Ana is asking for your help!

Hello everyone,

Just wanted to remind everyone that tomorrow (the 8th) starts the time to participate in the JCICS Guatemala 5000 Initiative. Let's make sure everyone knows that this is about all the children that will be displaced from loving homes. All it will take is six phone calls and an e-mail. You might also want to visit www.5000orphans.com it puts all the issues in one spot in easy to follow terms. By the way, we are getting somewhere! From JCICS, "the Hague Permanent Bureau (HPB) has now joined with Joint Council, the U.S. Department of State and others in agreeing that transition cases should be allowed to proceed to completion without interruption. It is our understanding that the HPB has now conveyed their revised position to both the Berger administration and Guatemalan Congress."

Please help me come home!

How YOU can participate in the Guatemala 5000 Initiative

Make six simple phone calls and one email (see below for what you should say)

1. Call your U.S. Senator.
· You can find your Senators’ phone numbers at www.senate.gov
· Ask to speak with the Legislative Director or Chief of Staff

2. Call your second U.S. Senator.

3. Call your representative to the U.S. House of Representative.
· You can find your representative at www.house.gov
· Ask to speak with the Legislative Director or Chief of Staff

4. Call or fax UNICEF Headquarters
· Ask to speak with Ann Veneman, Executive Director
· Their number is 212-326-7000
· Their fax number is 212-326-7758

5. Call or fax UNICEF Guatemala
· Ask to speak with Manuel Manrique
· Their number is 011-502-2327-6373
· Their fax number is 011-502-2327.6366
Please note that calls and faxes to Guatemala are international calls.

7. Send an email supporting Intercountry Adoption to guatemala5000@jcics.org
· Write briefly or at length
· Joint Council will use the cumulative email petition in our advocacy for Intercountry Adoption

When should you call?
Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday (October 9th, 10th, 11th)
For maximum affect, we are asking you to make these calls within a 72 hour window!

What should you say or write to a member of the U.S. Congress?
Speak from your heart and give them the following information:
· Inform them that you are calling regarding the Guatemala 5000.
· Ask them to sign the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute (CCAI) sponsored letter to President Oscar Berger
· Ask them to sign the Joint Council sponsored letter to UNICEF
· Inform them that the Guatemalan government has announced that all intercountry adoptions with the United States will be suspended on January 1, 2008.
· Inform them that President Berger's announcement also indicated that there will be no 'grandfathering' of adoptions already in process.
· Inform them that if children referred to families are not allowed to be adopted, they will languish in institutions or foster care.
· Ask that their office get involved and sign the sponsored letters to the President of Guatemala and UNICEF. These letters ask that all adoptions in-process as of January 1, 2008 be allowed to process to completion under the existing notorial laws.

What should you say or write to UNICEF?
Speak from your heart and give them the following information
·Inform them that you are calling regarding the Guatemala 5000.
· Ask them to support the right’s of children and lend their considerable influence to ensuring that intercountry adoptions currently in-process be allowed to process to completion under the existing notorial laws.
·Inform them that the Guatemalan government has announced that all adoptions with the U.S. will be suspended on January 1, 2008.
·Inform them that President Berger’s announcement also indicated that there will be no ‘grandfathering’ of adoptions already in process.
· Inform them that if children referred to families are not allowed to be adopted, they will languish in institutions or foster care.
· Ask them again for their support of the Guatemala 5000 Initiative.

Can you explain the problem behind the pending crisis?

Here is some additional information…
·Guatemalan President Oscar Berger has announced plans to effectively stop all adoptions into the United States including those children who have already been referred to adoptive parents
·Over 5,000 children have been referred
·The birthparents for these children have already relinquished their parental rights. As a result, they currently have no family and the Berger suspension will result in these children having no prospect for a permanent, safe and loving family
·The government of Guatemala currently does not have the finances or facilities to even provide housing for these 5,000 children
·The Berger plan is a crisis waiting to happen