State Dept. Announcement

December 21st, 2010

Below is the press release issued by U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Consular Affairs, Office of Children’s Issues, regarding adoption cases pending in Guatemala. The release is dated December 20, 2010.

The Office of Children’s Issues is asking U.S. citizens with active grandfathered adoption cases in Guatemala to send a brief email to AskCI@state.gov including the name(s) of the adopting parent(s), the name and date of birth of the child and the date that your I-600A and/or I-600 petition was filed with USCIS.  Please give your email the subject line: “Guatemala Master List” so that it may be properly directed.

 Sending us this information will ensure that your case information is included on a master list of pending grandfathered cases that the U.S. Embassy in Guatemala is compiling.  We will use this list in regular meetings with a newly formed working group for grandfathered adoptions in Guatemala.  This working group is being formed pursuant to directive of the President of Guatemala following his December meeting with Ambassador Susan Jacobs, the U.S. Department of State’s Special Advisor for Children’s Issues, and Adoption Division Chief Alison Dilworth.  The working group will consist of representatives of the various Guatemalan government agencies that play a role in Guatemala adoptions, as well as other important stakeholders in the adoption process in Guatemala.    

http://www.adoption.state.gov/guatemala.html#

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U.S. State Dept. 12/20 conference call on status of adoptions in Guatemala

December 20th, 2010

On Monday, December 20, 2010, U.S. Ambassador Susan Jacobs hosted a conference call open to any parties interested in the status of adoptions in Guatemala. I phoned in to participate and took notes. Ambassador Jacobs recently returned from a trip to Guatemala during which she met with President Colom and U.S. Embassy personnel;  members of CNA, PGN, CICIG (the International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala, known by its Spanish acronym, CICIG), and Unicef; as well as with private attorneys, notarios, and Norma Cruz. Ambassador Jacobs may have mentioned other parties with whom she met, but I was unable to hear their names. She described the meetings as “positive” and “cooperative.” 

Ambassador Jacobs emphasized that the governments of Guatemala and the United States are both working toward resolution of adoption cases pending since the shutdown in December 2007. In order to expedite the cases, the top priority now  is to compile a “Master List” of waiting cases. To that end, Ambassador Jacobs asked every waiting family to send an email to AskCI@state.gov with a subject line reading “Guatemala Master List.” The body of the email should contain the names of the prospective adoptive parents (PAPs), the name and date of birth of the waiting child, the date on which the I-600A and/or I-600 was filed, and any other relevant information.

Several PAPs on the call noted that this information has been compiled many times by the group of waiting families known as the Guatemala900 and sent to officials in Guatemala. Ambassador Jacobs stated that going forward, the State Department will work from its own Master List. Jacobs indicated that a final evaluation of cases is impossible until the State Department compiles its Master List. After the Master List is in hand, the evaluation process will likely take between six and nine months.

Perhaps revealing  her own frustration with the current lack of a Master List, Jacobs said she was “unaware it was such a mess down there. No one knew what the universe of cases was.”

Ambassador Jacobs showed equal candor when she said that the “shared goal is to resolve cases, but it might not be the resolution we all wish for.” A working group to expedite cases in Guatemala, a junta, will be formed. When PAPs on the call asked if their Guatemalan attorneys should contact the working group or junta, Ambassador Jacobs said “I hope not. Your attorneys have been more trouble than they’re worth.” She urged PAPs to communicate with the U.S. Embassy.

Ambassador Jacobs stressed that she understood the concerns of adoptive parents, but that nothing can be done quickly. The State Department’s goal is to whittle down the universe of cases into a triage, from easy to difficult. She assured the call participants that everyone was working to ensure the best interest of the child. She noted there was a difference between bureaucratic irregularity and criminality, but determinations must be made on a case by case basis.

As an adoptive parent who was so affected by my struggle against Guatemala’s private notarial system that I was compelled to write a book about it, I hung up the phone at the end of the conference call and broke into tears. This is not the news I hoped  for. After three years, families must continue to be patient and wait. Then I reminded myself to focus on the call’s positive message. Ambassador Jacobs is a strong advocate for American families. Everyone is considering the best interest of the child. Resolution will come slowly, but it will come.

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US State Dept. hosts Monday conference call about status of Guatemalan adoption

December 17th, 2010

Like many adoptive parents to children born in Guatemala, I am eager for resolution of the hundreds of adoption cases pending since the shutdown of adoptions from Guatemala in December 2007. This group of waiting families is known as the Guatemala900. Some light may be shed on this issue during a conference call hosted by the U.S. Department of State on Monday, December 20, 2010 @ 10:00 am – 11:00 am (EDT).

The State Department’s press release is reprinted below. Click here to read this and other press releases posted on the State Department’s website.

The U.S. Department of State Office of Children’s Issues Adoptions Division would like to invite prospective adoptive parents, adoption service providers, and adoption stakeholders with an interest in Guatemala adoptions to a teleconference with the Office of Children’s issues to discuss the status of intercountry adoption processing in Guatemala. 

