Cadanino has no point of view or opinion on International Adoptions!

  Though we have no opinion on the end of the third year of zero International adoptions. we were saddened to read that the weak effort to allow limited pilot program adoptions has been shelved indefinitely.  Again, no opinion on adoptions, but we know of several beautiful healthy orphans now entering their fourth year of life with limited bonding experience.

READ All about it at Guatemala Missionary Institute or La Prensa

Christmas Party at CRPN. Surprise guest- maybe Santa Claus

Christmas Party here at the Center. Santa may arrive in person.

Invitation

Gracias Casa de Libertad!!

Look at all these great presents that Carol and Francisco de Bendfeldt sent to the orphans at CRPN Centro Residencial Psiquiatrico y Neurologico). These gifts are fantastic and they will make all the children very very happy!!
Casa De Libertad you are amazing...

Pinata Shopping with my friend the Social Worker

Certainly worth the 10 minute drive to buy Pinatas at the Parqueo de Colom. The prices were great and it was fun to see the creativity. Unfortunately, the drive back to the center was about an hour and a half because of all the traffic. Still worth it, the kids will have a blast!!!!

Request for Support

    Please Give this Christmas to the Orphans of Guatemala  

     I am writing you during this holiday season to ask your support for some of the Orphans of Guatemala. We bring the love of Jesus Christ to  some of the neediest children and minister to their souls,  bodies and minds.  Each dollar donated goes  100%  to benefit these children with  no administrative overhead expenses. Guatemala has been hit especially hard by the economic  recession, Hurricane Agatha,   lower philanthropic-governmental support and of course the suspension of all international adoptions.
     This year, we have expanded the educational and physical therapies from 5 to 15 children. These are the most profoundly handicapped and most vulnerable children in the CRPN home.  Profoundly low intelligence as well as psychiatric and neurological problems plague this group. Years of institutionalization and benign neglect have left them significantly below levels that similarly handicapped in the developed world enjoy.
   The love of our Lord Jesus Christ has changed hearts and performed miracles. Little did we imagine a few short years ago that these kids would be such a profound calling. Each child is so very unique and special. Clearly God gives us such children as an opportunity to grow in  Worship and Faith.  In this brief letter, We`d like to tell you a bit about  a few of these Blessed  children.

 

Click Here for more information about giving and some of the Kids  

Servant and Warrior Hearts

When God touches the hearts of people through Fundaniños, they are changed forever. Scott and Carrie Hunnicutt have been faithful volunteers at Fundaniños, and have recently returned for a 4-month stay! When asked about their heart for Fundaniños, here’s what they had to say:

What brought you to Fundaniños?

Simply put….God brought us to Fundaniños time and time again. Our opportunity to share God’s love with the children and staff here has been such a blessing to us. After earnest prayer and acting upon a nudge from God here we are! God is funny sometimes….A friend of a friend told us about Fundaniñosand how we should check it out if we were looking for a place to serve. Three years later and six trips to Fundaniños we are relishing in God’s plan for us to be here and serve in any way we can. Surely, only by the Grace of God is it that we are here. His direction and His leading......

Read more about Scott and Carrie at Fundaninos 

Merry Christmas from Cadanino: Team Zecapa and CRPN

Just starting the idea of Personalizing Gifts for kids. This is a mix
of both Fundaninos and CRPN.  Every other photo is a kid with special needs. The
Boys in front of the Christmas Tree are orphans at Fundaninos and instead of a boy scout
troop we call ourselves, "Team Zecapa"  for lack of a better identitity.
We try to get out for a ride in the countryside or eat ice cream in town from time to time.
This trip included nine kids and me in a tiny Suzuki Marutti (one of the smallest vehicles available).
The photo of the larger group is an excursion of the special kids at CRPN to the city
center Christmas Tree. Send me a note if you have interest in participating. I hope to evolve this
project and make it more user friendly. For now, this is the first draft or strawman
or what the project can ultimately be!!  Contact me at
jamiewaller@gmail.com

Amanda 6 Doll or Sweater

Samuel "Something Soccer Related" Toy of aom sort

Isabella Toy making music or sound

All I want for Christmas - 

With Visions of Sugar Plums 

Lovete 9 years old Sweater or Books

Shirlena 13 Sweater or T-shirt

Zacharias 6 Fire Turck or a Child's Bible

Pedro 6 GI Joe type doll. Sweatshirt?

