La Semana

Community Events
Between Light and Shadow

Between Light and Shadow:

A Guatemalan Girl's Journey through Adoption

Reading by the author, Jacob Wheeler

Birchbark Books, 2115 West 21st St, Minneapolis, MN

Thursday, May 26 @ 7pm


In Between Light and Shadow veteran journalist Jacob Wheeler puts a
human face on the Guatemalan adoption industry, which has exploited,
embraced, and sincerely sought to improve the lives of the
Central American nation’s poorest children.

Fourteen-year-old Ellie, abandoned at age seven and adopted by a
middle-class family from Michigan, is at the center of this story.
Wheeler re-creates the painful circumstances of Ellie’s abandonment,
her adoption and Americanization, her search for her birth mother,
and her joyous and haunting return to Guatemala, where she finds
her teenage brothers—unleashing a bond that transcends
language and national borders.

Following Ellie’s journey, Wheeler peels back the layers
of an adoption economy that some view as an unscrupulous baby-selling
industry that manipulates impoverished indigenous Guatemalan women,
and others herald as the only chance for poor children to have a better life.
Through Ellie, Wheeler allows us to see what all this means in personal
and practical terms—and to understand how well-intentioned and
sometimes humanitarian first-world wealth can collide with the extreme
poverty, despair, misogyny, racism, and violent history of Guatemala.

 

 
Remember Me

Remeber Me

Remember Me is an exhibit of original art that brings to life the decades-long conflict in Colombia. 

Presented by Lutheran World Relief.

Minneapolis

October 17-31, 2010

Duluth

November 9-19 and 21-29, 2010

Remember Me Website

 

 
Ties Adoptive Family Homeland Journey

The Ties Program-Adoptive Family Homeland Journeys

Article Series Available:  Identity Building, Do Kids Need to Know the Past?

Perhaps the most significant and exciting thing about homeland travel is what kids are doing with the experience related to identity building. It is really interesting to see kids country after country doing the same kinds of things as they work toward understanding of self.  This series will address:

How kids respond upon arrival in their birth country
How language (or lack of language) effects the experience
Blending in & Standing Out—Dual Identity
How birth country travel validates the child
Homeland travel answers “Why?” –the impact
How birth country travel addresses grief and loss that leads to healing
What it looks and feels like when the kids begin to know first hand that the people with whom they share their heritage are warm, wonderful, genuine people.
Reverse culture shock—reactions on your return.

If you or someone you know who would be interested in receiving this series, please email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it to be added to the list of recipients.


Chilean Ties Adoptive Family Homeland Journey

June 26-July 10, 2010
Last time to be offered!!!

Chilean Ties has been a wonderful program for many years. With great sadness,
we are announcing the final Chilean Ties program, unless in the future
new interest develops.


Register now

For the final run of Chilean ties

Email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it


Key features of Chilean Ties:

 

Tailored to your family
The most significant identity building experience of a lifetime
Travel with other adoptive families
Meet people and visit places important in your child’s adoption Explore Chile’s awesome culture
FUN!!!
Optional “Connect & Chat” for kids and “Talk Time” for adults
Humanitarian aid via World Ties

For more information, please visit www.AdoptiveFamilyTravel.com and go to the Chile page.


For
more than 15 years in twelve countries, the Hallmark of The Ties
Program: has been our ability to create an experience that allows you
to travel with a community of adoptive families and trained
professionals, and at the same time, have your individual family dreams
and needs met.



Thanks for the privilege.

The Ties Program Team

 
CHSFS Classes

Childrens Home Society and Family Services Classes

 

chsfs

 

Join Children’s Home Society & Family Services for classes, workshops, online webinars and support groups designed to help families stay strong and care for their children.

 

Check it out!


 
Do YOU Know of Any Upcoming Events?

If you hear of any adoption or Latin America events, please let us know so we can share the info.

Please email the info to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
 


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