Gladney's International Team Visits Latin America

Gladney's international trips are one way our team connects with children waiting for a forever family. During each trip, our program leaders reconnect with in-country partners and meet the children. This opportunity helps us nourish partnerships, collaborate with governments, and work together to improve any and all facets of the international adoption process that are in the best interests of the children. Every face-to-face connection helps us better understand each child, equipping us to advocate on their behalf when we return—bringing us one step closer to creating brighter futures through adoption.

This past August, Misty Lucas, Gladney’s Latin America Program Director, joined our team on an advocacy trip to Colombia and the Dominican Republic. Read more about her experience:

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WOW, was it hot! Have you ever been to Cartegena, Cali, Bogota? Some of our Latin America team had the opportunity to spend 7 days in Colombia in August. We learned about the culture of the various cities, met with ICBF administration and staff, visited with staff from a couple of IAPA’s and, most importantly, met children. It was tiring but so rewarding!

The people were kind and the food was amazing. We learned about new guidelines that we expect to see implemented and asked questions about how this will impact our families who file their dossiers in the future. The children we met were precious! There are a few who stood out as needing a family:

We met Kev who will age out of being eligible for adoption in the next 6 months. He is smart, interested in English-speaking music and desires to be an only child.

We also met Lori who is 14. She has adorable freckles, and her favorite food is pasta. She has learned to knit, crochet, draw, and paint--she even sells the creations she makes to earn money.

We met Joe who is turning 15 soon. He was hesitant to come and meet us as he doubts anyone would want to adopt a 15-year-old. His favorite color is red, and he loves steak. He is such a handsome adolescent.

There were so many more children between 2 and 15 years old. Each child we met was unique and friendly.

We would love to be able to find a family for each of them.

Complete our Prospective Adoptive Parent form to get started.

We then traveled to the Dominican Republic for 3 days to meet with our in-country team. We had the opportunity to learn more about how families live in this beautiful country. We cannot wait to bring more families into this incredible program.

This will definitely be a trip to remember!