Help. If you want to...

We thought long and hard about posting this here, but if we can't use our popularity for something worthwhile then what good is it anyhow.

Here's the story...

We have an adopted family in Mexico. They live in a small village about 7 kms outside of Puerto Escondido. We met them in February of 2009 when we were traveling through the area with our motorhome. We made a wrong turn, and it was the best thing we ever did. Eight days later, we were the witnesses at their wedding.

A rural Mexican wedding.

Fast forward to April of 2012. A baby boy enters the family. His name is Gael. We visited the family again in January of 2013.

Gael, having a bath!

But baby Gael was having some medical problems. There were a lot of doctor visits, and eventually we learned that he had a condition similar to hydrocephalus (commonly known as "water on the brain"). He had to be brought 200 kms north to the city of Oaxaca for tests and then an operation was scheduled for July of 2013.

All of this costs money, and even though the Mexican social medical system paid for most of it, the family used up all of it's meager savings during the time for transportation and medicine and other related expenses. 

The operation took place, and thankfully little Gael seems to be fine now!

Gael, a couple of weeks ago.

But we learned that the family took out a very costly loan to cover some of their expenses. Gael's father is employed full time, six days a week. He earns about 6,000 pesos ($475) per month working at the local dairy.

He owes about $1,000 on this loan, but it's at a ridiculous rate of interest and we understand that they've paid off nothing on the principal. Doesn't sound like a lot of money to you and I, but they can't get ahead because of it.

We want to pay off the loan for them. I know that Gael's father will want to pay us back, but we don't want to be paid back. Having said that, we figured that maybe some of you would want to help as well. This is a good, hard working family, and they deserve it. 

Even though our goal has been reached, I've had several people who still want to contribute, so I'll leave the "donate" button there for a while longer and we'll send them some extra money as well! Thanks to everyone who felt this was a worthwhile cause!!!

You can donate via paypal. All credit cards accepted, or simply a paypal transfer. We'll leave this up until Monday, and we will personally make up the difference between your donations and the $1,000 they need. No amount is too small. We have a lot of readers and if a lot of people donate $5, $10, or $20 it will add up quickly!

Thanks for your help everyone. We'll update you as things go along.