Peruvian Ties - Culture, Travel, Adoption & Identity

02/05/2024

Thank you to everyone who joined our webinar last night! We've had an incredible time with our webinar series this year and have learned so much together. We hope you've enjoyed it too!

In exciting news and as a great way to wrap up our winter/spring webinar series, join our Owner and Director, Dr. Tanya Kaanta, as she explores trauma, chronic illness, and healing in relation to adoption. 🌟 Don't miss out on this insightful session!

Register: https://bit.ly/maytanyawebinar

17/04/2024

🕖 Reminder: Join us tonight at 7 PM CST for our "Pre- to Post-Trip: Gathering Your Support Team" webinar!

But wait, we have more! 🎉 We're thrilled to announce our upcoming May webinar featuring the fantastic duo that is Kimiko Kawabori and Kari Grady Grossman!

📅 Save the date for this awesome FREE webinar.
Date: Wednesday, May 1st
Time: 7:00PM CST
Register here: https://bit.ly/AncestralWebinarSignUp

05/04/2024

A virtual meet-up for adoptees of South America and extended Latin Americas!

08/03/2024

Happy International Women's Day to all the incredible souls out there! Today and every day, we celebrate the strength, resilience, and diverse stories of EVERY woman. Here's to honoring every unique journey and embracing the power of inclusivity and equity for all!

Adoptive Family Travel - The Ties Program has always been a woman-owned and operated organization. We are proud to be guided, supported and led by visionary women who bring empathy, support, and inclusivity to heritage travel. Cheers to ALL the incredible women who have been part of our trips, supporting adoptees' journeys along the way! 💖🌍

16/02/2024

12/02/2024

🌟 A heartfelt thank you to everyone who made Jorge's Beach Day possible! 🏖️✨

As many of you know, our beloved Peruvian guide Jorge is one of a kind. His dedication to bringing joy not only to our Peruvian Ties families but also to the children at the Chavez de la Rosa Orphanage in Arequipa is truly inspiring.

For the past 27 years, Jorge has organized a beach day filled with laughter, sunshine, and cherished memories for 60 children and caregivers. Thanks to his unwavering commitment and your generous support, these children get to experience a day of pure joy, complete with ice cream treats and a delicious lunch.

We are immensely grateful for Jorge's dedication to this annual day. And to all our Ties families who have generously contributed to make this day possible year after year, your kindness knows no bounds.

Together, we've created unforgettable moments for the children, and for that, we extend our deepest gratitude. 🙏 Let's continue spreading love and joy wherever we go! 💖

31/01/2024

Hello Peruvian Ties!

Check out our latest updates and let us know if you are interested: https://conta.cc/3SthR3N

Stay tuned for more information, and in the meantime, feel free to reach out with any questions! Email us: [email protected]

17/01/2024

This is a special time of year at Chavez de la Rosa Orphanage in Arequipa. As some of you may know, our Peruvian guide Jorge has a heart of gold. When Peruvian Ties families first started visiting Arequipa, Jorge had love for not only our families, but also for the children at the orphanage in his hometown.

For 27 years, Jorge has organized a beach day of fun in the sun, sand, and water for 60 children and caregivers. The children also get to enjoy a treat of ice cream and lunch. He partners with us to raise funds for the trip, which will cost around $1500 this year.

We love that Jorge has taken this on as one of his life's missions. We love that for years, Peruvian Ties families have generously sent donations to cover this once-a-year "field trip" that brings so much to children who have so little.

Jorge sends us photos of the children every year, and their joy is genuinely heartwarming. Every little bit counts and your contribution will make a difference. Would you be willing to help us reach our goal of $1500?

There are various ways in which you can support Jorge! You can donate online by scanning the QR code. This will take you to our website. The donation button is located at the bottom of the page. Alternatively, you can find the link to donate at the link in our bio. If you prefer to donate by check, please mail a check to World Ties at 2870 17 3/4 Street, Rice Lake, WI 54868. Additionally, you can help us in spreading the word about our efforts to help Jorge by liking and sharing this post!

