threedaysforthreedaughters

Three Daughters

  • Daughter 1: Angeli Lisseth Hernandez Rodriguez

Three Mothers

  • Olga Lopez

FROM PARIS WITH LOVE

2009_0902b0033
2009_0902b0026
2009_0902b0034
2009_0903c0002

TrackBack (0)

END!!!! THANK YOU!!!!

Thank you to all of the participants in the fast for the three daughters that were stolen in Guatemala. We know this means so much to the mothers who are tonight still without their daughters, particularly because the origins of the strike was from the US, where their daughters now live.

Together, we have shown these mothers we are not their enemies, but their allies, and we have built a bridge of respect and hope by this seemingly "simple" action ... an action many with great hate and great fear in their hearts tried to tear down and dismiss. But the power of this action should not be underestimated. It may be a simple ... but it speaks volumes.

We estimate we had over 150 strikers, and most likely many more given the input we have gotten of friends, churches, etc that were involved who may not have "officially" registered. It has been overwhelming, and far exceeded our expectations!

Many people came from the Central American human rights communities and women's rights organizations and were not affiliated in any direct way with adoption. Sadly, the show of support from the adoptive parent community (particularly from those that had adopted from Guatemala themselves) was very low. Perhaps someday support will be stronger from the adoptive community, and people can open their hearts to those that have been so damaged, without feeling they themselves are being attacked. We can only hope this mindset will change for the benefit of all in the future.

We are very optomistic about the impact of the event in the next few months, and look forward to meeting with US officials in Washington DC later this fall.

To borrow a phrase from Norma Cruz....

"We will not yield".

****************************************

PLEASE!!!!! Send us your statement and/or documentation to: threedaysthreedaughters@yahoo.com

We will keep you posted. Thank you!

TrackBack (0)

END OF DAY TWO!!! THANK YOU!!!

This was sent this morning from Chris Todd, one of the strikers.

"I participated in this strike because I believe that the world owes justice to these women.  They are not just victims of a few crooked lawyers.  That could be easily solved.  They are victims of a corrupt establishment that makes money and gains power from their misery.  There will be no justice for them unless we stand together to demand it.  I stand with them because Jesus stood for me."

How is everyone doing? One more day to go.

THANK YOU.

TrackBack (0)

END OF DAY ONE -- THANK YOU!!!!!

To all strikers.... thank you for your participation. Together we can make a difference! Every voice counts!

TrackBack (0)

What is Fasting?

Religions around the world practice one form or another of "fasting" for various reasons. Buddhists fast as a method of purification. Hindus fast as a way to enhance concentration. Catholics believe fasting teaches control and solidarity with the poor. We ask you give up something you hunger, for these three days, as a reflection of "going without" in honor of children stolen for adoption.

We ask you to participate in this strike by "fasting" for three days. We do not recommend or require starvation, or any unhealthy practices, nor anything that would put your health or welfare at risk in order to be part of this event. Fasting is defined by the participant, and is at your discretion. For example, you may choose to abstain from meat and dairy, or sugar, or television, or you may choose to abstain from all food for one day, meat the next, and sugar the last day. You define the fast.

TrackBack (0)

How to Join Us.

Send an email with:


1. Your real name 

2. the name you want to use

3. Your location (ie, Los Angeles, CA, USA)

email to: threedaysthreedaughters@yahoo.com

You will be sent a consent form and additional information before Strike Day One. Please email us with any questions, and check back on the website for any updates.

TrackBack (0)

Strike Organizers

Elizabeth Emanuel

Jennifer Hemsley

Lucia Munoz

Steve and Shyrel Osborne

Please click on the name for a bio of each person.

This event is not funded by any organization. We are a 100% volunteer effort. We are not anti-adoption. We organized this event to expose the ongoing corruption in international adoption and bring justice for the women of Guatemala and others victimized by these crimes.

TrackBack (0)

What is meant by documentation?

