Arancha Bonete.

While "saving the children" generally ranks just below "world peace" on a beauty contestant's wish list, Spanish model Arancha Bonete put some substance behind the cliche in April, donating US$10,000 to pay for medicine for impoverished Maya children in the Yucatan Peninsula.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

The 26-year-old from Valencia was visiting Mexico for the first time when she made the donation--which came out of her prize money for winning Playboy TV's Miss Latin America and Iberia 2004 competition--and the altruistic act led to frontpage stories in Reforma and Universal.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

"I did it not to look like a good girl but simply to live up to the ideal of helping those who most need it," she said.

Cynics would say that the donation was a publicity stunt by the adult cable channel, considering the announcement was made during Bonete's promotional visit to the National Cable Television Convention in Merida. If it was, it certainly paid off, with the ensuing national news coverage dominated by full-body photos of the philantropist.

But regardless of her motivation, the money was sorely needed, according to the grateful representatives from the local affiliate of Doctors Without Borders, the French-based international organization associated with helping refugees from military conflicts.

While not a war zone and generally known for its world-class tourist destinations, the Yucatan does suffer from a lack of public services in rural areas, and many of the community pharmacies and hospitals in indigenous-populated zones reportedly suffer from shortages of basic pediatric medicine. Perhaps Bonete's contribution will bring exposure to this problem, rather than just to the Spaniard's cleavage and the cable network that peddles it.

Charities in Mexico are often political ploys (First Lady Martha Sahagun's Vamos Mexico has been widely ridiculed as "Vamos Marta") or woefully underfinanced (Red Cross volunteers often panhandle on street corners and in subways). Representatives from Doctors Without Borders expressed their hope that the Bonete contribution will raise awareness of the medical problems besetting rural Mexico and the need for non-governmental organizations' cooperation to tackle them.

As Bonete boarded her flight back to her home in Miami (where she hangs out with tennis star Anna Kournikova, which she said she enjoys as it allows her to go relatively unnoticed), she expressed the hope that her five-figure donation made a difference, not just in expanding the late-night cable market in Latin America, but also in helping young Maya stay healthy.