Made it!

So I made it to Honduras in one piece. I was a little worried about landing in the airport because everyone talks about the difficult landing. Apparently I wasn't alone because when the plane landed smoothly, everyone applauded! Fortunately, when I came through Customs, they told me I would be allowed to stay for 90 days rather than the 30 days they allow all tourists.

After I finally got my suitcase, I walked out and met Lucy, the "administradora" of Prisma. She's great! Most of my communication so far had been with her and it was great to meet her in person. When we left she asked me where I wanted to go and, considering I don't know anyone else here nor do I really know anything about Honduras, we went to the mall. Passing the Dunkin Donuts, Fridays, and Burger King, we went into a store that is not called Wal-Mart but is apparently owned by Wal-Mart and is exactly the same as Wal-Mart in the U.S. The amount of people shopping was incredible, more than I've seen in a superstore like it in the States.

Before lunch we stopped by the Prisma office where I met most of the employees. They were working late because it's the end of the month and they have to make sure all the accounts are closed and in order. Their normal work hours are Monday-Friday 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Saturdays from 8 a.m. to noon. Lucy isn't totally sure what I'll be doing but she says I will be visiting the people who receive loans from Prisma and putting their stories on Kiva.

Now I'm at Lucy's house where we just lunch with some of her family and friends here. The food was delicious! They kept telling me that I'm going to be fat by the time I leave because the food is so good here! My Spanish struggled a bit but I guess that's part of the reason I decided to come here.

Later today we are going to church which should be fun then later to Elia's house where I will live. Tomorrow I think we're going to the pool at something like a Country Club and hopefully I'll be able to get a gym membership. I'm also trying to come up with a new name for the blog...so far I've got "Loaner in Honduras" but I think that's still a little long. I'll be posting again after my first day of work!

Antes de Salir (Before Leaving)

To start, I'll explain how this whole thing started:

1. An M.B.A. alum from the University of Maryland decided to offer an internship in Microfinance with his company, Prisma Microfinance, to Maryland business students.


2. Dave Wilmes, the director of the fellows programs and clubs at the Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland, sent the executive board of our club (the Global Business Society) the internship posting to be a "Junior Loan Officer" at Prisma de Honduras.


3. I submitted my application for the internship and received the placement!

That being said, I think anyone reading this should understand a little bit about microfinance. Microcredit is a concept that advocates giving small loans to entrepreneurs who are too poor to receive loans from traditional banking institutions. In Honduras, I will be working with an company called Prisma de Honduras S.A. The company gives loans from $50 - $15,000 for a variety of purposes ranging from starting a business to buying a car. Prisma has a partnership with an organization called Kiva. At Kiva.org, people around the world (like you!) can loan their own money to individuals who need it. The concept is really revolutionary and puts a face onto every loan given through the site. Here's the link to Prisma's page on Kiva http://www.kiva.org/about/aboutPartner?id=118. I encourage you to check it out!

As for what I will be doing...I'm not 100% sure at this point but I know I will be working with the Kiva project (probably inputing data into Kiva's database and writing descriptions of the people receiving loans) and processing loan applications using Prisma's loan module. Finally, I will be "based" in Tegucigalpa (the capital) but will have the opportunity to travel to their other offices around Honduras. I've attached a small map of Honduras below.

Other than that, I leave in two days on the 30th. Once there, I'll stay with a family in "Tegus", hopefully do some great sight-seeing, and, if I'm lucky, a bit of salsa dancing! Oh, and I almost forgot, lots of practice with my Spanish :)