Seventy Colombian orphans will travel to the U.S. on Thursday in the hope of finding a new home, as part of the “Fantasy Vacations” initiative set up by the Colombian Family Welfare institute (ICBF).
The director of the Institute, Elvira Forero, said her priority is to ensure that children who enter the state adoption system don’t grow up without a family.
The children, from different regions around Colombia, will be hosted by American families for an initial six week period. They will be accompanied by guardians who oversee the process, as well as translators.
“We’re not promoting our children. What we seek is to find a father and a mother so these children do not have to continue to grow up in the institute, without a home,” Forero said.
The initiative is four years old, and of the 340 minors who have travelled through this program, 80% found a home in the U.S.
Adoption in Colombia relies heavily on foreign families. Of the 1,510 children successfully adopted this year, 972 went to foreign parents and 538 to Colombians, according to El Tiempo.
“These kids travel with the possibility of finding a home that gives them a new chance for life,” said Forero.