Lucy Hood is an award-winning journalist and fluent Spanish speaker with extensive experience reporting on issues related to Latin American politics, the immigrant experience, and education. As a foreign correspondent for United Press International, she covered Guatemala’s decades-long civil war, its first democratic presidential election in 30 years, its transition from military to civilian rule, and its myriad social issues, including a thriving baby trade.
Her work looking into what then were highly corrupt adoption practices led decades later to an encounter with a similar topic and forthcoming book. This time the focus is on a Guatemalan-born woman who, as an infant, went to the United States for medical treatment and didn't return until her birth family tracked her down via Facebook 35 years later. Her story, as well as those of her birth family and her host family, is full of good intentions, although often misguided and sometimes gone horribly awry. Mostly, though, it’s a story of perseverance, of one family’s unrelenting dedication to finding their long-lost child and the subsequent healing of once gaping wounds.
Lucy is also on the lookout for new, exciting freelance opportunities and is eager to talk to editors about a range of story ideas. If it involves travel or an opportunity for her to use her bilingual skills, all the better. Please contact her with any inquiries, and check out her blog, Ground Views, which chronicles her journeys in Latin America and her various areas of expertise: education, immigration, and a burgeoning interest in improv.