at a time....

We strive to take steps that will ensure all grandfathered cases will be processed to completion by January 31, 2010.

The purpose of the Guatemala 900 March and Candlelight Vigil is to raise awareness! To do this we must get the story of the childrens’ plight out to the World. The Guatemala 900 Campaign has composed a Press Release that you can read by clicking here.

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