28/09/2023

For adoptees, our lives don’t begin at placement- our lives begin in utero/at birth. However too often I work with adoptees who were raised in spaces that only fully honor the parts that include adoptive family, seemingly forgetting whole chapters that influenced & impacted our worldviews and challenged our senses of safety.
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“She never had a family until us.”
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“He couldn’t miss birth family, he’s never met them.”
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“You’re being too sensitive, not everything is about adoption.”
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These are examples of phrases- that I have repeatedly heard over the years, that are forgetting the chapters before adoption. These are the phrases that ignore implicit memory, that are rigid rather than curious. These are the phrases that forget we must be looking at adopted children and their experiences through the lens of grief & loss.
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How might our perspective shift about big, challenging behavior , big complicated feelings, struggling to find identity,
High risk behaviors, search & reunion, and other big topics if we were to slow things down and get curious about grief and how it bubbles under the surface - a key factor in all of these.
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For many adoptees, this grief is some of the biggest to hit the system. Often occurring in the most vulnerable developmental stages, which also means it’s occurring in preverbal, pre- explicit memory making phases. How (understandably so) disorienting. We cannot underestimate the impact this has.
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Of course things feel hard when you have lost so much. Of course things feel isolating when there are no solid answers. Of course things feel disorienting when loved ones raise you and will not acknowledge what came before as if it’s a secret, or something to be ashamed about.
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When children are adopted the wholeness of them is adopted, the wholeness of them deserves love & the wholeness of them needs attunement.

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03/08/2023

https://conta.cc/3Kp6428

Exciting things are happening at The Ties Program. For 30 years, we have strived to take international adoptees and their families on extraordinary birth country experiences. We have loved every minu

23/04/2023

Registration for 2023 La Semana Culture Camp has opened! This year's camp will be July 24-28 at Base Camp in Bloomington, MN.

La Semana is a Latin American Adoptee culture day-camp, for children in grades K-12. The week-long, volunteer-run camp is a celebration of Latin American culture and adoption. During camp, a Latin American country is chosen for the focus of the week, campers practice and learn Spanish, attend adoption panel discussions, create cultural crafts, learn traditional Latin American dances, enjoy delicious Latin American food, participate in a service project and challenge themselves with activities such as rock climbing, archery and other team building games. The week ends with a fiesta for the entire family. La Semana is always welcoming new families!

https://www.facebook.com/LaSemanaCultureCamp

La Semana is a Latin American Adoptee culture day-camp in Bloomington, MN

17/04/2023

La Semana Registration is OPEN!

As a reminder, La Semana 2023 will take place at Base Camp in Bloomington, MN this year. Camp will take place July 24-28th. 

06/04/2023

We are once again so thankful to Jorge for finding a way to get the kids safely to the beach, considering the turmoil in Peru. There were a couple of false starts, but he managed to get them there and back and have great fun. Here it is what he wrote to us…

One more year and thanks to all of you the children had another great day at the beach.

Once again the weather favored us, and the children had a nice time connecting with the sand and water.

I want to tell you that after not being able to go for 2 years, going back to the beach with them and feeling their joy reminded me of the first time that they went to the beach so many years ago.

The most important moment this year was hearing them comment and seeing with surprise everything that they observed along the way and specially those going first time looked , felt and heard the sea.

Thank you so much for all the support with the children of Peru.
GOD always bless you and all TIES families.
with love
Jorge.

Thank you Jorge ❤️🙏

19/12/2022

It's that time of year again when Jorge is asked to do something for the children at the Chaves de la Rosa orphanage. Sadly, this year, Peru is in a state of emergency and extreme instability. Jorge, we pray you stay safe. For those of you who would like to help make Christmas at the orphanage merry this year, please donate online using the link below or send a check to World Ties, 2870 17 3/4 Street, Rice Lake, WI 54868.

Machos Gracias to all who continue to help Jorge and the children at La Rosa, who need to know they are loved.

https://www.adoptivefamilytravel.com/latin-america/peru/peruvian-project-kindness

17/11/2022

Only 36% of girls from rural communities in Peru finish secondary school education.

Girls face even more barriers to higher education, with many unable to pursue due to financial issues, an obligation to care for their families and siblings, or traditional roles in .

At Peruvian Hearts, we think every girl deserves the right to choose their own future. That’s why we support our to pursue and accomplish their .

28/06/2022

An important read.

19/01/2022

So happy to share the beautiful pictures from the day YOU helped JORGE create for the children at Chaves de la Rosa. Each child received a new pair of shoes along with socks or stockings. Then, the beachy part of the party was underway. Due to COVID, the kids could not travel to the beach so Jorge brought the beach to the kids! Thank you to the sponsors of this event and thank you to Jorge for continuing the annual tradition of giving these kids a day of fun! It is truly something they look forward to all year!

