Baby Dooney Joins the Brood

Last Wednesday 4 month old Dooney joined the Semillas de Amor family. He makes number 5 in the dog pack and our second Tibetan Mastiff. Dooney is a gift from Audrey Lee and her kennel Aujudon Tibetan Mastiffs in Cedartown, Georgia. Dooney was handpicked by Audrey for us.

As you can see, by the photos, the kids were delighted with our new addition. Dooney is so calm and easy going with the kids. Dooney, and our other Tibetan Mastiff Bodhi, are half brothers. They are wonderful guard dogs and excellent with kids. You can see more about Audrey's Tibetan Mastiffs at http://www.geocities.com/aujudontm/

Yahoo Group for Semillas de Amor Updates

A former adoptive mom from Semillas de Amor has started a Yahoo discussion group. This is a good resource for families adopting from Semillas de Amor as well as supporters of our project. You can sign up via Yahoo and the group name is below.

Semillasdeamorconnection

Off To The Movies and Some Thoughts

Late last week, after enduring endless days of stress, we sent off a group of the big kids to Guatemala City to see Narnia 2. The kids, as well as some of our staff, really needed a break from the constant anxiety of what might come next.

Each of the children in the photo have their own story. My daughter, Gabriela, was only 4 days old when she was placed into my arms by her birth father. Daisy, my other daughter, came to Semillas de Amor, when she was 3. She had a long and complicated abandonment that took several years to complete. Sonia and Santos, who are biological brother and sister, had a nightmarish case. I had received two court orders to turn them over to the courts where they would be transferred to an institution in Guatemala City. I refused to turn the kids over, both times, and then went to court myself to deal with this issue of denying two court orders. We were fortunate to have a judge, social worker and PGN rep that were true advocates for children. It is not something one sees often in Guatemala but these women clearly had Sonia and Santos' bests interests at heart. The process was long and complicated but we did win legal guardianship of the kids and their original adopting family has hung in there the entire time and are eager for them to come home. And the most important thing is that Sonia and Santos will not spend their childhoods in an institution. Last, but not least, is Marta. Another abandonment case. She came to us a malnourished and frightened little girl. She has come so far and done so well. But again, this was another child that was ordered to be removed from our home and sent to an institution. This was another Chimaltenango case where the judge was recused and the case was sent to another court. And then there is Ceci, the kids' teacher, a true angel.

When I look at these beautiful faces all I can see is what these wonderful children have to offer our world. Placed in a loving home, with their own family their potential is endless. Placed in an overcrowded, understaffed, dirty institution they are the future of Guatemala.

Update Parramos!

It has been over 10 days since I have been at the children's home in Parramos. A week ago Friday I had purchased, along with the help of several of our children, fruit trees to begin our orchard. Mangoes, plum, oranges, lemons, mandarinas, and many more. We have strawberry plants and Santos' hand grown bean plants. We are ready to move!!!!

Although our nightmare with PGN and the raids is not over it is also time to focus on the positive and what we have done and our beautiful home that is waiting for its children.

Movement continues, albeit, slowly on our electricity. We are hoping for the connection very, very soon. I don't think anything could boost my spirits more than seeing LIGHTS on in the children's home.

I took some photos when I went to Parramos today so you can see how beautiful and green everything has become.

Update 5.20.2008

I wanted to give you and update for today. This morning I went to court, again, in Chimaltenango. We had notification that there were documents for us to sign for. Typically the courts have people that will bring documents to you and then you are considered notified. As you can guess this can take a few days or more and we didn't want to wait. We expected that one document would be the judge's initial views on our case so we had legal documents recusing her from the case because she is not competent to hear it (geez, how to make friends).The judge agreed with the judge that allowed the children to be kept in our care except for the three whose legal documents were in Guatemala City. We appealed her ruling on taking the three children. The other 48 children are to stay with us. Since we have recused the judge the case goes before the "sala" in Guatemala City and we are sent to another court. It could be anywhere they decide the case should be heard. Because we have three lawyers working on this we hope to hear fairly soon but the laws of justice in Guatemala turn very slowly. The judge had several other comments such as: no taking the children out of the children's home or country, interviewing all 51 birth mothers and several other items. Again, because this judge has been recused I expect that the new judge will have other ideas. The most positive thing is that she agreed the children should not be removed from our children's home.

I had a call from the US Consulate in Guatemala City today. I met Kate several months ago when she and some other consular employees came for a visit. Kate told me that she and John Lowell, the consular general, were concerned and wanted to know that I was okay. I told her everything about last week and the raids. She clearly was interested and I know they will keep in contact with me. Thank you to everyone who brought our difficulties at Semillas de Amor to the attention of your congressmen, senators and to the US Embassy.

We are keeping a very low profile so that we don't give Rigoberto Duarte any reason to visit us again. I have heard, through a reputable person, that Mr. Duarte has some problems in PGN.