David 8 years old Sweater or toy truck

Cady 8 Years old A Doll or Stuffed Animal

Pablo 7 years old - Shirt or Toy?

Where is Telemachus when you need him??

Basically our Hero yells ¨Stop Stop enough already¨  Though he is martyred with an immediate brutish death, society is nearly instantly transformed and the barbaric actions that he is protesting are ended. Are there areas of our lives that we need to speak up and against now??  I think so

Various Versions of what Saint Telemachus accomplished

¨^The Story As Often Told

   Here is a brief summary of the story as it is usually told:

       In the fourth century a little monk named Telemachus from Asia (modern day Turkey comprises the Roman province of Asia; or perhaps Asia Minor is meant), was led by an inner voice to go to Rome without knowing why.  He followed the crowds to the Coliseum.  Two gladiators were fighting, and Telemachus tried to get between them to stop them, shouting three times, "In the name of Christ, forbear!" Telemachus was killed by being run through with the sword of one of the gladiators.  When the crowd saw the little monk lying dead in a pool of blood, they fell silent, leaving the stadium, one by one.  Because of Telemachus' death, three days later, the Emperor by decree ended the Games.

 And More 

Who was Telemachus?

Telemachus was a brave, elderly monk who went to the Roman Colosseum in 404 A.D. to observe the gladiatorial Games in its splendor. Upon witnessing the gruesome spectacle of men slaughtering other men for the pleasure of the crowd, Telemachus scaled over the wall onto the Colosseum floor to stand in between two combatants. He shouted three times: “In the name of Christ, forbear!” The gladiators separated but the crowd stood up and stoned Telemachus to death because he had interrupted their entertainment for the afternoon.

Once they recognized what they had done to the elderly man, the crowd became quiet and slowly filed out of the stadium in silence.

When the good emperor Honorius heard of the heroism of Telemachus, he put an end to the gladiatorial games forever and Telemachus was designated as a saint for his heroic stance for humanity and truth.

Lionel joins the TEAM!! New Psychologist

Great guy just started with us at CRPN. Many years of experience with kids of all types.

His enthusiasm is wonderful and we all benefit.

Our New Psycologist - Lionel

New Blood and new revived enthusiasm!!

Back to Guate...

  Arrived at Center and was pleasantly surprised that Anahi is almost walking!!  The reality is more that she can balance herself in an upright position if she has something to hold onto. In April her achilles tendons were operated making walking an eventual possibility.   Ingrid was aloof with my arrival, but cheered up and was quite happy when I paid attention to her.
Bless and protect each special kid here and elsewhere.

Waller returns to USA for Mothers Funeral

Bee Waller 1926 to 2010

At Peace with her Lord and Savior

Elizabeth Reid Waller   died on Monday, November 8, 2010 at home in Speculator, New York.  Born  June 10, 1926 in Charlottesville, VA,  she was the daughter of James Knox Reid and Cornelia Gibb Trubee.  She is survived by four  siblings, Dayton O. Trubee, Jr.; John H. Trubee; Harriet R. Torres;and Mary A. Klinedinst.  Bee was married on November 1, 1952 to  William Street Waller, a Schenectady native, who passed after a lengthy illness in 1980.

Bee grew up in Virginia and New Jersey.  She was a graduate of Miss Gill’s School and Skidmore College.  After marrying Bill Waller, she   moved to Schenectady to start her family.  She was  the founder  of  Susan Bee Ltd, a women’s clothing manufacturing company. She was also  active  in a variety of charities including the Schenectady Garden Club  and St. George’s Episcopal Church.  Bee had a lifelong passion for the Theatre.  Prior to her marriage, she stage managed several up and coming plays in summer stock. She  founded The Source Foundation, which produced dramatic readings of classic and new plays. They premiered the reading of the critically acclaimed play, “Wit.”  She remained a member of  Actor’s Equity and  was an active member at the Player’s Club in Grammercy Park.  With frequent international travel, especially to Florence Italy, Bee split her time between Manhattan and Speculator. While  enjoying her lovely Adirondack  Camp,  Bee  focused on  family, the outdoors,  photography, gardening, and her Buyce Boat.

