TEXT ON SCREEN:
FLAVIA BATTISTIOL PIECES TOGETHER THE LIVES OF HUNDREDS OF MISSING PEOPLE WHO WERE STOLEN AS BABIES DURING ARGENTINA’S MILITARY DICTATORSHIP IN THE 1970s AND 80s. ONE OF THOSE MISSING IS HER OWN SIBLING.

FLAVIA BATTISTIOL: A group of armed men entered our house. They broke the doors and came in, looking for my dad. There was a lot of shouting, that’s what I remember. At the time, I was 3 and a half, and my sister, whose name is Lorena, was 11 months old, and my mom was six months pregnant.

TEXT ON SCREEN: THEIR PARENTS WERE TAKEN TO A DETENTION CAMP. THEY WERE NEVER HEARD FROM AGAIN.

THE SISTERS WENT TO LIVE WITH THEIR MATERNAL GRANDMOTHER, WHO WAS DESPERATE TO FIND OUT WHAT HAD HAPPENED TO THE BABY. SHE JOINED OTHER WOMEN WHO WERE ALSO SEARCHING FOR THEIR GRANDCHILDREN.

MORE THAN THREE DECADES LATER, THE SISTERS CONTINUE THE SEARCH IN ARGENTINA AND VIRTUALLY AROUND THE WORLD.

FLAVIA BATTISTIOL: My sister and I, in this search, for the third one of us that we’re missing, we got the idea to start a blog. It’s in Spanish, English and Italian. And that’s where we go each month, adding pictures of how our kids are growing, what we’re doing, the activities we’re organizing. When we post something to our blog, it gets shared thousands of times.

TEXT ON SCREEN:
ONE OF THE PEOPLE WHO BEGAN FOLLOWING THEIR BLOG WAS PABLO GAONA MIRANDA.

FLAVIA BATTISTIOL: He thought that we were his sisters. Later, he sent us a friend request on Facebook. I never imagined what he suspected.

TEXT ON SCREEN:
TWO YEARS LATER, PABLO GAONA GOT A BLOOD TEST. HE WAS THE 106th GRANDCHILD FOUND.

BUT HE WAS NOT LORENA AND FLAVIA’S BROTHER.

FLAVIA BATTISTIOL: When anyone’s grandchild appears, it’s a celebration. For us, this group of brothers and sisters that is always getting together, when we discover a sibling, it’s happiness, because there’s one less who we have to look for, and it’s one more closer to what we are waiting for.

TEXT ON SCREEN:
EACH YEAR, MORE AND MORE ARGENTINES WHO HAVE DOUBTS ABOUT THEIR HERITAGE TURN TO SOCIAL MEDIA TO FIND ANSWERS AND POSSIBLE RELATIVES.

FLAVIA AND LORENA HOPE THIER SIBLING WILL BE ONE OF THEM.

(END)