My 20-year-old daughter Olivia often says the reason she likes hanging out with other kids adopted from Guatemala is they share similar backstories and don’t need to explain anything. I feel the same way about my Guatmamas: We understand one another in a deep, intuitive way that feels instant and without judgement.
Which is why when one of the people I admire most in the world, Leceta Chisholm Guibault, announced an adoptive moms’ trip to Guatemala—Team Women with Purpose–I signed right up. Leceta and her son Alexander founded “OUR Guatemala: Travel with Purpose” homecoming and service trips as a way for families to connect with birth country and give back. I’m told kids and teens who meet through OUR Guatemala continue to text and communicate ever after; living proof of one of my favorite quotes by an adoptee: “Our homeland is each other.”
Our group visited sponsored students and projects at The Backyard School in San Bartolome; shared stories about meeting our babies in the lobby of the Westin Camino Real Hotel; lounged at a spa in Santa Teresita; sang karaoke in Monterrico; basked in the grandeur of Lake Atitlan; learned about weaving and medicinal plants and herbs in San Juan la Laguna; and did our part for Antigua’s retail economy. All hotels, transportation and most meals were included.
We bonded over love for our children and desire to engage more fully with the beautiful and complex country of Guatemala. Some of us speak Spanish fluently; others (like me) continue to develop skills. We are nurses, teachers, administrators, therapists, writers, physicians, lawyers, IT workers, entrepreneurs, and retirees. For some, this was a first trip back; others hold passports crowded with Guatemalan stamps.
We laughed and we cried, listened and were heard. We’d met only six days earlier, but by the end of the week, hugged goodbye like trusted, old friends. These smart, funny, creative, and dedicated Guatmamas will forever hold a place in my heart.
