Though hesitant at fi rst to become a foster family, the Arroyos (from left to right, Allison, Elisa, Monica and Francisco) have bonded with Valeria and embrace her as a member of their family.
Francisco Arroyo and his wife, Monica Alquijay, became foster parents almost by accident. They attended a parent meeting at their daughters’ school and came across a brochure about a new program being developed in Guatemala in partnership between the Secretaria de Bienestar Social (Secretary of Social Well- being), Buckner and USAID. Buckner International received a $1 million grant from USAID in 2013 to build an alternative to institutional care for vulnerable children in Guatemala by developing foster care and kinship care. The philosophy behind the Semillas de Esperanza (Seeds of Hope) program is that the healthiest place for a child is within a family. Francisco and Monica expressed a polite interest in the program while talking with the government representative who was distributing information at the school meeting. They left their contact information with the woman, but didn’t really think anything would come of it.
Soon, a social worker called them almost every evening to follow up and discuss the certifi cation process in more detail.
“To be honest, I was afraid in the beginning,” Monica says. She and Francisco didn’t commit right away, but did what they always do before making any big decisions: discuss it as a family. They had a meeting with their daughters, Elisa, 17, and Allison, 12, and spent several days discussing their thoughts and feelings, things that might change and challenges the family would face if they decided to foster. Ultimately, they all agreed to take on this big adventure. The feeling that their family was incomplete was infl uential in their decision.
“Monica always wanted to have three kids,” Francisco says.
“Unfortunately, because of health issues, we couldn’t. So we always had this thorn in us about not being able to add to our family. When we got more information from the social worker, we believed it was an opportunity –”
“That God had orchestrated,” Monica cuts in. “Exactly,” Francisco says.
As soon as they made the decision to move forward, Monica {continued on page 29}
SPRING 2015 ISSUE • Buckner Today 27
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