NEWS/BLOG

Computers for World’s Poorest Kids

A nonprofit group is offering rugged, inexpensive laptop computers for children in developing countries. The One Laptop per Child Foundation was founded in 2005 by Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor Nicholas Negroponte. OLPC’s stated mission is to “provide a means for learning, self-expression, and exploration” to the nearly two billion children in remote areas of the developing world by means of low-cost XO laptops.

Online textbooks, math and science projects, dictionaries, geographies, histories, social studies, health and nutrition courses are presented in local languages and customized for a particular region or group. Children are given the computers at school then take them home. Where they’re in use, the computers boost school attendance and enthusiasm for learning.

OLPC has launched its “Give one, get one” program. Between November 12 and November 26, 2007, you can donate one XO laptop to a child in a developing nation, and also receive one for yourself or a child you know for just $399. Go to www.LaptopGiving.org/

The Taiwan company Quanta Computer is manufacturing the extra-sturdy green and white laptop, designed especially for children. The computer has already been ordered for children in Uruguay and Peru. Meanwhile, though, the cost to produce it have risen from $100 to $188.

At the same time, large tech companies such as Intel are developing their own low-cost computers to compete with OLPC in poor countries. Developing low-cost computers is a good thing, of course, but undercutting the efforts of a nonprofit foundation is not.

Women Can’t Win Anywhere

Is inspiring others the most important characteristic of leaders? People in the U.S. and England think so, but in the same survey they ranked women as less adept at this than men. In Nordic countries women were seen as being inspirational, but in these countries “delegating” rated higher in importance for leaders and women were not seen as good at delegating.

These findings are from a survey of 935 alumni of the International Institute for Management Development in Switzerland. The survey was conducted by Catalyst, an organization that studies women in the workplace. As might be expected, the conception of an ideal leader varied from place to place. In some areas, a team builder was seen as ideal while in others, problem solvers ranked the highest. However, whatever trait was most valued, women were seen as lacking it! The survey was cited in a recent article by Lisa Belkin, “The Feminine Critique,” in The New York Times.

Isolation Has Tragic Consequences

A British woman who lived in Paredón, near Alicante, Spain, was brutally murdered during a robbery in her home, while her bedridden husband heard her screams but was unable to come to her rescue. This is an extreme example of what expatriates face in Spain, where unemployment is on the rise with a corresponding increase in robberies.

Expats are often perceived as being rich although, of course, many are not. The robbers in Spain are thought to be gangs from countries other than Spain.

Charles Svoboda, a former Canadian diplomat living in Alicante, who frequently provides reports to liveabroad.com, told a Times reporter, that expatriates are increasingly the victims of robberies. He added in a note to us that the British living in Spain usually speak little or no Spanish, which makes it difficult for them to communicate with local police or to give testimony during trials.

Isolation is a major issue for expatriates. Svoboda commented on the situation in Spain, “A lot of expats either live in very isolated areas, or in built-up areas where very few people live all year around. A lot of them do not talk to each other. The British do not talk to the Germans, the Germans do not talk to the Swiss and nobody talks to the French, so you get these people who are very isolated and who are perfect pickings for gangs.”

Wherever you are, there’s something to be said for getting to know your neighbors, whether they are local people or other expats.

Mexico Offers Care for Elders

Some would-be expats find it difficult to leave the U.S. or Canada because of aging parents who may need their care or who already do. Also, some retirees are hesitant about moving to another country because they’re concerned about what may happen if they themselves become disabled.

Now, though, moving to Mexico is increasingly an affordable option for those seeking special care for their parents or for themselves. As baby boomers reach retirement age, assisted living facilities and nursing homes are springing up in or near the most popular expat havens such as Baja California, Lake Chapalla/Ajijic and San Miguel de Allende.

At the same time, the news about U.S. nursing homes is anything but good. Increasingly, these facilities are owned by large private equity firms like the Carlyle Group and Warburg Pincus. As The New York Times pointed out in a recent article, the labyrinthine structure of ownership makes it next to impossible for regulators to identify which company is responsible when abuses occur. This also serves to protect owners from lawsuits. More details are provided in the article “More Profit and Less Nursing at Many Nursing Homes.”

Retirement homes, assisted living facilities and nursing homes are different designations in the U.S. although they are sometimes combined in one facility. In looking at facilities in Mexico and elsewhere, it’s especially important to find out what services are provided. It also makes sense to ask other expats about what they know of a given facility.

A retirement village might be appropriate for healthy individuals who want to live adjacent to other seniors in individual cottages or apartments. Assisted living means just that, some assistance with daily tasks. Some or all meals would be provided, though residents have their own apartment with their own possessions around them. Nursing homes provide or are supposed to provide additional care and supervision for persons who need considerable help.

Unfortunately, a lot of reporting blurs the differences between these different facilities. In the U.S., Medicare pays for a limited length of stay in a nursing facility after an individual is discharged from a hospital, but offers no help with assisted living facilities, which can cost several thousand dollars a month. Out-of-pocket costs for nursing care, once Medicare stops paying, are even more.

At Casa de Ancianos in Lake Chapala, Mexico, retirees live in individual cottages, receive three meals a day and have, if needed, 24-hour nursing care all for just $550 a month, a fraction of costs for a similar facility in the U.S.  Lake Chapala is adjacent to Ajijic and a half hour from Guadalajara. Casa de Ancianos uses revenues from U.S. residents to subsidize the cost of 20 Mexican residences. Ajijic has the facilities, El Paraiso and Casa Nostra.

In Ensenada in Baja California near the U.S. border, there is Residencia Lourdes, where the cost is about $1200 per month, compared to $4000 a month in California. Also in Baja, the Tijuana Economic Development Council is seeking funding from Mexican government to build more retirement homes for independent living and assisted living.