There are several main kinds of people in South America. Amerindians, the original inhabitants of the land. White, being people of European descent. Mestizo, people of mixed White and Amerindian descent. Mulattos, people of mixed black and white descent. Zambos, people of mixed black and Amerindian descent. In the U.S. the term Mulatto has become a bit of a slur. People still use it, but many people of mixed heritage do not like it and prefer to be called Multiracial (though to me this sounds like they should be of 3 or more heritages, not 2.) Also, in America, Zambo, which we pronounce Sambo, does not mean the same thing anymore. It used to mean a person of mixed black/Amerindian heritage, but then came to be a slave name, and recently it has become a racial slur for blacks. In the U.K. it is used as a racial slur for people of mixed black and white heritage. But I use it here as they use it in South America, as only a term for people of Black and Indian heritage.
Colombia- is a Hague convention country. To adopt you must be over 25 years old. They prefer married couples, who must be married for at least 3 years, over single applicants. Singles cannot adopt children younger than 7, and they will only allow singles(man or woman) to adopt on a case by case basis.
The majority of people in Colombia are mestizo. Whites are the next largest group. Mulattos, make up the third largest group. The pure Native peoples make up the last and smallest group. These people often live on reservations and try to keep their cultures alive, speaking their own languages as well as learning Spanish. Many of them also try to keep their native pagan religion in a country that is overwhelmingly Roman Catholic. This religion is similar to that of the ancient Incas, with shamans and priests, many gods and goddesses and spirits. Pachamama, the Earth mother is a major deity.
Colombia is well known in America for its drug lords and cartels, guerrillas and high homicide rates. But it is so much more and better than that. Colombia is a place with striking cities and peasant villages. It is a strange place where the modern and medieval worlds coexist. The country was named after the explorer Christopher Columbus.
City Kids
Rural kids, they look like the old pictures of peasants
Amerindian Village girls
Venezuela-is a difficult country to adopt from if you are not Venezuelan. There seem to only be 2 kids adopted per year internationally. They will try everything to find a home for the child with relatives, friends of the family, and then other Venezuelans before they even think of International adoption, which is how it should be, as long as the kids find loving homes. The process of adopting from here can be long and even after gaining custody, you have a year fostering phase before the adoption is complete. I am not sure if you have to stay in Venezuela that year or if you can leave, I will check into that more. Also, with their current Socialist government and Anti-American president, Hugo Chavez, there will be problems. The majority of the people are mestizo, with whites the second largest group, an unknown number of blacks and a small number of still full-blooded Natives. Over 90% of the people are Roman Catholic.
City kids at the beach
Rural kids (with a white boy missionary)
Guyana-only allows Guyanese citizens to adopt, or former Guyanese nationals. Guyana is strange in that almost half the population is made up of people originally from India, called Hindoestanis. The second largest group is Blacks. These two seem to have conflicts with each other. Next are people of mixed heritage and last are the Native peoples. The largest religion is Christianity, with Hinduism as the second.
This boy looks like a Zambo
The boy in the foreground looks very much Hindoestani
Suriname-the neighbor of Guyana and French Guiana. To adopt you need to be at least 18 years oldwe than the child. If you are married, be married for at least 3 years. If you are single, you need to be older than 25. Despite the lack of restrictions, few children are adopted from here. Like Guyana, a sizable percentage of the people are of Hindoestan(from India) heritage. The two next largest groups are people of Javanese heritage and the Maroons (descendents of escaped African slaves that still adhere to their own religion, Winti.) Next are mixed people, then the Native Amerindians and then some Brazilian Immigrants (they are recent arrivals) and some Chinese descendents of 19th century contract workers. There is no one dominant religion here, and people can be Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Winti and other Afro-Carribean religions, and Native religions. I like the idea of adopting from Surname, as you have no idea what child you will get and if you can't decide on race/color then this would be a great place to try. Also, if you are interested in adopting an India kid or Asian, and you can't afford to fly across the world, here would be a good place, just remember that when you teach them about their ancestral culture, you also teach them about Suriname. Though I will say that looking over the programs I see, most of the children available for adoption are black/Afro-Carribean. And if you have read my other posts, then you know how I feel about that, if you are going to adopt a black child(and you are an American) look in country first, as there are far too many in the foster care system that need good homes.
