Founding Director's Story
We will never forget the day we flew to Guatemala to pick up our baby from Guatemala. We felt truly blessed. Over the years our daughter had begun to wonder seriously about her origins and we always knew that one day we would help her discover her first culture and meet her biological family in the future. So keeping that promise, one year after her bat mitzvah, I was on a plane with my friend Tim, headed for Guatemala armed only with sketchy 15 year old information - Mother's name, approximate age, a general region.
After a four hour drive from the airport we arrived in early evening to an impoverished village called La Union, we began knocking on doors.
Rainy season in La Union, Guatemala means that the shallow riverbeds which are the town's only pathways turn into actual rivers. By now darkness was fast approaching and yet we found a young boy in the town square who said he knew the family we were searching for.
Before long we were at the door of Marcelina’s home. She told us her story. Marcelina had lost babies before due to poverty and disease. She knew she couldn't sustain an underweight 3 lb. baby. Her choice saved my daughter’s life.
We learned the Marcelina, who is unable to write or read, had recently been diagnosed with cancer, and that the family's entire monthly earnings totalled only $70.00. One of the first promises I made to my daughter's birth mother was that all her children would go to school. One of Marcelina's many daughters helped her to learn to write her initials so that she could open the family's first back account. We now send our second 'family' $100 per month and Marcelina has been able to retire from her job taking in laundry from villagers.
We returned home with the only thing my daughter had requested from our trip -a picture of her birth mother. When she was told about her biological family in Guatemala she was anxious to meet them. We promised her that when she learned 100 words of Spanish, we would go to Guatemala.
And we did.
Glendy's Wish
Just before our planned visit, Glendy, one of my daughter’s sisters, was murdered. She was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. Her husband had died of leukemia the year before and they left behind two children. Glendy's strongest wish had been for her children to somehow be able to go to school.
In December 2007, Adrienne and her daughter returned to La Union and a family reunion with 26 people present.
My daughter’s life has changed remarkably. She is grounded, committed to her studies and loves her life. She has had the opportunity to "fill the holes" that are so often never closed for adoptive children; she feels confident and content with her place in the world.
Through Access Education - Guatemala Children's Fund, hundreds of children have been enrolled in school over the past three years. These children are part of a commitment to break the cycle of poverty and ignorance.
When I look into the eyes of the children at the La Union Elementary School I could be looking into the eyes of my daughter. It is so simple and so easy to make a difference here and that difference is critical to a life of empowerment, autonomy and freedom.
We are moving through the country – one child at a time – one village at a time. We believe in our lifetime that we can put every child in Guatemala in school.
Our next project is in Las Palmeras, close to Pajapita. This project has been sponsored by Grapes for Humanity and building starts soon.
Please help us.