Friday, January 04, 2008

Panic at the Disco

Today the Joint Council issued a statement (very brief) that states that all adoptions in Guatemala will be stopped until they can be registered with the new Central Authority. This is the first step in implementing the new Hague compliant rules, and although they have continually said they will grandfather in all cases that were in process before Jan. 1st, no one is sure how this really will play out. People are in a panic. I can practically hear the wringing of hands, nashing of teeth and wailing this has created.

Am I upset? Nope, not in the least. You want to know why? I knew this was coming. We all knew changes were imminent. We all realize it is going to be a rocky time with no guarantees, so why freak out? They will get the Central Authority set up, register cases and be back on track soon enough. This is a GOOD thing! I am so sick and tired of the corruption in Guatemala. The wholesale trade of children as a huge money-making business. Something has to be done. Someone has to make changes to ensure the children are protected, cared for and have their best interests at heart. I would rather go thru one more year of hell waiting for my own children and know that many, many others are benefitting in the long run. Yes I want my kids. Yes it tears me up to have to wait even one extra day, but I see the big picture. I have seen the children who have no hope of ever being adopted. I have seen the 'throw-away' kids that aren't cute, aren't perfect or have some paperwork issue that traps them in a life of hell. As much as I yearn for my kids, I can't get those other faces out of my mind.

I refuse to give any more of my energy to worrying about the political climate in Guatemala, to worrying about things I cannot control and to worrying about all the 'what ifs'. I will not give the power to those fears. I am a duck and it rolls off my back. I am saving my energy for other, more important things.

Everyone take a deep breath, shake it off, and give it a day or two and it will all change. It always does.....

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Good advise! I also want to note that until they can confirm the JC statement with other official and reliable sources like the embassy, state department or Adoption Supervisors, stay calm, wait patiently and don't speculate about what it all means.

If you notice, JCICS only stated they can confirm it, not how they can confirm it. It would be nice to know the official source of the statement. Nor did they say how they are advocating for a "position solution", whatever that means. In all, the JCICS statement has a lot of ambiguity to it and it not telling PAPs everything they need to know.

Kelly at Guatadopt did post on her blog with some additional pieces of the puzzle. http://www.guatadopt.com/archives/000779.html

Corey said...

AMEN- well said

bellagirl said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
bellagirl said...

Amen sister, we can only look and move forward from here, in 9 days the new President takes office and things can only improve. Also no worries with MS moving children, they will not move any child without our prior approval. I know their are some rumors and I did not want you to worry. I talked to "M" and she confirmed all is well in Guateland for now.