Bee is survived by her children,   Cornelia H. Waller,  William S. Waller, Jr. and  James K. Waller.  She is also survived by several in-laws and grandchildren: Carol,  Colleen, , Nancy, Sean, Douglas, Lizzie, Jamie Jr., Rianna, Becca, Will, Kate and her great grand daughter Hannah.


A Requiem Mass will be held Thursday, November 11, 2010 at 11 AM at St. George’s Episcopal Church in Schenectady, NY.  Interment will be at Fish Mountain Cemetery in Lake Pleasant, NY on Monday, November 15, 2010 at 11 AM.  We request  that, in lieu of flowers, donations be made to The Orphans of Guatemala:   Fundaniños,   9280 N.W. 12st.    Miami, Florida  33172.

"Since Christ lives within you, even though your body will die because of sin, your spirit is alive* because you have been made right with God." Romans 8:10

Elizabeth Reid Waller died on Monday, November 8, 2010 at home in Speculator, New York. Born June 10, 1926 in Charlottesville, VA, she was the daughter of James Knox Reid and Cornelia Gibb Trubee. She is survived by four siblings, Dayton and Jack Trubee; Harriet Torres;and Mary Klinedinst. Bee was married in 1952 to William Street Waller, a Schenectady native, who passed after a lengthy illness in 1980.

Bee grew up in Virginia and New Jersey. She was a graduate of Miss Gill’s School and Skidmore College. After marrying Bill Waller, she moved to Schenectady to start her family. She was the founder of Susan Bee Ltd, a women’s clothing manufacturing company. She was also active in a variety of charities including the Schenectady Garden Club and St. George’s Episcopal Church. Bee had a lifelong passion for the Theatre. Prior to her marriage, she stage managed several up and coming plays in summer stock. She founded The Source Foundation, which produced dramatic readings of classic and new plays. They premiered the reading of the critically acclaimed play, “Wit.” She remained a member of Actor’s Equity and was an active member at the Player’s Club in Grammercy Park. With frequent international travel, especially to Florence Italy, Bee split her time between Manhattan and Speculator. While enjoying her lovely Adirondack Camp, Bee focused on family, the outdoors, photography, gardening, and her Buyce Boat.



A Requiem Mass will be held Thursday, November 11, 2010 at 11 AM at St. George’s Episcopal Church in Schenectady, NY. Interment will be at Fish Mountain Cemetery in Lake Pleasant, NY on Monday, November 15, 2010 at 11 AM.

Obit in the Schenectady Gazette- Now the Daily Gazette

ELIZABETH WILLARD REID WALLER 

| Visit Guest Book

Elizabeth Willard Reid Waller, known to her friends and family as "Bee," died on Monday, November 8, 2010 at home in Lake Pleasant, NY. Bee, born on June 10, 1926 in Charlottesville, VA, was the daughter of James Knox Reid and Cornelia Gibb Trubee. She had five siblings, Dayton O. Trubee, Jr., John H. Trubee, Harriet R. Torres, Neilsen R. Gallagher, and Mary A. Klinedinst. Bee was married on November 1, 1952 to William Street Waller, who died on September 5, 1980.

Bee grew up in Virginia and New Jersey. She was a graduate of Miss Gill's School and Skidmore College. After marrying, Bee moved to Schenectady, NY, to start her family. She started Susan Bee Originals, Ltd., a women's clothing manufacturing company, was a partner in The Difference Is, Ltd., a downtown store in Schenectady, participated in the Schenectady Garden Club, and was active at St. George's Episcopal Church. Bee was very involved in the theater. She worked for the summer stock for many years, founded The Source Foundation, which produced dramatic readings of classic plays, was an active member at the Player's Club in New York City, and was also a member of Actor's Equity. For the last 20 years, she split her time between Manhattan and Lake Pleasant, NY, when she wasn't travelling abroad. While in the Adirondacks, Bee enjoyed spending time with her family, sunning, photography, gardening, and boating.

Bee is survived by her children, William S. Waller, Jr. and his wife, Carol, James K. Waller and his wife, Colleen, and Cornelia H. Waller; her grandchildren, Nancy Waller Burnett and her husband, Sean, Douglas A. Waller, Elizabeth R. Waller, James K. Waller, Jr., William S. Waller, III, and Katherine L. Waller; her great-granddaughter, Hannah K. Burnett; her siblings, Dayton, John, Harriet, and Mary; and many nieces and nephews. A requiem Mass will be held Thursday, November 11, 2010 at 11 a.m. at St. George's Episcopal Church in Schenectady, NY. Interment will be at Fish Mountain Cemetery in Lake Pleasant, NY, on Monday, November 15, 2010 at 11 a.m. The family requests that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to either the Lake Pleasant Volunteer Fire Department in Lake Pleasant, NY, or to the Speculator Volunteer Ambulance Corps in Speculator, NY. For online condolences, please visit www.jonesfh.net.

