Year 5125... the Marimba and Tecún Umán

(ok, this was meant to be posted yesterday but I just couldn't finish it :s sorry!)

Today is the start of the year 5125 in the mayan calendar. As you may know mayan people had an almost exact calendar as the one we use nowadays. The difference was that every month in their calendar has 20 days and then came 5 days in which they thank their Gods for the blessings and made reflections.
As it is such a special ocassion, many mayan priests and priestess (they are called "tatas" and "nanas") came from all over the country to celebrate. They all made their altar to greet the sun in the first dawn of the year. The altars included resin from many trees, plants, food and candles.
The ritual took place at the sacred city of Iximché, in Tecpan, Chimaltenango. This is a very old mayan city that was abandoned in 1524 when the Spanish people came to conquer this city, one of the last ones standing. The ritual also has a special dance, la Danza del Venado.
They say this year will be ruled by "Iq", the Wind. And I think they are totally right 'cause that is exactly what we had today, WIND!

Also last week we celebrated the day of our national instrument La Marimba an instrument with great cultural value, represents the art and tradition of Guatemala.

Nowadays, some people listens to Marimba music when they are having luch (cuando están almorzando) and during each town celebration, among a lot of other activities.

It was also the day of our national hero, Tecún Umán, they is a great leyend about this man. They say he was one of the last mayan kings, they say he and his army fought against Pedro de Alvarado (the man who supposedly conquered the mayan people), during the fight Tecún Umán was hurt by Pedro de Alvarado's sword and died, the leyend says that a Quetzal was flying above the fields were the battle took place and when Tecún fell to the ground the Quetzal posed over his chest and stained its beautiful green feathers with blood and since that day on the feathers in every Quetzal's chest are red.

Antigua: Best City of 2009!

The English magazine "Wanderlust" designated Antigua Guatemala as ' the best city of 2009 ', when the " Destinations Travel Show " of London finished. The colonial city was praised by the first place over Kyoto in Japan and Boston in the United States and other 600 destinations around the world.

Antigua Guatemala was seen as the most beautiful colonial city of the world, it's innumerable temples and buildings from a time of great historical and architectural value, along with it's Bohemian environment.

This shows that Guatemala having a small geography has great inner richness in the tourism offers and so it makes us competitive world wide. I could be nothing but proud of my beautiful country and it's many many stunning and interesting places.
I wish I could go to Antigua more often it is so nice specially at this time of year. We are really starting to feel the summer lately.

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

Hope you all have a wonderful day filled with LOVE

Here's a picture of sweet Angelina, she is getting prettier and smarter by the day.

For sweet Abby! - Laughter Lives Tuesday!

This post is part of "Laughter Lives! Tuesday" on the Riggs Family Blog. Check our their blog to read everyone else's "Laughter Lives!" posts.


Well, I want to make this post for sweet little Abby, so more people start praying for her and for her to get better as soon as possible. She and her family really inspires me and make me work harder to be a doctor and help children soon.
I hope she gets better and it's able to come back to Guatemala and maybe I can get to meet her and take her and her family to some of the beautiful places we have here.

On to the pictures...




this is the first time we feed Angelina with rice cereal... I think she just wasn't very sure of what to think of it LOL! She just kept pushing the food out as every baby does but it was super funny to watch!

February's weather

Yep, february's weather has always been crazy, we even have an old saying here that I have no idea how to translate unfortunately, but a few days ago I posted about the awful cold we were having, there were articles in the newspapers and some people died in accidents caused by the winds! but today it was soooo HOT! I went to school with a big jacket and a scarf, got in the car and 10 min later and couldn't take it!
Then in the evening it started to get cool again!
We just take a good sweater with us at all times because you never know it will be freezing or super hot! LOL!
I have to say that the sky was so beautiful today! no clouds and all blue!

Guatemala: One Year Later

I found this publication from the JCICS that pretty much resumes everything that has been going on in adoptions in the country, I find it pretty accurate unfortunately, and makes me incredibly sad to say that the press is not showing this reality as much as they showed all of those stories of corruption and theft before the Convention started working. However, I personally find the newspaper Nuestro Diario as not the most professional of newspapers in the country and actually find odd that no other newspaper has published a big amount of stories about children being abandoned alarmingly by birthmothers. Are the authorities waiting for that to start happening? Why won't that really start doing their job and realizing that there are lots of people out there waiting and praying for a child to love and care for and just do something to take these children out of terrible places and placing them in a family? Why are other countries worrying for the sake of our children when they are not showing any concern?