Although today has been quiet we are on constant alert. We still have the police out front of the children's home although I have to say most of the time they are asleep.

Thank you to everyone for your on-going support and generosity. I will keep you posted as events unfold.

Update 5.19.2008

It is after 3:00PM on Monday and no word from the PGN. I spoke to my attorney and he told me that they can come back.

I haven't watched the Guatemalan news but I hear that they are keeping with the PGN lies. Duarte, from PGN, has accused the judge in Antigua of being involved illegally with Semillas de Amor. This man is so crazy and it appears nobody is interested in stopping him. He certainly is not the brightest bulb around but is sneaky. He is looking for any kind of weakness at all to come back to our children's home. It is a very, very scary time. Such uncertainty. All of our time, energy and what money we had left has all gone toward stopping this craziness. I have three lawyers working on the case.

I have several people, including my family, that are concerned about me and my two daughters. The legal system does not work and people often take he law into their own hands. If you get into someone's way it is easy to find someone to kill you.

In all my other posts I have always commented on the positives of Guatemala. I have never wanted to write about the frustrating and scary things, but they happen here and quite often. A country wracked by civil war, uneven distribution of money and horrible poverty is going to have problems and lots of them. My commitment to my work with children in Guatemala remains firm. The only way that change can really happen is with education and that begins with children.

Hopefully all is safe on Tuesday.

Lies and Betrayal

When our children's home started to grow to over 20 children 8 years ago I hired a woman, Patty, to work with us. She had years of experience working both in children's homes and hospitals. Patty soon became a very important part of our home and I learned, over time, to give her more responsibilities. Although married, she was basically a single mom. Over the years I personally paid for her two oldest sons to go to private school in Antigua. And when her daughter started kindergarten I was more than happy to send her to a bilingual school in Antigua so she would get the best education possible.

Several years ago I had offered to have Patty's daughter, Maria Jose, study with my two girls. Maria Jose learned English very quickly and also became a part of our family. She not only attended private classes with my daughters but I personally paid for her horse back riding lessons (three times a week) show jumping competitions and violin lessons. Maria Jose was with us more than she was with her mother.

My daughters told me, one day, that Maria Jose had a secret. Something that was troubling her but was afraid to tell Gaby and Daisy because she knew I would be angry and her mother would lose her job. Needless to say, when a child tells you something like this that there is most likely truth to it, but it was impossible to say anything to Patty without her daughter getting caught in the middle. So I said nothing. I assumed it was most likely about stealing and lying which is so common in Guatemala. So I waited and watched.

Within a short time I found that Patty had stolen money. I had confronted her, with the person she was suppose to have given the money too. There was no way to lie then. I was heartbroken and devastated that she would steal from me and from the children. Later that day she gave me her resignation letter. In the letter she thanked me for all I had done for her and her family. I offered for her daughter to continue all her classes with us and although Patty had stolen and lied I did not want it to impact Maria Jose. My two girls and Maria Jose were very, very close and to break up that trio would be cruel. But Maria Jose did not return to classes. My girls were devastated, as I am sure Maria Jose was. Not only did they miss Maria Jose terribly but someone they loved and trusted had betrayed them--Patty.

I was sure this was not the last of Patty. Things don't go away that quickly in Guatemala.

We found out little by little that the money Patty was to pay a service provider was not the first time she had stolen. We found that she had been stealing for quite some time. Money from the children's home as well as food and clothes. She wasn't stealing out of necessity but out of greed. Rather than prosecute and have it impact Maria Jose I just let it go. I was angry, hurt and felt terribly betrayed.

We found several other employees that were involved in the thefts and fired them. These women were furious and I knew we would have problems.

These are the people, and we do know this for sure, that made anonymous calls to the PGN about us. They called the PGN about one case in particular, a little named Carmen. She came to us when she was a day old. The mother lives on the streets in a nearby town with her ten year old son. The mother is not only homeless but has significant mental problems and we felt we could not have her sign any legal documentation until we could be assured she was aware of what she was doing. In the meantime we cared for Carmen as we would any of our own children.

I found a wonderful Guatemalan family to adopt Carmen but we first had to deal with her legal situation. This information was somehow leaked outside the home to the employees we fired and they made constant calls to the PGN in Antigua about Carmen and that fact that we would not give her back to the birth mom. This was not true as the birth mom had only come to the children's home once and that was to place Carmen with us. One of the fired employees took the birth mother to PGN and the court in Antigua. It was clear to the PGN rep as well as the judge that there was no way the birth mother could care for Carmen. In the meantime, Rigoberto Duarte from PGN shows up and we go to court. I brought the family that was interested in adopting Carmen and asked that we continue to be allowed to care for her while the Guatemalan family talked to the Central Authority. Our lawyer suggested that the family call Rigoberto Duarte and express their desire to adopt Carmen. Duarte's response, and he screamend this at the woman wanting to adopt Carmen, that she would never get her hands on the child. He was furious she called him at the court in Chimaltenango and demanded she tell him who gave her the phone number. This woman called me sobbing. I had warned her.

