Thursday, October 4, 2007

Catching up on pictures and such

OK, these are all pictures from last week that I have been meaning to post, but with all the news out of Guatemala I held off. Please sign the petition and use the information in my earlier posts to contact government officials.


Now on to the pictures. Last Friday was "Homecoming" for the football team at my nephew's school. So of course there was a parade the night before. This was the first full parade for Little Bug. You have to get there early for a prime seat, so Bug and I were there 1.5 hours before the parade started. We eat dinner at the pizza place and then took our spot. Little Bug loves my folding chair because the foot stool is the perfect height for him to use a seat.

Here comes the parade- first the fire trucks, ambulances and police cars come into view with lights and sirens going. Once Little Bug figured out that they were going to keep this noise up as they passed him, he was not to happy. He ended up in my arms for the remainder of the parade.
We did convenience him that the candy being thrown from the cars, tricks and participants was worthwhile to pick up. He managed to pick up 4 pieces of candy and we adults picked up the rest for him.
The High School Marching Band rounds the corner and Little Bug knows what that means- Jas is going to be coming by playing the drums (hopefully)

WOW- instead of having to walk the parade route, Jas got to be in the band truck, playing the drum cymbals. Little Bug was so excited to see him and I was excited to get a picture of Jas looking at us. After the High School marching band went by, a group of kids came by playing plastic buckets as drums. Little Bug was so excited- he likes to beat on the plastic buckets around our house and Auntie Lulu's house.
So on Friday night- I took Little Bug to the park for some playtime. He insisted on wearing his shades. He thinks he is cooler than cool when he wears them.
Going down the big slide- such a big boy he is becoming.
Playing his drum. He needed a stool so sitting on top of the drum served his purpose.


So into his music and loving it all.
After our trip to Chicago, I decided that we needed to go see the aquarium in our city. This is not the front of the aquarium- it is the fish outside the seafood restaurant right across the square from the aquarium. Anyone find that comical that a seafood restaurant would be right across the square from the aquarium? I laugh every time I think it about it.

Touching the starfish in the tide pool. This is an area that is set up specifically for touching some of the animals found in the ocean.
Touching a horseshoe crab. After this Little Bug lost interest with touching the "fishies" so we moved on.
to touching the small sharks (too cool). Little Bug was willing to look at the sharks, but he would not touch them. He did like the shark scale in the room, thinking it was a swing. He had to get in it a weigh himself repeatedly. According to the shark scale, he weights as much as the smallest shark in the ocean (21 pounds). But I can't trust the scale because when I sat on it, it was off by a good 100 pounds (which was not such a bad thing for my ego).After the seeing the 'fishies" we headed over to the bookstore for some shopping which turned into play time for Little Bug when he found the train table set up in the children's section. I had to buy some more books fr my secret blog pal's children.
Which brings me to my final thought for the night- I have been very bad in sending out a Thank You. Thank you Jennifer for the awesome photo booklet of Little Bug and I. I love it, love it, love it. I took it to a business meeting the following Wednesday and it was such a great way to show off my little bug to colleagues who had been hearing about him for months (during the process and after he came home) but who had never seen his pictures. Since I work from home, they don't see his picture scrolling across my computer screen all the time. Now they have seen his pictures and your gift was a great way to show him off. Thank you again.
Have a great evening all- go sign the petition, call your congressmen, contact UNICEF, etc. Children and families are depending on our action.
Love to you,
Momma Bug


Guatemala 5000 update

Make your calls and send your letters/faxes today. The Guatemalan congress read the bill yesterday that stops all international adoptions as of 01Jan2008. They are discussing amendments next week. The children need your vioces to speak for them.

I called everyone today on my much- I urge you to call your Senators and Representatives, Unicef, PGN, and media to be a vioce for the children.

Love to you,
Momma Bug

Monday, October 1, 2007

Guatemala 5000 - please join us in a call to action

GUATEMALA 5000Dear Friends,

Guatemalan President Oscar Berger has announced plans to suspend all intercountry adoption with American families on January 1 2008. The Joint Council on International Children's Services strongly opposes such a suspension and asks for your support in their efforts to ensure that all children retain the right to permanency through Intercountry Adoption.President Berger's plans also call for the suspension of adoptions currently in-process. Such a suspension would be extremely detrimental to the children referred to adoptive parents. If President Berger's plan is actually implemented, up to 5,000 will unnecessarily remain in foster care or orphanages indefinitely. This situation represents a pending crisis for the adoptive families who have lovingly chosen to provide permanency, safety and love to a child in need and most importantly a crisis for 5,000 children of Guatemala.

