The Story so far ???..
For the past 7 years (apart from a short period when she was hospitalised) we have had the same domestic help working for us. She was "Acquired" as the Domestic who came with the first house we purchased (her Mother) retired. The Mother could not adapt to the new ways of working - cleaning rather than moving dust from room to room - but Mercedes adapted very nicely & has remained with us ever since. We are VERY happy with her, we are happy to pay her over rate income & have recommended her to friends for the time we do not need her.
Mercedes, over the 7 years with us, has been able to do many things to her house & improve the 'Lot' of her family by receiving small gifts from us, (used cooker, fridge, clothes, footwear etc.). Her house is perhaps the best kept & modified in her area & she is very house-proud making sure too that her children keep it that way as well. However, every heavy downpour that hits her barrio produces a flood into her house because it is set too low in relation to the path of the rainfall & when the nearby river busts it's banks ?? well, the whole house gets waterlogged & full of thick mud. Somehow, & FAR beyond my comprehension, she always manages to turn up at our house looking clean & span AND with a cheerful disposition!!
Now read on ??..
As it is now the drier period of Puerto Plata summer, she wants to put her house on a higher level. Her daughter has vacated the ground alongside & Mercedes wishes to put decent foundations down, raise the level to a height that eliminates the chance of even the burst bank scenario getting water into her house. She also hopes to put concrete blocks up as walls (she has a Zinc roof purchased over the years with loans made from us, but still has the wooden walls!!).
Regrettably I can not afford to pay for all this so thought I would ask for the assistance of the contributors to this board. It would be a wonderful surprise to her if I could say one morning "Here Mercedes, go build your new house" & show her an account book that she can draw from. My estimation is that US $2,000 would be sufficient to make a GOOD start on the rebuilding of the house as I expect she will get local help to actually do the work free of charge.
So, if anyone feels they would like to contribute US $10 or so, let me know & we will arrange a "SAFE" means for holding the money until we have collected sufficient to make the project work. This will most likely be into an account set up specifically for Mercedes (NO, I won't be able to get MY hands on to it!!) so that you can send it direct or make transfers to the US $ account of a Financier contact of mine, rather than using the less reliable regular postal systems.
NB. I will put up 20% of all monies received into this account, so PLEASE, don't contribute too much!!! I can't afford it!!
Many thanks if you have read this far, ?.. I hope we can help Mercedes fulfill one of her dreams. - Grahame.
For the past 7 years (apart from a short period when she was hospitalised) we have had the same domestic help working for us. She was "Acquired" as the Domestic who came with the first house we purchased (her Mother) retired. The Mother could not adapt to the new ways of working - cleaning rather than moving dust from room to room - but Mercedes adapted very nicely & has remained with us ever since. We are VERY happy with her, we are happy to pay her over rate income & have recommended her to friends for the time we do not need her.
Mercedes, over the 7 years with us, has been able to do many things to her house & improve the 'Lot' of her family by receiving small gifts from us, (used cooker, fridge, clothes, footwear etc.). Her house is perhaps the best kept & modified in her area & she is very house-proud making sure too that her children keep it that way as well. However, every heavy downpour that hits her barrio produces a flood into her house because it is set too low in relation to the path of the rainfall & when the nearby river busts it's banks ?? well, the whole house gets waterlogged & full of thick mud. Somehow, & FAR beyond my comprehension, she always manages to turn up at our house looking clean & span AND with a cheerful disposition!!
Now read on ??..
As it is now the drier period of Puerto Plata summer, she wants to put her house on a higher level. Her daughter has vacated the ground alongside & Mercedes wishes to put decent foundations down, raise the level to a height that eliminates the chance of even the burst bank scenario getting water into her house. She also hopes to put concrete blocks up as walls (she has a Zinc roof purchased over the years with loans made from us, but still has the wooden walls!!).
Regrettably I can not afford to pay for all this so thought I would ask for the assistance of the contributors to this board. It would be a wonderful surprise to her if I could say one morning "Here Mercedes, go build your new house" & show her an account book that she can draw from. My estimation is that US $2,000 would be sufficient to make a GOOD start on the rebuilding of the house as I expect she will get local help to actually do the work free of charge.
So, if anyone feels they would like to contribute US $10 or so, let me know & we will arrange a "SAFE" means for holding the money until we have collected sufficient to make the project work. This will most likely be into an account set up specifically for Mercedes (NO, I won't be able to get MY hands on to it!!) so that you can send it direct or make transfers to the US $ account of a Financier contact of mine, rather than using the less reliable regular postal systems.
NB. I will put up 20% of all monies received into this account, so PLEASE, don't contribute too much!!! I can't afford it!!
Many thanks if you have read this far, ?.. I hope we can help Mercedes fulfill one of her dreams. - Grahame.