I know this is a long story and you might think that it has nothing to do with the current situation. However, it has everything to do with what is going on now. The PGN came to our home based on anonymous calls. The last raid, 8 years ago, was based on an anonymous call.

Guatemala is a country that has been devastated by war and poverty and it shows up often in the people of this country. I have seen some of the most vicious attacks on people verbally and physically and for basically no reason. People steal with little conscious. Most people have little to no self esteem and once they feel they have a small amount of power they run with it. The smallest of things can become major issues because people don't feel they have the right or the ability to fight for the bigger issues.

As the story grows and grow I think it is important for you to know how this all began, as something fairly small.

Update on Semillas de Amor Raids

We were alerted early this morning that the children's home would be raided once again by the PGN. It appears the information was correct and there was another order to take the children. The raid did not happen today and we are unsure whether the harassment will continue or not.

What I have seen is that many Guatemalan government employees, we have been dealing with, are growing weary of this stupid little man from PGN, Rigoberto Duarte. His behavior has been so bizarre and only lies come out of his mouth. The sad thing is that he is very representative of the PGN.

It was so crazy when he came to the children's home on Wednesday because not only was he absolutely high on power but he had changed his clothes (from when I had seen him in the morning in Chimaltenango) and showed up in a dapper suit and tie. I don't know when he had the time to do this but I do know that I didn't have time nor did I even think of changing clothes let alone even put on lipstick for my dealings with the press. The rest of his PGN cronies were dressed in their little blue vests.

Today was a tough day waiting for the PGN to show up and all the while trying to feel some since of normalcy for the children. I had taken my kids and a few of the older children to my house to stay for the day. I just couldn't put them through one more day of uncertainty and fear. Everyone is so afraid.

My lawyer and I went to court in Antigua this AM to make sure all paperwork was filed and were were told that the case was once again in the court in Chimaltenango and that we should go there in the afternoon. We headed off for Chimaltenango with more paperwork and most important was the document recusing the judge from our case and having the case sent to another court with less prejudice. We will go back in the morning.

I am trying very hard to keep my morale up. The support of so many people means so much to me and to my staff. Having police stationed in front of our home makes us all feel like criminals but we won't give in to their insanity. We have also received lots of support from people in Guatemala saying how sorry they are for what has happened. I can't even go into the the little tiendas where I shop without people wanting to talk to me and what has happened.

I continue to wait for someone to stand up and say "STOP THE INSANITY" but it just doesn't happen.

Thank you to everyone for your kind thoughts and comments. I will keep you posted as things developed.

Raid #2 on our children's home

Monday was the first raid on our children's home. That post is below this one. Today's raid was even more brutal than Monday's. On Monday we filed an appeal for the president of the children's court to review our case and to recuse the judge in Chimaltenango from hearing our case because of prejudice. Tuesday there was another appeal filed in Chimaltenango. Tuesday morning we have visits from both the Bienstar Social and the head of human rights for Sacatepequez. Neither offered any advice, nor any help. I still don't know why either group even showed up since they had done their big search on Monday. However, today the PGN came back with a vengeance.

Early this morning I went to the court in Chimaltenango with my attorney. There we found the head of PGN in Chimaltenango practically foaming at the mouth with anxiety and excitement. I saw his face and I knew it was bad. We were told by the courts that he had a court order to remove all of our children. This is not legal since we had filed an appeal and they cannot remove the kids or do anything until our case is heard. But this snake of a man from PGN, Rigoberto Duarte, made sure our appeal was not in the file for the judge to see. While we waited to see the judge my office called and said the PGN was there and they were pounding on the door and screaming to be let in. I flew, 90 miles an hour, back to Antigua to see three large vans, 50+ PGN representatives, a lot of police as well as Press.

So I pulled out my camera and starting taking photos. I invited the press in, did not let the PGN nor the police in. I know enough about Guatemalan law to know they could not come in without a judge and a court order. So I bought a bit more time and spent an hour with the press explaining what had happened, how we were being treated, and introduced them to all the kids.

Then the judge from the juzgado de paz Antigua showed up with the court order to take the kids. I was told to sign the document and without even thinking, I must have been reacting from a very primal mama bear place, I slammed my fist down on the table and yelled, "NO YOU WILL NOT TAKE MY CHILDREN!" I went nuts. The snake from PGN kept trying to get me to sign the paper and then starting whining to the judge that I wouldn't sign it. I threw it at him. The judge, who knows me and my work and I am sure felt awful, made a call to the judge in Chimaltenango. Our lawyer was successful in having the court rescind the court order. Everyone was escorted out of our children's home.

