Valerie's perspective

::January 14, 2011::

After yesterday's 4 a.m. start and extra long van ride, most of us slept well last night. Our first full day in Tegulcigalpa was WILD! The day began with a delicious breakfast of beans, plantains, cereal, whole milk, ham and queso duro blanco ("cheese" as the Americans say). Our agenda: Meet (and meat ...) with Prisma (who I want to call Prismaers... sounds like prisoners) and visit with several business owners. Surprise agenda additions: Large Argentinian style lunch, traffic to rival the D.C. metro area, and some rousing Vegas-style card games played by College Park-style amateurs.

We arrived at Prisma in the mid-morning. After a warm welcome, Susan of Prisma led us through an informative presentation, translated in full by Adrian. Speaking of Adrian- apparently he knows Spanish or something? We will crown him King of Translators tomorrow. Susan led us through basics of micro finance, business ownership and the state of Honduran poverty. She engaged us in a dialogue about Prisma's role in Honduras. Prisma has four locations, located primarily in southern Honduras. Each location has 2-3 employees responsible for recruiting and evaluating potential clients. Business owners who apply for a loan through Prisma must have been in business for at least one year, proof of residence, financial records (personal and business), a financial plan for the requested loan and some other relevant business information that I may remember tomorrow. To assist with payment, business owners co-sign into loans with fellow business owners or family guarantors. Prisma grants loans to individuals who operate businesses in commerce (shops, food sales), service (taxi, beauty shops) or individuals who have building expenses (addition to home or business). These categories include basically any and all business needs. Susan happily answered our probing questions. Filadelfo (sp?) took a few minutes to speak with us about Prisma's relationship with Kiva, which accounts for $40,000 of Prisma's $900,000 in loans. I was impressed to find that only 5%-10% of Prisma's lenders default on their loans.

Susan showed us about 20 photos of business owners. Then we visited four business owners in various stages of business ownership. I'd abbreviate business owners "BOs" but traditionally "BO" means body odor, and nobody we visited smelled bad. In spite of our stationary targets, we were in the van for what felt like a very long time looking for them. When we finally parked, a short walk led us to a woman selling tortillas (or something circular and bread-like) from a seat at the market entrance, a gentleman (standing outside) whose loan helped him purchase goods for his stand, and a woman inside the market area whose booth serves 30-40 customers per day. She was thin. We took a picture with her. Other noteworthy sights in the market area included a man carrying what looked like half a cow on his back, about 4 dogs, and many heads of lettuce.

With translation assistance from Adrian and Nery, we spoke briefly with each business owner. It was inspiring to see people living and working in what to me are impoverished and unclean conditions so grateful for what they had. Each Prisma client appeared to have a great relationship with Prisma, and they were happy to speak with us about their livelihoods.

Our next stop was a restaurant owned by a gentleman who used his loan to improve marketing and refine his restaurant. Unlike the other clients, this man (can't remember his name) runs an obviously lucrative restaurant along the strip. I won't dance around the elephant in the room. Food was delicious surprise- Argentinian grilled meats, delicious chips and beans, juice that was not guava (guarano? not guano, that's bat Ebola-causing bat poop), a refreshing plantain salad and two varieties of honey-soaked breads for dessert. Liver and blood sausages added an extra dimension to the meat spread. Some people ate it. The vegetarians did not. People here have trouble understanding what it means to be a vegetarian.

Drove back to the home base where we were too full to enjoy dinner at a time when normal people eat. Played some cards. Chewed the fat. Ate more. We debriefed after dinner, and it's clear that our group will continue to grow and learn from each other and our experiences for the rest of the trip. I'm looking forward to defining and redefining our goals for this trip. Tomorrow we are responsible for 15 Spanish-speaking children in the rainforest!