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 Vallarta Living | December 2006 
Pierce County Computers Will Help Children in Rural Mexico
 PVNN
| | Children in the Mexican village of San Pancho will benefit from a plan to donate surplus Pierce County computers. The effort is spearheaded by Bill Garrison, chief investigator for the county prosecutor's office. (Pierce County) |
Surplus Pierce County computers are about to begin a new role helping Mexican children to learn. Fifty computers complete with monitors are being cleaned and serviced before being shipped to Mexico for the children of San Pancho, a fishing village an hour’s drive north of Puerto Vallarta.
The shipment was arranged by Bill Garrison of the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office. “Computers are all but unknown in the average family residence, and access to technology is almost nonexistent,” Garrison said. “The need is enormous.”
Garrison, chief investigator for the prosecutor’s office, has been working for months to arrange for the shipment, which is scheduled in late December or early January. Alaska Airlines will transport the computers to Puerto Vallarta at a significantly reduced price. Garrison originally planned to take them to Mexico by truck.
The project still has cash and equipment needs, and he reluctantly is letting county employees know that in the event some want to help. “I basically just decided that I am going to make this happen. There is no group conducting fundraisers -- just a few friends that are providing help and support,” he said.
Tax-deductible contributions can be made to Computer Technology Investigators Northwest, a nonprofit organization that works with law enforcement agencies. The computers were donated to CTIN, which in turn will donate them to another nonprofit, Entre-Amigos. Cash donations can be sent to CTIN, c/o Franklin Clark, PO Box 1417, Puyallup, WA 98371. Clark is CTIN’s executive board president.
Air freight, customs broker and local trucking costs are estimated at between $1,000 and $1,500. While computers and monitors are provided, Garrison needs such equipment as surge protectors, routers and DSL modems.
Garrison and his wife, Karen, first visited San Pancho (also known as San Francisco) 10 years ago. “It is an unspoiled and beautiful piece of paradise located away from the elite resorts that seem to be everywhere in the Mexican Riviera,” he said. “We fell in love with the community and returned year after year, eventually buying a small lot and building a casita for our retirement. The people are honest and hardworking, and the community became special to us.”
They discovered that the local government lacked tax revenue and was unable to provide adequate services. School suppies and textbooks are in short supply. Most kids quit school to take menial jobs. Technology is virtully nonexistent -- even the Mayor’s Office handles its daily business using a manual typewriter with carbon paper. “The sad thing is that these are bright people, most of whom are bilingual and have the potential to succeed if given the chance,” Garrison said.
The Garrisons became acquainted a couple years ago with Nicole Swedlow, who founded Entre-Amigos in California to help the San Pancho children.
She organized a school with classes in reading, English, Spanish, art, swimming, ecology and even yoga. She solicited the local expatriate community to buy textbooks. “Karen and I donated $250 to buy textbooks for the 8th grade,” he said.
Swedlow worked with both the local and state governments. The result was creation of Bilioteca San Pancho, the village’s first library services. “Soon the need for access to computers and the Internet became obvious,” he said.
Garrison contacted Pierce County Information Technology, and 50 surplus computers were given new life, so to speak.
“These computers will be incredibly useful to the kids of San Pancho,” he said. “They could change their futures greatly for the better.” |
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