About Guatemala
Guatemala is a country that covers a mountainous 108,000 square kilometers (41,700 square miles) and contains ecologically diverse limestone-bedded jungles, several active volcanoes, and its coastlines touch both the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea.
A rich cultural history complements Guatemala’s tremendous geography. The Maya Civilization thrived in the Guatemala lowlands, creating an advanced society through the domestication of crops and the construction of major city centers such as Tikal.
Although greatly weakened by the time of the arrival of Spanish Conquistadors in 1524, the Maya still existed in great numbers, though their division and internal warring facilitated Spanish control. The Spanish, through their Patronage System, ruled the Maya until 1821; creating an unjust society and setting the stage for the poverty and violence of today’s Guatemala.
Guatemala currently struggles to recover from the ravages of a 36-year civil war. Ending in 1996, the war left 60% of the population living in poverty and 50% of the survivors under the age of 15. Currently, Guatemala is losing its most precious resource for becoming a productive nation – its children. 25% of all children are orphaned or abandoned, competing for survival on the streets. In the last 5 years, gang involvement and crime are on the rise. Abandoned children are especially susceptible to the lure of gangs and a vicious social cycle of hopelessness and poverty begins. Lacking the social services available in first world countries, these street children cannot access necessary tools to develop into well-educated, confident, healthy adults who are active and engaged participants in society. Presently, forgotten children live in appalling national institutions that perpetuate this social order instead of interrupting it. In order for this country to move forward, drastic intervention must occur in the care and rearing of its children.
We are often asked if any of the children at Semillas de Amor are eligible for international adoption. Sadly, the answer is no. The Guatemalan government closed international adoptions in 2008.
A rich cultural history complements Guatemala’s tremendous geography. The Maya Civilization thrived in the Guatemala lowlands, creating an advanced society through the domestication of crops and the construction of major city centers such as Tikal.
Although greatly weakened by the time of the arrival of Spanish Conquistadors in 1524, the Maya still existed in great numbers, though their division and internal warring facilitated Spanish control. The Spanish, through their Patronage System, ruled the Maya until 1821; creating an unjust society and setting the stage for the poverty and violence of today’s Guatemala.
Guatemala currently struggles to recover from the ravages of a 36-year civil war. Ending in 1996, the war left 60% of the population living in poverty and 50% of the survivors under the age of 15. Currently, Guatemala is losing its most precious resource for becoming a productive nation – its children. 25% of all children are orphaned or abandoned, competing for survival on the streets. In the last 5 years, gang involvement and crime are on the rise. Abandoned children are especially susceptible to the lure of gangs and a vicious social cycle of hopelessness and poverty begins. Lacking the social services available in first world countries, these street children cannot access necessary tools to develop into well-educated, confident, healthy adults who are active and engaged participants in society. Presently, forgotten children live in appalling national institutions that perpetuate this social order instead of interrupting it. In order for this country to move forward, drastic intervention must occur in the care and rearing of its children.
We are often asked if any of the children at Semillas de Amor are eligible for international adoption. Sadly, the answer is no. The Guatemalan government closed international adoptions in 2008.