Cadanino Founder Delayed in States

  Just a note to let you know that I am staying a few extra days in the USA as my Mother is in failing health.

"Mom is resting comfortably in my Brother's Speculator home.  She travelled to New York City and back in the past two weeks. She had hoped to stay in her apartment , but was hospitalized shortly after arriving by ambulance in NY. After a week in the hospital they recommended that she go to Hospice care and we decided that Speculator would be a better place to receive this type of care. 

The combination of two five hour travel ordeals, a week in the hospital and difficulty with pain management has left her weakened and very disoriented. Thankfully the pain has been alleviated. It appears that her decline continues at a fairly rapid pace and that she will soon go to be with the Lord.  Everybody is being really terrific and pitching in to help. "

And that's pretty nice..

  So as the evening wore on. Mom asked me to pray with her. She held out her hand and I prayed a medium length prayer.  We then chatted about God and Heaven.   I reminded her of the time we spent in January when we went through the Sinners Prayer.  I was reminding her that in that prayer she accepts Christ as her Lord and saviour. She knows that she is redeemed and forgiven through Christ's sacrifice on the cross. And that we are all sinners and only through Christ's blood are we saved. She was relieved and calmed as we spoke more about, "Solo fe." and that we are all sinners. Thank Heaven for the nex Covenant.

  So that was five pretty nice minutes after a torturously painful day for her.  She mentioned that only through prayer can we get certain types of relief. So the day was long and difficult, but God's Grace brought us through.

Looking for Missionaries

CURRENT OPEN MISSIONARY POSITIONS  

1)   Physical Therapists -Three month   Interns should have experience working with profoundly disabled children. No actual experience or education is required, but strongly recommended that participants have experience working with this profile. Spanish helpful: if no Spanish language skills, participant would take intensive 2 week language course.  Room and board provided at a reduced rate. 


2) Short term missionary position available for passionate believers who want to serve the neediest of the needy. Room and Board will be provided at standard rates.


3) Social worker/Psychologist or Physical Therapist Internship. Our center works closely with the local University of San Carlos and has had success with local interns receiving academic credit for their internship at the center.

Psalm 103

Chuck Rush reading Psalm 103.