The focus of the call will be primarily to provide an updated outlook for resolution of the many remaining “grandfathered” cases involving U.S. citizens.   This update will include information from Ambassador Susan Jacob’s December trip to Guatemala in which she and Adoption Division Chief Alison Dilworth met with high level government officials and non-governmental adoption stakeholders to discuss the status of “grandfathered” cases still pending in Guatemala.

Please join us for this call to learn more about adoption processing in Guatemala.

To join the call

If you are calling from within the United States, please dial: 1-888-363-4749
If you are calling from outside the United States, please dial: 1-215-446-3662
The passcode for all callers is: 6276702

http://adoption.state.gov/news/guatemala.html

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“Mamalita” readings past and future

December 16th, 2010

People in Boston read a lot. And they don’t let a little thing like cold weather slow them down. I say this as a Californian who reads less than she’d like to, and who also believes that 50 degrees is frigid.

What a great time I had discussing Mamalita at Borders in Boston last Sunday. The evening began well when my sister Deanna found a parking spot at the curb in front of the store–her parking karma is amazing–and continued when Borders manager John Gunderson greeted me with a smile and said he was also from Northern California. He laughed when he saw the size of my parka–I wore two, actually–but told me he understood.

My friends came out to say hello. From my museum days in San Diego and Los Angeles, Diana Gaston and Ulrika Brand, now transplanted to New England.

From my days in New Jersey, Megan, a former student at my mother’s dance studio. (Megan’s mom, Mary, also studied tap with my mom; Mary’s group called themselves “BOTS” for Benevolent Order of Tap Stars.)

My friend, Sena, the sister of our former au pair, Nur, came too. Not to mention colleagues of my husband, Tim; my fellow writer and fan of Antigua, Guatemala, Christina Zarobe; and some wonderful adoptive moms whom I met for the first time. We shared our views on adoption, parenting, and Guatemala. I always learn by listening to others.

Thank you to John Gunderson, Borders Books, and everyone who braved the elements to share the experience.

I’ve added two more venues to my reading tour: the Belvedere-Tiburon Library and the Redwood City Public Library, both in California.

Tuesday, January 25, 2011 at 7:30 p.m.
Belvedere-Tiburon Library
1501 Tiburon Blvd.
Tiburon, CA 94920
415-789-2665

Saturday, February 5, 2011 at 2 p.m.
Redwood City Public Library
Downtown Library Fireplace Room
1044 Middlefield Road
Redwood City, CA 94063
650-780-7018

For other Mamalita Book Tour readings and dates, click on the EVENTS tab. Hope to see you soon!

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ABC News series on 6 world health crises begins in Guatemala

December 15th, 2010

Guatemala has the highest rate of malnutrition in the Western Hemisphere–an estimated 50 percent of the population is stunted, with that number as high as 80 percent in indigenous villages. Like many adoptive parents to children born in Guatemala who have visited the country, I’ve seen evidence of that firsthand: When my daughter and I visited Guatemala in August and met with indigenous Guatemalans from her community, none could believe Olivia was only eight years old. Ten or eleven is what they guessed, her height the result of good nutrition.

That’s why I am excited that ABC News is launching a new series, “Be the Change: Save a Life” this Friday, December 17 at 10 p.m.

From pregnant mothers to newborns, children and adults, “Be the Change: Save a Life” — a special-edition of “20/20” anchored by Diane Sawyer at 10 p.m. ET on Friday — will examine six of the world’s top health problems, and share simple and practical ways the audience can make an immediate difference.

The first challenge presented will be malnutrition in Guatemala, with ABC News anchor Christiane Amanpour reporting from the rural village of Cajagualten. In a related article on the ABC News website, Gwen Gowen and Joan Martelli write:

[S]tunting is not just about height. With malnourishment comes greater susceptibility to disease and infection, impaired cognitive function and even lower IQ. Stunted kids are more likely to drop out of school and grow up to be unskilled workers with little potential for economic success later in life.

“If you want to break the cycle of poverty in Guatemala this is how you do it: Feed kids and feed them early before they get malnourished,” [Peter Rohloff, an American doctor who runs medical clinics] said.

For nutritional intervention to be most effective, [Rohloff] said, it has to be done before the age of two. “Unfortunately, most programs in Guatemala are geared to school-aged kids but by the time they get to school it’s too late,” he said.

Another challenge to adequate and equitable nutrition is the structure of Guatemalan society:

In fact, the Mayan poor get few services from a government that is widely considered to be corrupt and ineffective. And in a country where there is a tremendous divide between the rich and the poor, privately funded NGOs like Wuqu’ Kawoq and Casa Jackson step in to provide much needed social services.

Like many adoptive parents who feel connected to Guatemala, I hope this series will focus attention on finding solutions to the country’s devastating and ongoing problem of hunger.

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Holiday Concert

December 14th, 2010

I’m back in California after staying with my sister Deanna and her family for a few days in their home near Boston while I read from Mamalita at two Borders Bookstores and the Beverly Public Library. Being home with my own family is wonderful, but it means I’m on a coast opposite from my sister. That’s never easy.