Joint Council Position Paper

On January 1, 2008, under significant scrutiny and amidst allegations of corruption, child trafficking and unethical practices, Guatemala implemented the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption. Guatemala’s participation in the Convention was applauded by the many governments and NGOs who had insisted on changes to the practices in Guatemala and vigorously supported Guatemala’s participation in the Hague Convention. The implementation was seen by many as the answer to corruption and unethical practices.
Now, 12 months since its implementation, has the Convention truly been the answer? It appears that one year later there are more questions than answers, more needs than funds, and for the children in need of a family, more despair than hope.

Since the implementation of the Convention, Guatemala has in fact seen an end to allegations of ongoing corruption in inter-country adoption. Children now have strong protections against child trafficking. Birth families are free from the unethical practices of unscrupulous practitioners. And a Central Authority governing all adoptions has been established in Guatemala.

Over this past year, in addition to these protections, has the Convention’s implementation in Guatemala also served children? Has it enabled children living in institutions to find a family? Unfortunately the manner in which Guatemala implemented the Convention has not resulted in an ethical intercountry adoption system; it has resulted in no intercountry adoption system. The implementation of the Convention has indeed succeeded in adding protections. But it has also failed in its role to serve children. Despite an estimated 6,000 institutionalized children and few domestic adoptions, not one child has found a permanent family through the Convention.

When the Convention was implemented the law stated that the estimated 3,000 adoptions that had been initiated would be completed. One year and countless investigations by the PGN, MP, CNA and Guatemalan courts later, over 1,000 children have yet to have their adoptions completed. Joint Council supports efforts to ensure that each and every adoption is done in the best interest of the children, and recognizes that investigations are a part of that protection. But the cost should not be born by innocent children. Joint Council calls on the Guatemalan government to swiftly bring each pending adoption case to a final resolution and there by end the deprivations of institutionalization.

Protecting children and families from harm is one of the primary roles of the Guatemalan government and their efforts must be recognized and supported. However, much like the scrutiny and attention by the international community exposed the corruption of the prior system, this same community must now refocus their attention to bring to light Guatemala’s ineffective implementation of the Convention and its subsequent impact on institutionalized children and Guatemalan families.

As recently published by Nuestro Diario, a leading Guatemalan newspaper, children are being abandoned to the streets at an alarming rate. With few government institutions to provide care and the closure of many private institutions, some birthmothers are simply leaving their newly born children in trash dumps. Nuestro Diario reports that in Guatemala City alone, 91 children were found abandoned with 70 being new born infants. Twenty abandoned children in Guatemala City were found after they had already perished. What is being done to build a social service system which not only protects children from corruption but also from a tragic death?

The lack of services to children as a result of the poor implementation of the Convention has yet to be addressed by those who supported its premature implementation. With prior knowledge that Guatemala lacked the capacity to properly implement the Convention, why were alternative reforms not considered? Who will assist the Guatemalans in replacing what was the only effective means of finding families for children? Who will help preserve families? Who is building an effective and safe domestic adoption program? Again, one year later there are more questions than answers.

The reform of the previous adoption system and the implementation of the Convention required the collective efforts of many governments and NGOs, including the U.S. and European governments. Building an effective child protection system in Guatemala will necessitate another, similar effort. Given the many challenges the Guatemalan government and its children are facing, no one entity can accomplish this task alone. Joint Council calls on the U.S. and European governments along with UNICEF, the NGO community, and The Hague Permanent Bureau to provide the necessary technical and financial assistance needed to appropriately serve the children of Guatemala. After 12 months and little progress it is apparent that only a collaborative effort can create the full range of desired services.

The formation of a spectrum of services including Family Preservation, Kinship Care, Domestic Adoption and Intercountry Adoption is desperately needed to ensure that children retain their right to a family and are protected from the detrimental effects of institutionalization, or even an unnecessary death. Joint Council calls on all stakeholders who previously asked for reforms to move with speed in order to provide these much needed services.

Some efforts have already begun. UNICEF and the governments of Chile and Brazil have provided limited technical assistance, and USAID is planning two pilot programs focused on family services. These efforts represent a start to services but are clearly not enough. In the past 12 months less than 60 domestic adoptions have been completed. Zero intercountry adoptions have been initiated. And significant family preservation is only in the development stage. When a child protection system results in more children being abandoned and less children finding families, is it not obvious that more needs to be done?

It has been one year since the implementation of the Convention; the children of Guatemala await our answer.

It's finally here!

Oh yes, we just started to feel the COLD! In Guate, January is always cold but this year it was different it was a little cool of course, but this week brought us so major cold, there are very strong winds and the temperatures are low low low! A few weeks ago I read in the paper it had snowed in Quetzaltenango! (we call it Xela). It also said the winds have been causing several damages in a lot of deparments over the country. :s
I want to send a prayer of all the people living in the streets and has nothing to keep themselves warm.