From Chuck Rush Psalm 103

CadaNino Missions 2010 Octubre

Calling all Missionaries!! Missions Vision Cadanino's mission is: To provide a meaningful and spiritually enriching experience for international missionaries that have a passion for Jesus Christ   and a commitment to meet  the needs of profoundly challenged children.   What is CadaNino?  CadaNiño is a ministry that serves the profoundly mentally and neurologically challenged orphans  in a government owned  and operated facility in the capital Guatemala City.  The Center is home for 70 children and young adults that are wards of the State. The CadaNino ministry works as a small focussed team within the support of the much larger government staff. We currently provide physical and play therapies for the 15 smallest and most vulnerable children. We have one physical therapist and four Nannies (play therapists).   In explaining what CadaNino is and by implication what we are not, we sometimes refer to our tiny ministry as glorified Candy Stripers (auxiliary hospital volunteers); lots of joy and laughter, but limited line production inside of a complex hospital orphanage. Our  Our primary focus has been on los Niños iniciales*, the four children who are completely disabled and that live in the infirmary and eleven other young children with limited independence.  Current Open Missionary Positions   1)   Physical Therapists -Three month   Interns should have experience working with profoundly disabled children. No actual experience or education is required, but strongly recommended that participants have experience working with this profile. Spanish helpful: if no Spanish language skills, participant would take intensive 2 week language course.  Room and board provided at discount rate. Partial Scholarships available. 2) Short term missionary position available for passionate believers who want to serve the neediest of the needy. Room and Board are available at discounted costs and partial scholarships available.  3) Social worker/Psychologist or Physical Therapist Internship. Our center works closely with the local University of San Carlos and has had success with local interns receiving academic credit for their internship at the center. Footnotes: 1) Room and Board: Guatemala City is a dangerous city. The neighborhood where we work is relatively safe, but still extreme caution is required. We choose to strongly advise people of the potential risks rather than gloss over them. We believe that our procedures and policies  dramatically reduce local on ground risks, but it is important that we all work together to insure safety and positive experiences.  2) Language : Spanish is the only language spoken in the center. Our director is the only english speaking person present most days. Many of the children that we work closest to are not yet verbal and of minimal traditional speaking interaction. Therefor, some Spanish is helpful, but it is not required.  3) Infrastructure of Center: CRPN (Centro Residencial Psiquiatrico y Neurologico).  The Guatemala runs this orphanage/hospital for nearly 70 residents. These are the lucky ones. Kids whose families are unable or unwilling to care for their child end up in this center with ample food, clean housing and adequate medical attention. Nearly all the children take psychiatric or anti-convulsive medicines. Almost half of the entire population wear adult diapers. Most of the residents are extremely kind and loving. Occasionally, some have episodes and exhibit anto-social behavior. Though there is no fear or physical threat from the residents, it is not a place for the timid.     Testimonials "First Rate Inc."  Misionaries Visit CadaNiño In  2010,   a group of ladies from First Rate, Inc. in Arlington Texas, had the opportunity to visit CadaNiño!  The team members included: Ann Lane, Bridgit Stone, Audrey Whitesides, and Katherine Brown. Their time was spent at the CRPN*, a special needs orphanage in Guatemala City, where CadaNiño Ministries works to support daily activities and the development of children with extreme disabilities. The group spent most of their time getting to know the four children, los Niños iniciales, that Jamie has worked with over the past year.  Those children include  Anahi (7), Angelito (14), Ingrid (10), and Suzi (11).  The primary goals were to spend "face time" with the children, discover the immediate needs of the orphanage (what can we do now?), and begin planning for creating a sustainable ministry (how can we make a lasting impact?).   (Pictured: Bridgit and Suzi)  * CRPN ( Center for Residents with Physical and Nuerological disabilities) - is the government center for orphans with mental and physical disabilities. CadaNiño currently focuses on a smaller group of children within the larger population at the government center. Ann's Lane Terrific feedback and memories from our good friend Ann... So it's been two weeks since we returned from Guatemala and the 4 of us can think of little else. What a profound experience, and as we had anticipated, life changing. That said, an anticipated experience reminds me of this: when parents are expecting a baby, they anticipate that they will love their child more than anything, but they cannot imagine how much or really what that kind of love represents until they experience it first hand. So - the experience in Guatemala was kind of like that.  We expected something, but we could not have anticipated that there were so many emotions that would change in hue and intensity. A few of those feelings for me were sadness, gratitude, compassion, despair, fear, self-evaluation, God-ness, joy and of course, love. We knew that it would be an important experience, but I'm not sure any of us could have imagined how important. We've each said it is important that we capture (or try to capture) these experiences. I've been slow to do so, but it's time I try. (Pictured below: Ann, Francisco, Anahi) Bridgit's video captured the images of what we saw and with each image is an intense memory. When we arrived, and for the 4 days we were there, it was sensory overload: smell, sights, sounds and cognitive accompaniment of wondering 'what can we possibly do to help?' It truly was overwhelming. Bars on the doors, self inflicted injuries, unusual behaviors, autism, Spanish that I couldn't understand, non-words that I couldn't understand, hands reaching through bars for a brief moment of contact, but ultimately I was overwhelmed by the universal language of love, touch and kindness. It was in a sense 'shock therapy' for us to re-calibrate our brains and try to become more aligned with what's important. I'm thankful that those children and adults can remind me how much we are all alike and how much we need each other. Again, we were and are overwhelmed with the question: 'what can we do?' Jamie for sure has answered the call and is navigating through custom and politics to help, and we are blessed enough to have stumbled (coincidence? - probably not) onto the work he is doing. We're hopeful that we can support his efforts and if you visit, I don't doubt that you will be overcome with the desire to help as well.     While I continue with my own spiritual journey which includes navigating around and through my own questions and religious conflicts, I do trust that I'm being lead to discover more about what God and what Love really mean. There are New Testament words that continue to play frequently in my mind and I believe them...they probably sum up my response to Guatemala:      Suffer the children to come unto me for such is the Kingdom of God. To him who has been given much, much is required. All things are possible for those that love God and are called according to his purpose... For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and love and a sound mind.  -Ann Lane Please send questions and resumes  to management via  email: cadaninogt@gmail.com

Bebe Bendiciones a CDL

  Ayer era servicio especial a la iglesia. El Pastor predica bien en la responsibilidades Biblicas de los padres. 

