Oh Guatemala, Que Paso?

It really pains me to write this, but frankly, my frustration level is at an all time high. As some of you know, Guatemala, amid pressures from the US and UNICEF adopted the Hague in 2007. The previous international adoption system was controlled by attorneys and foster care. With the Hague, Guatemala will be turning the system over to a government run system that will take the control out of the hands of the attorneys. The system is presently in limbo with a standstill in some of the existing adoptions being processed as well as the halt of any new adoptions. Without the money coming in from adoptions, many of the orphanages can no longer care for the children. The workers are not showing up for work as they are no longer being paid and there is no food so the children are being turned out onto the street. It is a horrible situation, and unfortunately, it is the children that are the ones suffering.

When we started our adoption in 2005 of our first son, we were really adoption "virgins". In hindsight, though we have a beautiful son, it is hard knowing that we contributed to lining the pockets of these attorneys and that none of the money that was paid to process the adoption of our son went back into the child care facilities in Guatemala.

Last week we received a letter from our agency asking for emergency donations to support an orphanage. Their goal is to raise $100,000. This would pay for staff, food, medical, clothing, etc. Again, I recognize that we were part of the problem, and not the solution, but DARN IT! You never did ANYTHING in all the years you have processed adoptions through Guatemala to help these orphanages! You never did any humanitarian work in Guatemala to help reduce the number of children that were being relinquisted. You were happy enough to have an in country coordinator who didn't know a lick about Guatemalan culture held up in the Marriott and were happy as a clam to keep the baby train heading due north! And now you are asking US to send you money? Frankly, I would rather support 10 more children through World Vision in Guatemala than do that.

I will always remember what the Wide Horizon's of Children representative said at one of their presentation (we have never used them as an agency, just so I can be clear on that, but would do so in a heart beat). She said "Our main goal is to reduce the number of children needing adoptive families by finding ways they can stay with their biological family", she noted that it seems like a strange statement as in the business world, they would be basically putting themselves out of business. But I think that statement speaks to my point, adoption is not a business, it is about the children and identifying why these children can't stay with their biological families then using the resources adoption provides to improve the families and communities so more kids can be supported by their biological parents. Throwing money at an orphanage is truly a short term fix. What are WE all doing for the long term?