Tomorrow I will go to the Ministerio Publico, with my lawyer to file a criminal complaint against the PGN.

I have posted photos from Monday and from today. I always carry a camera with me and thought I should have some documentation of the harassment. There should be some interesting reports in the Guatemalan news as well as papers. Sure hope they didn't get me on film slamming my fist against the table and screaming at the judge and 50 PGN employees.

One of the reporters asked me today if I was planning on closing our children's home. I told her, "no, that I planned on fighting even harder for the children's rights".

Harassment by Guatemalan Government

I thought I would post a comment on our "raid" Monday by the ever competent PGN. The police and about 40 employees of the PGN and Human Rights group arrived unannounced at our children's home at 9:30AM. They came in stating they wanted to review our files. Well, even in Guatemala 40 people plus a few police officers are a bit much to review 51 files. About two weeks ago the head of the children's human rights organization in Guatemala paid us a visit to see our home. We happily let them in and our only "fault" was that we didn't have a fire extinguisher. We actually do but it was packed to move. These people have been to our children's home several times and we have always passed their review with flying colors as we did this time. It was a surprise to see her.
Our lawyer came right away to the children's home as our advocate. Then the PGN wanted to take photos of each child. This was tough on the kids, who didn't understand what was going on. We had to bring children into the office running back and forth while 40+ government employees chatted on their cell phones and basically enjoyed our nice garden. I even had to take my 12 year old daughter out of class, with her teacher to help bring the kids in and take care of them. All the while I kept thinking that the children's rights were being violated but the human rights people just stood by silently and watched. These people are not concerned about the children and the truth is in the 14 years I have lived in Guatemala I can count on one hand the number of "children's advocates" who work for the government that do care about the kids.
We all went to court minus the few PGN employees and police keeping an eye on the children in case they escaped. It was a battle. Because this was in Antigua we had to go to the Juzgado de Paz. The PGN (mainly one very ignorant, self important ass) wanted to take all of our kids. There was no reason to take the kids and the Judge told him that. It was a long long battle. Then they decided they were taking three of our babies that do not have families. I had sent the files into our lawyer in Guatemala City to see if he could work with the Central Authority to find Guatemalan families that might want to adopt them. Since the files were with the lawyers they said we had no paperwork on the kids. This self important, ignorant PGN representative insisted on taking the three kids. And as another PGN rep said to me, "it's only three, you get to keep the other 48." I responded with, "each of those three children have names and a future". To them it is just numbers. We also had a birth mom we were taking into Guatemala City to PGN for her birth mother interview. One of the PGN reps was trying to convince her to take her child back. It was unbelievable. This woman's child is three years old and nobody knows about her in this birth mom's family. This poor birth mom was terrified. It is a game for these people. I was wondering where the PGN is or where the Human Rights are when kids are being murdered right and left on the streets everywhere in Guatemala? Makes me a bit suspicious that they would feel the need to protect the children in my children's home that are very well cared for.
The Press arrived (about 25 of them) as we argued with the ignorant ass from PGN about taking the kids. He had called them thinking he was going to make a BIG splash by coming to our children's home and removing the children. Boy oh boy was he mad when he found out that we had filed an appeal and that meant he could not remove the 3 children until the problem was solved in another court.
I really hate having my photo taken and there I was with cameras rolling, cameras snapping and really wishing I had chosen something else to wear when I was getting ready to go to work.
The raid was a joke. The sad thing for me is that these are very dangerous people. They make decisions that impact the lives of children and I have yet to meet anyone that seems even half way competent enough to make those decisions. It is game for them. The children are numbers and these people, no matter what their title, could care less about these kids and I think it is threatening to them when there are people who care and people who will take risks to protect the kids.
I spent the last year fundraising and building a gorgeous home for the children. I have poured my heart and soul into my work and the children. The Guatemalan government doesn't give us one centavo for our work or anything else and then they come and harass us. I left the court with the Press following me through the streets of Antigua and it was humiliating.
Since I had children at home to feed dinner to I politely told the Press that I would speak to them on the next day and they would get an interview with me one by one. I suspect they won't show up unless there is some drama to be had.
I am sad and very, very angry. The bests interests of the children in Guatemala will NEVER be taken into account.

Planting for the Future

Last week we went for a visit to Pilones de Antigua that has huge greenhouses that sell vegetable and flower plants, and trees to big farms in Guatemala. We were fortunate to start at the very beginning of the process, of seeds being planted, sent to a very, very warm room to germinate and pass through all the phases of the plants or trees until they were ready to go to market.

The kids were each given a tree to plant at the children's village in Parramos. On Friday the kids planted their trees with our expert gardener, Juan Jose. We now have baby eucalyptus, teak and guayaba trees.

Our plans are to grow all our own vegetables to feed the kids and plant our own fruit trees. And so we have begun...