Maroon kids
I seriously can't tell what race most of these kids are,
but they are cute, so enjoy them as they are.
Suriname girl with her brother
Amazonian Amerindian or Zambo kids
(I love his smile, its so infectious)
Shy boy
French Guiana-is still a part of France. I don't see anything about it, so if you want to adopt from there, contact the French embassy and try. The closest American embassy is in Surname.
Ecuador-is a Hague country. You must be in Ecuador for the finalization of the adoption process, which can last 3 to 4 weeks. You must also remain for an additional week afterwards. It is this month long in country stay that keeps many people away from adopting here. You must be 14 years older than the youngest child you adopt (if a group) and if you are single and are allowed to adopt a child of opposite gender than you, you must be 30 years older than the child. They do not usually allow singles to adopt a child of the opposite gender, but on occassion the do if you were given a favorable report. Of course, married and single people can adopt. You are only allowed to adopt 2 children at a time, unless they are a sibling group.
The majority of the people are Mestizos, with Amerindians are the second largest group, Whites as the third (but only at 7% of the population) and Mulattos and Zambos round it out at the last 3%. The people are overwhelmingly Roman Catholic, with some Indigenous religions still practiced in the country and a lot of synchretization of the 2 religions going on throughout the country. The mormons are going to work down there, and have a growing number of followerers. I really don't like mormons and their conversion happy ways, it also has to do with the fact that when I was in Korea, I refused to talk to a couple of their missionaries and they called me a fag for that. I don't want to be converted and I don't appreciate you people going around spreading your cult.
This has got to be one of the cutest boys I have ever seen.
He reminds me of my son, who dressed like that in the summer in Korea.
I would snatch this kid up in a second as my son.
Peru-only allows children that have been found legally abandoned or orphaned to be adopted internationally. That means no private adoptions, unless you are a blood relative. Both singles and married couples can adopt, but they have very specific age regulations for them. If you are married and between 25-43 you may adopt a child up to the age of 3, married and between 44-50 you may adopt a child between 3-6 years old, married and between 51-55 you may adopt a child 6 and older. Singles must be between 35-50 and may adopt children 5 and older.
Peru is one of the countries I still wish to visit. It's Incan history, Indigenous peoples and their culture and art interest me. Most of the people are Amerindian, the second largest group are the mestizos, leaving 15% of the population white and 3% everyone else. Most of the people are Catholic or some other Christian group, but I know there are a large number of people that still practice the old ways, especially in the rural communities. Shamans still abound and it is a shame that the government census there does not recognise it. The name Peru comes from a local Amerindian ruler there at the time of the Spanish arrival, Biru'. They speak Spanish, but many people also speak native languages, like Quechua.
Amerindian kids wearing traditional clothes
I love this kids expression.
City kids on the street
Bolivia-only allows legal residents to adopt. If you are a legal resident, or married to one, then you must be between 25-50 years old and 15 years older than the child you adopt. Married couples and singles can adopt. Most people are Amerindian, with mestizos next and whites last. Most people are Roman Catholic, though many people also practice the old religions, and mix the 2 together. The country was named after Simon Bolivar, a man who helped several South American countries gain independence from Spain. The people are very similar to their Peruvian neighbors.
Chile-is a Hague country. They only allow married couples between the ages of 25 and 60 to aodpt. You must be 20 years older than the child. Not too many kids get adopted from Chile.
Most of the people in Chile are of White European ancestry, with most of the others being Mestizo (about 40% of the population.) Only a little more than 3% of the people are still full or near full blooded Amerindians. Most of the people are Roman Catholic, with all the other Christian groups the next most populous. There don't appear to be any Indigenous religions left in the country. They speak their own dialect of Spanish and English is also the language most taught in schools as a foriegn language. There are also a group of German speaking peoples there. When I was in University, years ago, a large group of young Chileans came to study. They were a great group of guys, very nice, easy to talk to and their fashion sense was similar to the 1960's and 70's.