Documentation is simply your description or "proof" of your strike. You do not have to use your real name. We need whatever you are willing to provide to us. It may be one word, it may be 1000 (well, please keep it relatively short!). You can provide photo(s) or art, or a poem. You could have a straight diary of your strike. You could do a combination. If that is not working, just answer the question: Why are you striking?

After you sign up with us via email, and before the strike, we will email you a consent form giving us permission to use your documentation. You will return your documentation and consent together, via email, at the end of the strike.

After you are done with your fast, send your documentation and your signed consent form to: threedaysthreedaughters@yahoo.com

Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)

Who is Participating?

People have committed to striking all over the world. We have strikers in India, Netherlands, Guatemala and the United States. Adoptive parents, birth (first) parents, mothers who have lost their children to adoption, adoption activists, people who want justice and human rights activists. We are looking for as many participants as possible. Your voice is important and valued. Please help us give a voice to the voiceless, and help justice be served.

TrackBack (0)

About Children Stolen for Adoption.

Imagine the following scenario:

In 2006, a young mother from a suburban Chicago neighborhood takes the train into the city with her 6 month old daughter. While on the train, she meets another woman about her age, who strikes up friendly conversation. The two women chat for awhile, about children, about their favorite downtown stores. The mother wants to get a soda, and her new friend offers to get her one so as not to disturb the baby now asleep in the mother's arms. After drinking the soda, the mother becomes sleepy. She cannot hold her head up, and realizes she is ill and something is terribly wrong. Her new friend offers to hold the baby, panicked and confused, the mother reluctantly agrees. The next thing the mother realizes she is in a far away suburban station, at least an hour past her stop.

And her baby is missing.

Not until months later, the mother learns the child has been stolen by an intricate web of traffickers who have laundered the child's identity through false birth documents, and adopted her to an unsuspecting childless couple in Dubai for $50,000.

What would happen?

Most likely, an international investigation would be launched. Amber alerts and hotlines created. The media frenzy would be tremendous, the public outcry immense. The traffickers would be found and arrested. The court hearing would be an international public spectacle. The adoptive parents would be put under great public scrutiny and trial. And the child returned to the mother on the train, immediately, no questions asked, under great fanfare of justice being served.

There would be no argument, no debate of what would happen to the stolen child.

But that is not what happens in reality, when you are a mother from Guatemala. Or India. Or China. Your cries for justice are ignored, your pleas for your child dismissed. You will be told you don't deserve your child because you are not wealthy, that you cannot give them what an American can. You will be told to give up your search, you will be told you are selfish for not wanting to give your child a "better" life. You will be ignored by police, investigators and the media. You will be threatened, mistreated, bullied and slandered. You will grieve alone and your search for your stolen child will be a lonely one. You are voiceless. Powerless. And usually defeated.

 Raquel4

Everyday in developing nations with international adoption programs, children are stolen, purchased or coerced from their families and "legally" sold to baby brokers who adopt them to unsuspecting adoptive parents in distant and more wealthy countries. Despite thousands of legitimate orphans in need of adoptive families and homes, children are routinely acquired using illicit methods, often times because it is easier than going through proper channels, the profit is higher, and there is little to no chance of being caught or prosecuted.

Families who are pressured, coerced, or have their children stolen for adoption are often severely marginalized. They often lack financial resources, protection and legal recourse. They are prime targets for the multi-billion dollar adoption industry, who hold a postive public image, governmental influence, and navigate international law with little to no oversight or regulation.

Today as you read this, there are hundreds of children from developing nations who have been acquired illicitly, entered into the adoption system by the lure of industry created profits, and are living in households of adoptive families in countries thousands of miles away from their birth. Some adoptive families know of the crimes and have chosen to ignore the pleas of the birth mothers, others are still in the dark as to their adoptive child's origins.

We name this strike after Anyeli, Heidy, and Arlene, and their brave mothers who face the most unimaginable challenges and loss that any human can imagine. They are but the tip of a huge international scandal of child trafficking and abduction, done under the guise of child welfare. Although it is comforting to think that these cases are isolated, we have learned this is not the case, and in reality, these are just three faces in a sea of hundreds, from countries around the world.

