One of the happiest moments in our adoptions was undoubtedly the call that we were out of PGN! For us that also happens to correspond to Thanksgiving. Say what? You got the call on Turkey Day? Your agency was working on Thanksgiving? Well not exactly, read on for a cool story and why tomorrow is the 10 year anniversary of something spectacular!
Did you know that 1 in 3 people worldwide do not have access to a clean toilet? Or that one tiny piece of poop can contain 10 million viruses and 1 million bacteria? World Toilet Day is only one week away and we NEED your help to support our goal of raising $1,000 to purchase latrines for indigenous Mayan families in rural Guatemala through BPD!!!
Admittedly, I am not a fan of Justin Bieber and am quite thankful that my kids feel the same. Generally speaking the kid seems like a spoiled brat who has been allowed to let his fame get too far into his head.
But I give him a solid thumbs up for this story and hope that his feelings don't change and he continues to support Guatemala.
I am thrilled to join the Guatadopt team to share my experiences over the years with giving back and share opportunities for you to make a difference looking forward. Over the years, Kevin and Kelly have posted many opportunities to give back to organizations that impact the lives of Guatemalans--many of those opportunities related to the work of the Cincinnati Friends Through Guatemalan Adoption (FTGA). I thought I would take a moment in my first post to share the history of FTGA's Giving Back program and then give all of you information looking forward on how to keep the Guatadopt community aware of future opportunities to give back!
I came across this Op-Ed published today by Foster Friess in the USA Today. The piece, titled "For orphans, family is a human right" sounds much like something I would have published, with the exception that my tone on Unicef would have differed on this matter. But what is says is correct, right and left can unite on this and it is with no trepidation that I salute and promote the dude who bankrolled Rick Santorum's campaign.
Parenthood that is. I mean after all, most of us went through the trials and tribulation of trying to become a parent together. And then once our kids came home, reality struck!
After a few years of separation, I am really happy to say that Guatadopt is back and hopefully we can rebuild some of the community and lively debate of times past. Obviously times have changed and as such so has the mission.
Before going into why Guatadopt disappeared, I want to introduce our newest writer, someone that I am sure many old-time readers already know. Sonya Fultz, who drove Moms on a Mission and other great work through FTGA, has agreed to come aboard. Welcome Sonya!
Click on more to get the low down and what happened and where we're going...
There will be more to come between Guatadopt and BPD. I am now on their Board of Directors and am trying to get back into the groove of bringing back Guatadopt. I do owe our old readers an explanation of what's been up!
For now, here is a chance to support Behrhorst Partners for Development and get a chance to win two roundtrip plane tickets anywhere in the US. It's only $10 a ticket and trust me that it goes to a good cause!
http://www.behrhorst.org/donate_for_a_chance_to_win_
Well we have seen sort of thing before and I haven't spoken to anyone involved in the advocacy to get their take. But let's hope this is true that Guatemala will finally complete these cases that have been going on forever!
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/guatemala-complete-us-adoptions-year-20377450
I was recently sent this petition and hope anyone still visiting the site will sign as well. It involves providiing post-adoption assistance to children with R.A.D. (Reactive Attachment Disorder). I've known families wiht a child suffering from this disorder. So please sign,.
Impacting One Guatemalan Star at a time!
Friends Through Guatemalan Adoption invites you to join our 8th Annual Holiday Giving Back Project in conjunction with Behrhorst Partners for Development. BPD works in respectful partnership with Mayan Guatemalans to have a positive impact on the problems associated with Guatemala's history of violence against indigenous populations, natural disasters, poverty, illiteracy and disastrously high rates of infant and maternal death.
You have probably heard the story of the Star Thrower:
President Molina announced that he's willing to allow the remaining cases to be completed. We've heard some similar things in the past, hopefully it is true this time!
http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2012/apr/11/lt-guatemala-adoption/
Click on more for a couple of stories of interst. The first deals with some of teh mized messages being sent (non0adoption) during Molina's first days in office. Truly amazing if you follow Guatemalan politics.
The second is a blog post from someone who recently met with Susana Luacra. There is the link as well as some of my thoughts on it.
There has been a bug in our system for some time and comments have not been getting sent to me to approve. I just went through and approved all the legitimate old ones I could find. I apologize to anyone whose comments were not posted until now.
If you ever post a comment and it doesn't go on the site within a day or so, please let me know. We don't censor and anytime there is a comment we are not comfortable with, we would let you know.
The US Embassy has a new notice regarding a process for those cases being handled by the CNA (not notarial cases with the PGN). You can read the notice by clicking on more or here:
