Looking at these pictures fills me with envy – I can just feel the sun on my skin! Heather and Lucy have settled into life in Antigua they found a pad and are enjoying their time. Heather is busy, busy , busy working at establishing the children’s village for Project Somos. Please read here about this amazing project and be sure to follow Heathers blog for updates on the progress they are making. I just think this is so cool to see how something like this is created from the ground up. Thanks Heather (and Lucy) for this super cool gift.
I haven’t lately written about what Bambolettas involvement in all this is. Well, first off Heather is a really good friend of mine and I am so proud to be part of this experience. Second, I hope that one day when Bamboletta gets bigger I can help with this project financially by perhaps having the house mothers at Project Somos sew or knit for me – a social enterprise. It’s like planting a seed.
Lucy, is now known as “Lucita” here in Guatemala. When “ita” is added onto a name it is an expression of endearment and refers to someone little. And Lucita certainly is little! She’s settling in so well. We’ve taken some photos of her in and around our new apartment which she really loves. We also visited the arts market where she met some other girls, a bit like herself, but who weren’t too sure about her!
This last week we have had the opportunity to meet many new people in and around Antigua. We visited an orphanage that was doing adoptions up until 13 months ago. There had been issues around corrupt adoptions in Guatemala and while a new system is being put into place, they have completely shut down all inter-country adoptions. It’s a very sad thing at this time as many centres have had to close and there are not enough homes to place the children. It makes us very anxious to get things rolling with the Children’s Village. The need for children is great here.
We are hoping that we’ll be able to go visit some potential pieces of land sometime this week. We are looking for at least ten acres of land to build the Village on. We have a couple of realtors looking for us. Meanwhile, we’ve met with our lawyer and partner on the ground here (Jorge) and he’ll be working on all the necessary paperwork to get the society up and running in Guatemala. Lucita will also have to get her residency so that she can live and work here legally. Will keep you posted on progress. Meanwhile, many thanks for all the support encouragement coming our way.
Hasta Luego,
Lucita and Alicia (people have difficulty saying “Heather” and hence, I use my middle name)
Leave a Reply