But we have great memories, one of which was attending the annual Holiday Pops Concert performed by the Melrose Symphony Orchestra. Founded in 1918, the Melrose bills itself as the “oldest continuously performing volunteer orchestra in the United States.” The company is headquartered in Melrose’s downtown Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall, a splendid building dedicated in 1912 to honor veterans of the Civil War. The Hall’s grand pipe organ, dedicated in 1919, commemorates those who served during the World War I. Continue… »

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Guatemalan anthropologist killed, Latin American Herald Tribune reports

December 11th, 2010

A Guatemalan anthropologist and social researcher was kidnapped and killed near the indigenous community of Todos Santos Cuchumatan, it was reported today in the Latin American Herald Tribune.  The body of Emilia Margarita Quan Staackmann, 27, was found on a road, police said. Quan, a scholar with the independent Center for Research and Documentation on the Western Border of Guatemala, was being driven to Todos Santos from Huehuetenango when her car was intercepted by four armed men. Quan’s driver was released. Later, residents of Todos Santos lynched two of the four suspected kidnappers.

Quan formerly worked for the Myrna Mack Foundation, named for the Guatemalan social anthropologist studying the effects of the country’s civil war, who was killed outside her Guatemala City office in September 1990. The Myrna Mack Foundation is joined by the U.N. office in Guatemala in denouncing Quan’s murder and demanding an investigation.

Read the Latin American Herald Tribune article here.

http://www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=381136&CategoryId=23558

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Beverly Public Library in Beverly, Mass.

December 10th, 2010

Last night, I got to read at the Beverly Public Library in Beverly, Massachusetts. It’s a beautiful building, made with the kind of thick, heavy stones that are designed to last. Outside, the air was frigid, but in the meeting room downstairs, the ambience was cozy and warm. My sister, Deanna, her husband David, and their three girls were there, as were an adoptive mom with her son born in Guatemala, a woman who leads art tours and volunteers at Hermano Pedro in Antigua, and a mother to two girls from China. One couple was considering adoption and wanted to hear what I had to say. Others knew adoptive families. Some people had read the book and loved it. A handful were simply curious. Everyone was incredibly nice.

A local independent bookstore, The Book Shop of Beverly Farms, supplied copies of Mamalita, and my sister Deanna sold every one of them. Thanks, De! Thank you, too, to Anna Langstaff, Assistant Director of the Beverly Library, for setting up the lovely event, for posting it on the library website, and listing it in the local newspaper.

Hearing other people’s stories and thoughts about adoption has been a profound experience. I feel very privileged.

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Borders Reading in Fairfield, CT

December 9th, 2010

Yesterday, my sister Deanna and I drove from her home near Boston to the Borders Bookstore in Fairfield, Connecticut, where I did a Mamalita reading last evening. A big thank you to Borders store manager, Craig Kennedy, shown above, and his fantastic staff, as well as to everyone who attended.

The prize for farthest distance driven goes to the women from my building on Christopher Street, in Greenwich Village, NYC, where we lived during our early twenties. Heidi, Laura, Lisa, and Jenny: Thank you for making the evening so special. Afterwards, the group treated Deanna and me to a lovely dinner at a nearby Italian restaurant. We spent the hours laughing and catching up on our lives since the last time we’ve been together–a trip to New York in 2004, soon after Olivia first arrived in the U.S. 

Here I am with Janet Brogan, my sister Patrice’s college roommate, who also happens to be an adoptive mom. Janet suggested I read at the Borders in Fairfield and I’m so grateful she did: it was great to see her again, meet her book group friends in the audience (a few adoptive moms to daughters from China), and to spend some time in the warm atmosphere of the Borders Books in Fairfield.

Tonight, Thursday, at 7:30 p.m., I’m reading at the Beverly Public Library in Beverly, Massachusetts, and on Sunday, at 6 p.m., at the Borders Bookstore on Boylston Street in Boston. I’m loving my time spent on the East coast.

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Violence in Guatemala

December 8th, 2010

Violence on public buses in Guatemala has increased as reported by Reuters photographer Daniel LeClair in this BBC post. In the past few years, some 450 bus drivers have been killed. LeClair writes:

“The scenes were chaotic and similar. A driver would be on his route, his bus full of passengers. Suddenly a young man would stand up, approach the driver shooting him at close range in the head, then jump off the moving bus to a waiting motorcycle.” …

“Gangs began to take hold in the 1990s, attracting impoverished and uneducated young men and women. Now they’ve become organized money-making enterprises, extorting businesses, including bus companies, for regular payments and assaulting people on the streets for cash. Narco traffickers have cemented their presence in Guatemala, taking advantage of the authorities’ inability to cope.” …

LeClair ends the article with this:

“I’ve been covering Central America for a decade – coups, riots, hurricanes and so on – but never seen violence like this. I have never seen so many innocent people caught in the middle. The tragedy is that Guatemala has so much to offer. It’s so beautiful and so full of wonderful people. As much as I love this place… the future here is very uncertain.”

Again, please read the entire article here.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/photoblog/2010/12/violence_in_guatemala_daniel_leclairs_story.html

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