What can you do? Make six simple phone calls and one email.
1. Call your U.S. Senator. · You can find your Senators' phone numbers at www.senate.gov · Ask to speak with the Legislative Director or Chief of Staff
2. Call your second U.S. Senator.
3. Call your representative to the U.S. House of Representative. · You can find your representative at www.house.gov· Ask to speak with the Legislative Director or Chief of Staff
4. Call or fax UNICEF Headquarter· Ask to speak with Ann Veneman, Executive Director· Their number is 212-326-7000· Their fax number is 212-326-7758
5. Call or fax UNICEF Guatemala· Ask to speak with Manuel Manrique· Their number is 011-502-2327- 6373· Their fax number is 011-502-2327. 6366Please note that calls and faxes to Guatemala are international calls
6. Send and email supporting Intercountry Adoption to guatemala5000@ jcics.org · Write briefly or at length· Joint Council will use the cumulative email petition in our advocacy for Intercountry Adoption
When should you call? Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday (October 9th, 10th 11th)For maximum affect, we are asking you to make these calls within a 72 hour window!
What should you say or write to member of the U.S. Congress?
Speak from your heart and give them the following information.
· Inform them that you are calling regarding Guatemala 5000
· Ask them to sign the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute (CCAI) sponsored letter to President Oscar Berger
· Ask them to sign the Joint Council on International Children's Services sponsored letter to UNICEF
· Inform them that the Guatemalan government has announced that all intercountry adoptions with the U.S. will be suspended on January 1 2008.
· Inform them that President Berger's announcement also indicated that there will be no `grandfathering' of adoptions already in process.
· Inform them that if children referred to families are not allowed to be adopted, they will languish in institutions or foster care.
· Ask that their office get involved and sign the sponsored letters to the President of Guatemala and UNICEF. These letters ask that all adoptions in-process as of January 1 2008 be allowed to process to completion under the existing notorial laws.

Sample StatementHello,We are calling/writing on behalf of the Guatemala 5000 Initiative. We, as your constituents, are asking that the Senator/Congressper son add their signature to two letters. First, the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute sponsored letter to Guatemalan President Oscar Berger.
Second, the Joint Council on International Children's Services sponsored letter to UNICEF.
As you may be aware, the Guatemalan government has announced that all intercountry adoptions with the U.S. will be suspended on January 1 2008. Their announcement also indicated that there will be no `grandfathering' of adoptions already in process. If children referred to families are not allowed to be adopted, they will languish in institutions or foster care. Your office must get involved and sign the sponsored letters to the President of Guatemala and UNICEF. These letters ask that all adoptions in-process as of January 1 2008 be allowed to process to completion under the existing notorial laws.Sincerely,

What should you say or write to UNICEF? Speak from your heart and give them the following information.
· Inform them that you are calling regarding the Guatemala 5000· Ask them to support the right's of children and lend their considerable influence to ensuring that intercountry adoptions currently in-process be allowed to process to completion under the existing notorial laws.
· Inform them that the Guatemalan government has announced that all adoptions with the U.S. will be suspended on January 1 2008.
· Inform them that President Berger's announcement also indicated that there will be no `grandfathering' of adoptions already in process.
· Inform them that if children referred to families are not allowed to be adopted, they will languish in institutions or foster care.· Ask them again for their support of the Guatemala 5000 Initiative.

Sample StatementHello,We are calling/writing on behalf of the Guatemala 5000 Initiative. As financial supporters of UNICEF (through our tax dollars), we are asking that UNICEF lends its support and considerable influence to the Guatemala 5000 initiative. As you may be know, the Guatemalan government has announced that all intercountry adoptions with the U.S. will be suspended on January 1 2008. Their announcement also indicated that there will be no `grandfathering' of adoptions already in process. If children referred to families are not allowed to be adopted, they will languish in institutions or foster care. UNICEF must get involved and help ensure that all intercountry adoptions in-process as of January 1 2008 be allowed to process to completion under the existing notorial laws.Sincerely,

Can you explain the problem behind the pending crisis? Here is some additional information…

· Guatemalan President Oscar Berger has announced plans to effectively stop all adoptions into the United States including those children who have already been referred to adoptive parents· Over 5,000 children have been referred
· The birthparents for these children have already relinquished their parental rights. As a result, they currently have no family and the Berger suspension will result in these children having no prospect for a permanent, safe and loving family
· The government of Guatemala currently does not have the finances or facilities to even provide housing for these 5,000 children· The Berger plan is a crisis waiting to happen

What else can you do? In addition to your primary calls to U.S. Congress and UNICEF, you can call the following.
SOSEP (Guatemala)· Director Teresa Echeverría de Bastarrechea Office Phone- 011-502-2383- 8400
· Assistant Director- Edin Palma- Same office phoneOffice Phone- 011-502-2383- 8400
· Jaime Tecu Office Phone - 011-502-2239- 0000 ext 2766 Please note that calls and faxes to Guatemala are international calls
Guatemala Ministry of Foreign Affairs
· Minister Gerth RosenthalOffice Phone 011-502-2410- 0000, 2410-0010
· Vice Minister- Marta AltoaguirreOffice Phone 011-502-2410- 0020 Please note that calls and faxes to Guatemala are international callsPGN
(Guatemala)
· Carlos Victor Hugo Barrios Barahona Office Phone 011-502-2248- 3200 Ext. 207/208Please note that calls and faxes to Guatemala are international calls
Procuraduria of Human Rights
· Dr. Sergio MoralesOffice Phone 011-502-2424- 1717Please note that calls and faxes to Guatemala are international calls
Embassy of Guatemala in the U.S.2220 R Street N.W.Washington, DC 20008Office Phone 1-202-745-4952Office Fax 1-202-745-1908Website: www.guatemala- embassy.org/