10/01/2022

This just in… The kids at the orphanage in Arequipa had a wonderful time in the pools!!!Thank you Jorge for caring so much for the children and taking the beach to them in the second year where they have been unable to do their annual outing. Beautiful! I see lots more pictures in my inbox and can’t wait to share them here. Stay tuned. Thank you everyone for helping Jorge make this possible. This is truly one of my favorite things all year. I absolutely love that this continues to happen. ❤️❤️❤️

21/12/2021

Cool.

https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20211210005490/en/Peruvian-Nativity-Scene-Featured-for-Christmas-2021-in-the-Vatican

The traditional manger scene created by the Chopcca Nation, from the Huancavelica region located in Peru's heartland, is shown at St. Peter’s Square.

18/12/2021

Once again this year, the children at Chaves de la Rosa, an orphanage in Arequipa, had been hoping to go to the beach with their guardian angel, Jorge Meza, who was our Pervian Ties guide for many years. Jorge has been asking the director, but has been told no due to the pandemic.

The director went on to explain that many people who had been supporting the children prior to the pandemic are no longer able to do so. That breaks our hearts.

In a continued conversation, we asked if it might be possible to bring a swimming pool to the orphanage--kind of like bringing the beach to the kids!

Thankfully, the director has ok'd a small pool for the children to play in, something that will be nice for the kids throughout the warmer season. Rather than toys as a gift, the director asked that we give each child a pair of shoes to replace their older, ill fitting shoes.

That seems really do-able, practical and fun. The project will take about $1200.

If you would like to contribute to this special holiday gift, please mail a check to World Ties, 2870 17 3/4 Street, Rice Lake, WI 54868 or donate on by credit card at at https://www.paypal.com/donate?token=UYKwXgK8pRPJTK9s6OQzno4YFxMO-EmSIR6ubPDjDM-k-Tj17SeOCHUaA28OWhUVJsNwDk_JVZSpRf80

05/11/2021

Jaclyn Skalnik, aka on Instagram, speaks from a place of experience. In her early 20's, she participated in a Ties trip with her family. She then went on to earn her MSW, led an international adoption program, traveled as Ties travel staff, became a parent, and ultimately opened Adoption Wellness.

Most international adoption programs require parents to travel to the country. Parents, what did you experience when you were in your child's country of origin? Did you experience cultural differences? Were you out of your comfort zone? Did you explore new foods? Did your brain fatigue after hearing a different language? I ask you to pay attention to what you felt while in your child's country, but also, what you did to learn. This minute window offers you a glimpse of the adjustment your kids go through when transplanted to their new country. I oftentimes hear adoptive parents complain about their trip; it was smelly, dirty, poor, etc. Please use judgement when speaking about your child's country. What you say may be interpreted as a reflection of them. Children growing up outside of their culture will feel disconnected and can only rely on what they hear about it from others. Listen, we have smelly, dirty, poor areas here too - so let's be culturally sensitive while also acknowledging the beauty of their country.

Speak early and often about a visit, save $ for it and make it a priority. Your children depend on you to provide them with resources to make connections to their birth culture/country. If your child is reluctant, it may be because it was introduced to them too late. "We're going to take you back to China next summer" vs. "We're going to visit China next summer" are two very different phrases. As parents, the language we use is critical. Talk with your children about what they want to do and see during a visit. Will the whole family travel? Do they want to travel with other adoptees? Do they want to visit tourist places or spaces connected to their life before adoption (orphanage, etc.)? Talk about their expectations of the trip, not yours.

Adoptees need time to prepare for and unpack from a homeland trip. Please make sure they are supported to share their feelings. They deserve an opportunity to visit where they are from as it can really fill in the blanks. Eating takeout from the local Chinese restaurant once a year does not cut it for "exposing them to their birth culture."

01/11/2021

Chaves de la Rosa, an orphanage in Arequipa, has served children for 233 years. Currently 36 children and one baby live there. Recently the children celebrated their First Communion. Our good friend, Jorge, was invited to participate in the celebration. In our opinion, he is an honorary Godfather to each and every one of the children.

19/10/2021

10/10/2021

When children learn the world is random and unpredictable, they move into a state of protection. We all do it. It’s natural.
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When children have experienced attachment trauma, they have been taught that caregivers can be random and unpredictable and their response of self protection often plays out in behavior and relationships. However, regardless of how they respond- caregivers must be intentional and devoted to how attuned and sensitive they are in creating moments of connection for children.
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It’s these moments of connection that fuel attachment and feelings of felt-safety. It is within these healing spaces that children can find a sense of worth and belonging.
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Children who are living from the lens of protection need the presence of connection.
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I see you showing up for the hard and uneasy. I see you creating spaces that enhance peace and validate pain. No one said it was easy. You are not alone 💛