Never Look A Gift Horse....

We ended up with a perfectly good desk top computer. It was one of those could you store this for a little while for me kinda things.




As you may remember one of my hopes it that Dulce the young girl who cleans for us will stay in school. It would be sooooo cool if she made it all the way through high school but that might be more then what she wants. I would be very happy if you would graduate from secondary school. Then she would have a marketable tech skill. But even this goal is difficult to accomplish. At seventeen all her friends are thinking about getting married and having babies. In this fantasy you do not need an education, because your knight in shining armor will marry you, support you and the kids and stay with you forever.






But the reality isn't even close. Dulce and her two brothers are being raised and totally supported by her single mom, Irma. Irma works 6 days a week as a house keeper and earns the equivalent of $13 (US) a day. Dulce's father lives in a shack, with no electricity, gas, or an indoor kitchen. When he works if he is lucky makes $4.00 a day as a house painter. For Dulce and her friends this is the reality of their future.

However Dulce knows that an education is one way for her to have a chance to change this reality. I must confess that I worry from week to week that she will stay in school. The peer pressure she faces on a daily basis can wear down even the most determined person. Any time or thing that LW and I can do to help her maintain her determination we are up for.

Did I tell you we had this perfectly good computer?? After visiting with Irma the three of us worked up a bit of an incentive for Dulce. She has been after her mom for months to buy a computer. Even with both their incomes a computer is out of reach. To borrow the money here would mean a 45% interest rate!! Yep in some countries that's call extortion :( So LW and I worked up a contract with Irma as the enforcer for Dulce to buy this computer. First she must come up with a $300 (pesos) down payment. Then she must make weekly payments for the remainder of the $1500 (pesos) sale amount. Side note for the peso challenged, the peso to dollar exchange is 14 to 1, so that's not a bad deal at all. :)

But that's not the end of the contract. As for the rest of it : she must maintain the equivalent of a 75 GPA, stay in school until she is 18. She must live with her mom and she must make the monthly payment for the DSL hookup. If she violates the contract Irma is to cancel the DSL service and reposses the computer.

The contract was to be signed today after Dulce was finished cleaning. Martha would translate the contract and be here to interpret cuz our Spanish isn't that dependable yet. LW would go through clean up and delete the old owner's "files" No big deal right?? :) Should be a 1-2 night job, right?? No problem with signing the contract, making the down payment and taking Dulce and her new computer home on Saturday (today) right?? Okay well maybe one little problem. The old owner an acquaintance at best had a bit of shall we say in polite circles "adult material" Actually no that's not true it was down and out pornography ;( and there was FAR more then a bit :( In fact LW has yet to open a file that didn't lead to another file of.... you got it. Thank goodness it has only been adult, cuz if there had been any children involved the old owner would be on a life time all expense paid "vacation" ..... Okay then climbing off that soap box. So every so often over on LW's side of the room you could hear a naughty word or two followed by "jeez not another one!! I had no idea there was that many sites out there!!" On my side of the room you could hear barely concealed laughter, and yes Lulu a snort or two, but just ever so quietly :) Well that was until I heard... "I guess he never believed his mother when she told him he'd go blind..." Then we both looked at each other and fell off our chairs laughing!!! :)



Contract to be signed in a few days :)

On that note I bid you good day, must go gussy up, tonight is Saturday Date Night ;) Have a most audacious day or evening Bloglandians, depending on where in the world you are ;)