Guatemala 900 Campaign

Take Notice! The march is today!

The Guatemala 900 Campaign is a SERIES OF ACTIONS that calls attention to the stagnation of the approximately 900 remaining Guatemalan adoptions that were begun before 2008. The Guatemala 900 Campaign asks that the US and Guatemalan governments take immediate steps to deliver timely due process and transparency for the children who wait to join their future families. It is imperative that these cases do not languish while children wait in limbo, losing their childhood one day, month, and year at a time...... We strive to take steps that will ensure all grandfathered cases will be processed to completion by January 31, 2010.

On January 1, 2008, adoptions in Guatemala abruptly changed from a privately run system to a government run entity. The 5000 adoptions that were “in process” at the time were “grandfathered” to finish under the laws in which they began. The childrens’ cases were promised to be expeditiously processed in a timely and reasonable manner, but now almost a year and a half later approximately 900 children are still waiting to join their families.

The Guatemala 900 campaign begins with the “Guatemala 900 March” on June 17 in Washington, DC. Later today there will be a Candlelight Vigil in front of the Guatemalan Embassy in which we will light 900 candles as a voice for the waiting children.

Family friends of a Guatemalan princess are representing us today at the march. Pray for the DiGirolamos and for the 900 children waiting to unite with their forever families.