Argentina-only allows Argentina citizens and permanent resident aliens who have resided there for at least 5 years to adopt. That is unfortunate, as the majority of the people there are of European descent (mostly Italian and Spanish) and they are a lot like Americans and Canadians. They even have cowboys, one of the few countries to have them other than America (Australia has them too, these are the only 3 that I know of.) They even have the Pink House(Casa Rosada,) which is just like the White House (a few other countries have these too, like Korea has the Blue House.)
The kid in the baseball hat is of obvious Italian descent
(at least it is obvious to me, I have seen many Italian American boys that look like him)
Uruguay-they do not generally like International adoption there and require you to stay in country with the child for 6 months before the adoption is finalized. After you apply for an adoption there, they will waitlist you for up to 4 or more years before matching you with a child. A judge can reduce the time if s/he feels it is in the best interest of the child, but I know of no one this was done to. They time is just too long and only 1 child has been adopted internationally in the last 10 years. There are 2 types of adoption in Uruguay, Simple and Legitimating. You do NOT want Simple, you want Legitimating. Most of the people are of European descent and are Roman Catholic. 10% of the population is black and many follow Macumba and Umbanda, Afro-Carribean religions from Brazil.
Paraguay-has similar rules to Argentina, only that there is no time frame for permanant alien residents. The country itself is similar to its neighbors, Uruguay and Argentina in regards to population and religion.
Brazil-seems to be the easiest country to adopt from. If you are a single man trying to adopt internationally(and trust me, as a single man, I already know how hard it is,) Brazil is the best place for you. You can be married or single, with no lower limit to the number of years you need to be married before you are allowed to adopt. There is only one problem that many people have with adopting from Brazil, and that is the 30 day stay in country with the child before they allow it to be finalized. This is a fostering period to make sure you and the child will be okay together and also so that you can experience their culture. Children mostly available for international adoption are going to be older, between 9 and 12, or other hard to place children, like sibling groups and special needs children. Any child over the age of 12 has to approve of their own adoption.
I personally think that many Brazilians are absolutely beautiful. The mix of features they have is just perfect. They have a different view of race than we do here, so don't be surprised if someone you think of as black, would be considered white, but that is one of the many things I like about the people there. Almost half the people are considered as white, with almost another half thought of as "brown." In America, a brown person would usually be a Latino but in Brazil brown means someone of Multiracial descent, whether mulatto, mestizo(caboclos in Portuguese), zambo(cafuzos in Portuguese) or all the above. They call them Pardo, but in English just call them Brown. Less than 7% of the population is thought of as Black. 0.58% are Asian, a lot of Japanese moved there after WWII, and only a small 0.28% are full Amerindian. The people are mostly Roman Catholics, but there this is the home of a couple of Afro-Carribean religions such as Macumba and Umbanda. The Amazonian indians still practice their animist/shamanic religions as well. If I adopt internationally again (which I probably will when I get the money together) Brazil will probably be the country I do it from. The only problem will be the month long stay and Brazil is known for being a dangerous country, so I will not be bringing my current sons(I have one already and am working on getting my home study done so I can get my second son, already chosen and waiting for me and I for him) with me for the stay. I can't imagine them not being with me for that long.
Steet boy, how can you say no to this boy
Brazilian girls
Boys in the Amazon
Cafuzo/Zambo boys, the one on the left is quite handsome, he got a good mix, the one on the right looks good too, but needs a haircut
Amerindian or Mestizo/Caboclos boys.
The older boy in the front looks a little like Lou Diamond Phillips.
Tepkatchi Amerindian boy, 11 years old and already knows how to live in the Amazon on his own
Afro-Carribean/Black boys of Brazil, though the boy in the front looks more mulatto
I will work on Central America next time.