Because we value and celebrate adoption done in ethical and moral practice, we call a strike to voice opposition to those that tarnish and ultimately destroy legitimate adoption practice, rendering legitimate orphans homeless, and profitizing a once humanitarian endeavor.

We dedicate and name this strike after these three girls, who represent so many others that came before them and will come after. We cannot forget the voiceless and powerless, the oppressed and the silenced, those that walk this earth without the dignity of basic human rights. For this, we gather together in spirit to fast, to seek justice, and put an end to the illegal adoption trade.

—Jennifer Hemsley

TrackBack (0)

September 1, 2, 3, 2009. Join Us.

Imagine if your child was kidnapped.

Imagine when you reported this to authorities, you were ignored, bullied and dismissed.

Imagine thinking you would never see your child again. And that you could do nothing about it.

Three Days for Three Daughters is an international hunger strike to be held on September first, second and third. The strike is named after three girls who were kidnapped from their three mothers in Guatemala. These mothers, like hundreds of other mothers and fathers in developing nations, wait without answers, help or justice.

In continuation of the hunger strike that was started by Norma Cruz and Fundacion Sobrevivientes in Guatemala on July 15, we are striking for three days, one day for each daughter, to seek justice for the mothers in Guatemala, and to bring attention to the problem of child trafficking in international adoption. Your commitment can help bring justice and give a voice to those that have been silenced.

We are asking people around the world to fast for three days, one day for each daughter stolen. We are not gathering physically in one spot, we are gathering virtually through the web. We are asking participants to commit to documenting their strike through words and/or photograph(s) that they will provide to us via email. At the end of the strike, a book will be designed of the strike documentation and given to key governmental officials and journalists in an effort to expose the issue.

We have commitments from people in India, Guatemala, Germany, The United States, Canada and Denmark. Your commitment can help bring justice and give a voice to those that have been silenced.

PLEASE JOIN US
(click here).


FAQ:

How do I fast?

Who is participating?

How do I document my strike?

How do I provide documentation?

What is the background of this?

Who is organizing this?

TrackBack (0)

Categories

  • !!!! SIGN UP HERE !!!! (1)
  • * PROVIDING YOUR STRIKE DOCUMENTATION * (1)
  • * STRIKE BACKGROUND - ABOUT THE CAUSE * (1)
  • * STRIKE ORGANIZERS * (1)
  • * WHAT IS MEANT BY "FAST"? * (1)
  • * WHO IS PARTICIPATING? * (1)
See More

THE PEOPLE

  • Daughter 1: Anyeli
  • Daughter 2: Heidy
  • Daughter 3: Arlene
  • Essay by Arun Dohle
  • Organizers: Steve and Shyrel Osborne
  • Strike Organizer & Transnational Activist: Lucia Munoz
  • Strike Organizer: Elizabeth Emanuel
  • Strike Organizer: Jennifer Hemsley

GUATEMALA: IN THE NEWS

  • FRAUD LEAVES GUATEMALAN BABIES IN LIMBO
  • 'STOLEN' GUATEMALAN CHILDREN FOUND
  • GUATEMALA'S CHILD-SNATCHING PLAGUE
  • DID I STEAL MY DAUGHTER?
  • MOTHERS CONTINUE THE SEARCH FOR THEIR DAUGHTERS
  • US ADOPTIONS FUELED BY GUATEMALAN KIDNAPPINGS
  • TO SAVE ADOPTED GIRL, US COUPLE GIVES HER UP
  • PEOPLE AND POWER - STOLEN BABIES
  • STOLEN GUATEMALAN BABY FOUND JUST BEFORE ADOPTION BY US COUPLE
  • MISSING: ENMA GALICIA
  • TO CATCH A BABY BROKER
  • FUNDACION SOBREVIVIENTES-NEVER AGAIN
  • threedaysforthreedaughters
  • Powered by TypePad