Despues invito las families individualmente subir para una bendicion. 

Lindo Dia a CDL Bendiciones a los Bebes !!

Familia es Lo Mejor!!

Baby Blessing at CDL Edwin

Que Lindo Dia

From edwin 2

Saturday morning

This is Ingrid working with Kelli. She is just getting over a cold.

So many flus and coughs.

The larger group is our morning class. Complex mix of needs and personalities.

This kids in yellow is Rolando. Fairly normal appearing child. Very low energy and everything else...

Saturday at the Center!!

A fairly typical Saturday morning with sunshine.

Beatrice listening to the radio. She is partially deaf and enjoys the earphones.

She is 34 ish... She can be difficult, but we love her

.

The expanded group of iniciales.

Great to be back!! Busy Morning.

  In order to plug back in, I arrived at the center early and went right to work with the kids. Anahi has a cold and cough, so she is a bit restless and whiney.  Ingrid seemed warm as well, but was happy to see me and go play on the swingset.  Angel was a bit perkier than usual and I even overheard him giggling to himself a could of times. Susi is her normal adorable self: working on rolling her over and continued rolling. She over relies on her legs for movement and needs to learn to use her hands more. So many kids and so much need. Thank you Lord.

Can't wait to get back home to Cadanino

  Great few days in Orange County with my children and some friends. Lovely place and the Pacific is beautiful.
  I fly home tomorrow and can't wait to learn more about the State Department experiments in Guatemala during the 1940's. Also, the adoption information is expanding and the meeting at the Government Adoption Agency is meeting shortly with new guidelines.

  Do I think Adoption process will effect my kids at CRPN & CDNN ?  Not really. We have some cute kids that are adoptable in terms of paperwork eligibility and desirableness of their disabilities, but we don't have the more mainstream children that most parents are looking for. My hope is that aid agencies makes more resources generally available for the Orphan Populations.

 

Off to Orange County

 To spend time with family and friends. My son Jamie Jr. is coming and will soon be deployed to Afghanistan. Great to see him and my daughter Lizzie.

 Seeing old and new friends at the conference and are prayerfully discussing important issues. Many friends are strongly encouraging our ministry and excited to hear an update.

I have not heard how "Kids Day" went today at the center. There were rumors of senior politicians coming for a foto op. Hope it is successful.

Paz

A nice piece on Fundaninos by some recent missionaries

Fundaninos and the Forbes Family 

""SEPTEMBER 26, 2010

16 goodbyes coming up

Posted by Nathan at 8:06 PM

After being here a few weeks, Enrique told me how difficult it would be to have to say goodbye to kids at Fundaninos. Most kids have only been here for about a year, and so you can imagine that there must be a frequent round of goodbyes and hellos. After being here two months, I can specifically give three reasons why these goodbyes are so sad.

1. We love these kids. We love spending time with them, laughing with them, and seeing them grow. As language barriers slowly come down, we love the conversations we have about the gospel as we labor and long to see the Lord call many of these cute, sinful kids out of darkness and into fellowship with the Son.

2. We pray for them and really do desire to see them walk with Jesus. We get excited about building relationships, because we know that quality time affords opportunities for these kids to see our joy in Christ and for us to share the good news about our Savior. We've looked ahead with excitement as we think about growing with these kids and sharing our lives with them. Unless the Lord wills differently, 16 of these dreams are about to become quiet prayer requests. It's so hard to let Him be in control when we forget that if he wasn't in control we would all get our way of continuing in bondage to sin.

3. God glorifies himself through wonderful families that point to the family of God. It's so beautiful to see glimpses of families operating the way that God intends with Mom's helping Dad's lead the family and children encouraging one another while submitting to parents. God created the family to be a beautiful, God-honoring institution. Unfortunately, the kids at Fundaninos are here because of abandonment or abuse. It's hard to see these kids fearfully preparing to return home. One of the six year old boys was recently at his court trial with his siblings. He spoke to the unmoved judge about his father who was present at the trial, "Mr. Judge, he used to beat me every day. I don't want to go be with him. I want to stay at Fundaninos." He's leaving Fundaninos for this scary home in about two weeks.

