I'll start with last Tuesday. During the day, I went with Susan, Dilcia, Jose, and Rony to market Prisma in areas where the company doesn't have much of a presence. Basically we walk from "Pulperias" (small shops that sell drinks, chips, and other small items) to other small businesses giving them information about Prisma and taking their information if they seem interested in receiving a loan.
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| From Honduras |
On Tuesday night, after a passing remark about ice cream after dinner, I found myself in a car on the way to Baskin Robbins with Hugo and Donald (Hondurans who rent rooms upstairs) and their friend Benjamin. All three are in college here. Hugo (A.K.A. El Gordo) studies graphic design and the other two study business, so we had something in common. They gave me the best tour of the city that I've had so far. They showed me the President's house, the really nice "Mulitplaza Mall," and took me to the Hotel Honduras Maya where the uncle of a friend from the U.S. works. Unfortunately his shift had not started yet, but maybe another day. They also took me through the nicest neighborhood, "Las Lomas" where the "American School" is as well as some very nice houses and apartments. It's such a shame that even in nice areas they have to have so much security and none of the houses can have yards.
Unfortunately, later that night, I received news from my parents that my grandpa Maxey had passed away. For the last two years, he had lived in Orlando with a caretaker and then in my uncle's house because of his declining health. Although our family and others will really miss him, he is in a much better place and in much better condition now. Needless to say, I returned home to be with my family and attend the visitation and funeral. On Thursday I flew back out of Tegucigalpa and returned yesterday (Sunday). The time at home, although sad, was really refreshing. I was so happy to see my parents and my sisters, as well as my extended family and many friends.
After a whirlwind, 3 day trip, Lucy (who has been more than hospitable) picked me up at the airport and took me to Santa Lucia where we ate at a quaint restaurant in the middle of the town. The city was full of tourists but for good reason. It reminded me of what I always think of as a little colonial Spanish town. The fresh air contrasted with the polluted city and the mountains surrounding the town were so beautiful!
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| From Honduras |
After Santa Lucia, we went to Valle de Angeles, another beautiful small town. There we walked around the city again and saw even more "gringos." It's interesting that after almost two weeks of being here, I had not seen any other North Americans since yesterday.
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| From Honduras |
Today it was back to the office for me. I went to the Loma Linda office and sat in on a few meetings for the administrative assistants from all five offices. The first meeting discussed a new tool from Equifax (the credit rating agency) that will automatically approve or reject an application for credit. The tool will not actually be used to accept or reject rather it will be used to help the committees view consolidated data to make decisions about the applications.
Tomorrow I will go back to the Pedregal office where I will go out with Dilcia to do Kiva follow-ups. I am excited to finally see some of the positive parts of the microfinance business!
I've posted another video and many more pictures that you can view on the left side of the page.
I also encourage you to comment on the blog with anything you'd like to know!
