Guatemala’s thirty-six-year armed conflict ended twenty years ago with the signing of the Peace Accords on December 29, 1996. This PRI segment focuses on victims of the conflict who are telling their stories. From the article: “It was especially hard on Mayan women, who lost loved ones, suffered sexual abuse and other atrocities, and have had to find new ways to survive and move forward in the ensuing years.”
Wishing continued Peace to the country we love.~
If you’re reading this: Thank you for sharing the adoption journey. When I started this blog, never did I think I’d still be at it–six or seven years later? But here I am. And so very grateful you are, too. Best wishes for 2017! xoxoxox
On Saturday, I finished my first low-residency residency at Antioch. I drove down the 405 Freeway exhausted from listening, thinking, and navigating the technology. The last research paper I wrote was banged out on a Selectric typewriter, from sources like the World Book Encyclopedia.
But I got through Round One.
Certificate of Citizenship, again. The fee doubles on December 23, from $550 to $1,170. The National Council for Adoption has provided a video and PDF with FAQs. Yes, ten days before Christmas is not a convenient time of year to deal with this, but it’s got to be done!
I’m sure you’ve already has secured a COC for your child, but I’m posting the link so I can find it myself in the future. Because someday soon someone will email me with the subject line: Help!
Yesterday was my first day of school. Not for Olivia and Mateo. For me. Decades after graduating with a BA in English, I fulfilled a long-time dream to return for an MFA in Creative Writing. A low-residency program is the only way my family can handle it–10 days twice a year and the rest online—in California, at Antioch LA.
Education is such a privilege! I think a lot about education in Guatemala–especially in the rural areas, how few people have access to school, or if they do, how young they are when they drop out because they have to work, or their families can’t afford books, or they see no point in continuing because where’s the opportunity after? Stopping after third or sixth grade is common.
This is the reason why, every year, my family contributes to organizations in Guatemala that support education. Writing an annual check is a small gesture that symbolizes our commitment to the future.
Today is Day 2 for me at Antioch. I’m counting my blessings.~
For all who have been to Santiago Atitlan and visited the church there and know the story of Father Stanley Rother, the Catholic priest from Oklahoma who was assassinated during Guatemala’s armed conflict. Or if you know something about the history of Guatemala, or even if you do not: Pope Francis has recognized Padre Aplas (as he was known) as the first American-born martyr and approved him for beatification. Tears here because we have been to Santiago and stood in the room where his heart is buried, with the people he loved and served. And because we love Guatemala.
Among other places, I’ve written about Father Rother here and here.
I am an adoptive mother to two children born in Guatemala.
My book, Mamalita: An Adoption Memoir (Seal Press, 2010) is available on Amazon.
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You are currently browsing the Mamalita – an adoption blog by Jessica O'Dwyer on Guatemalan adoption blog archives for December, 2016.
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