President Oscar Berger

This is the week for taking action on allowing Guatemala adoptions to continue. Please read the post below for more information, but you can start by signing this online petition . Keep updated on this through AdoptionBlogs. Also, here are two people who have blogs about their Guatemala Adoption process. Bringing Gabriel Home and Our Little Pea. CNN has also published an online article about the disaster waiting to happen in Guatemala if these current laws are passed. The article is...Read Full Story

My wife and I have been in the process of adopting a little girl from Guatemala. Most of the orphans in Guatemala live in the streets, and get their food and clothing from city dumps. There are currently about 5000 such children who were slated to be adopted between now and December 31, 2007.  But this week, the US Department of State has encouraged the Guatemalan congress to pass the Ortega Law which would effectively put an end to all adoptions from Guatemala. This bill, as it now stands...Read Full Story

Today Thomas J DiFilipo of JCICS released an update on the Guatemala 5000 initiative , an effort to organize families with a stake or interest in Guatemala adoptions - or in child welfare generally - to advocate for a humane process while Guatemala transitions to a new adoption law. At present, there is no certainty that Guatemala will honor current cases once the new law comes into force. JCICS is calling on families to contact their 3 congressional offices by Wednesday to ask their...Read Full Story

This morning, Thomas DiFilipo, President of JCICS, sent out this update of the Guatemala 5000 initiative. (I’ve previously blogged about this initiative here and here .) Joint Council Update Program: International Relations Initiative Date: October 31, 2007 Regarding: U.S. Congressional Letters – 203 Signatures Dear Friends and Colleagues, Through our collective efforts, the Guatemala 5000 Initiative has resulted in 203 Members of the United States Congress supporting the...Read Full Story

The Joint Council on International Children’s Services has posted copies of the letters sent by the U.S. Congress to Guatemalan President Oscar Berger and to UNICEF. If you participated in lobbying your congressmen to sign the letters, thank you. The announcement (and link) from JCICS are below. Dear Colleagues, Joint Council has posted copies online of the two Congressional letters which were submitted to the President of Guatemala and to UNICEF earlier this week. Over 200 Members of...Read Full Story