For those of you who know and love the kids at Fundaninos...here's a list of those that should be leaving in the next month.

-Isabella (already gone)
-Heidi
-Yadira
-Isaac
-Daniel
-Edgar
-Jorge
-Victor
-Jasmine
-Ivan
-Andrea
-Vanessa
-Evelyn
-Joselyn
-Leticia
-Kimberly

Of these kids there are physical scars and burns, memories of sexual abuse, and even a doctor who claimed that he had never seen someone beaten so severely. For a lot of these kids/moms, the dad or boyfriend is out of the picture or has mellowed h............."

Found this fairly interesting article on Adoptions down here..

Article on Adoption


Many Americans and other hopeful parents are following the situation in Guatemala.Currently, there are no International Adoption options available in Guatemala.

Nonetheless, many people are hopeful that Guatemala will institute procedures and a legal infrastructure that will allow for measured international adoption in compliance with the Hague Treaty on International Adoption. Within Guatemala, international adoption remains a hotly debated topic. It is an emotional issue for many because of the past abuses of some organizations as well as the immediate humanitarian need to adequately provide for orphans.

On October 7th, 2010, The organization charged with mending and administering to all aspects of adoption plans to hold an informational meeting. This will be the first in a series of Three meetings on the topic. It is unclear at this point if the topic will be local (National within Guatemala) or the broader topic of International Adoption. In addition to the October 7th meeting, they are scheduling two additional meetings: November 4th and December 2nd of 2010. We will continue to look for the agenda, but it appears to be a fairly preliminary and broad agenda. Please send us an email if you have access to more specific information.

Mariana`s World

Mariana’s World

One of my favorite new kids is Mariana. She is about 12 and very thin, but not gaunt.  She is extremely shy and timid. She plugs her ears almost all the time. Perhaps a self protective move or as the psychiatrist suggests she may be trying to block out auditory hallucinations. She does not like to walk and often the older children carry her. I certainly do.
Video Therapies. I have been trying to get inside of her world. I often take her to my office and seat her in a big comfy chair. I keep music and noise to a minimum. She smiles at me.  Look you... look me? Is there an other? A cookie stimulates her to move. She smiles. Then she goes back to face caste down and ears plugged.  She groans a bit when nervous. Continuously when scared. She sits quietly in the office with the video camera reflecting her image back to her.

I poked around just now and found out a bit more about her. Her parents are both drunks. The Dad died and the Mom remarried (another Drunk of course). The neglect and abuse caused the municipality to intervene on her behalf and they took her to a private orphanage. After a year or so, the orphanage felt they could not meet her needs as a special child, so she was transferred to a government facility. They tried their best, but after six months they sent her to us (about two months ago). So an usual, we are the last house on the right at the end of the Street. That`s a-okay with us!  Thank you God.

The Milk Cartoon - Have you seen this child or their PARENT?

  In the USA we have a custom of posting photos of missing children on the back of Milk Carton's. Without debate to the efficacy of that activity, I am attempting to launch a similar project here in Guatemala. The name of the page and blog/website will likely change, but for now I will refer to it as the Milk Carton and attempt to publish in English and Spanish.

Currently, we have two children that are lacking full documentation and they may have families looking for them. The first kid is Marie Ines. She is the sweetest thing in the world. Though she does not speak she understands much. She has a wonderful smile and sunny disposition. She has horrific burn scars on her front stomach, chest and neck. Looks like a pan of boiling water landed on her in infancy.

The other kid is Oscar Martinez. Another cool kid. In Oscar's case he is a fully grown man with an unfortunate hunchback. He probably weighs the same as I do and is only barely able to walk. He also has fairly pronounced Down syndrome characteristics.

 I am thinking about creating a different blog or website with the Milk Carton theme. We also have a beautiful nine year old girl who is available for adoption. She has down syndrome and has enormous potential. Her name is Heidi and I will be writing more about her soon. If you have any suggestions about how to locate these kids parents or potentially new parents (adoptive), please let me know.

Oscar

 

As always, I ask you to keep these children and their situations in your Prayers-

Hermano en Cristo-

Jaime