While I was in Honduras 2 weeks ago, Kiva Central America Representative Giovanna Masci paid us a visit. It was great to have her in the Division. She's highly qualified - speaks Spanish fluently, a recently minted MBA, grew up in Washington DC and Italy, a true internationalist. She trained our staff, visited clients in Danli, and checked out our bookkeeping.
Our staff was really happy with her training and suggestions for more efficient operations. Two employees in particular were amazed that they themselves could invest in projects featured on the website. I have a personal Kiva loan portfolio of over 75 projects and was able to show them how easy it is to participate.
We are still in pilot mode and hope to gain full status within a few months. There are lots of good projects to be listed, especially from our Southern offices in San Lorenzo and Choluteca. I had the opportunity during this trip to visit all the branch offices and can testify that Kiva is an integral part of our operations, providing needed capital for loans, and now participating in group loans.
thanks for the post dr. mau! i'm excited to see prisma loans back on the site and the fellow we're sending is awesome! hope all's well and as always, THANK YOU for your early early help getting kiva off the ground!
Posted by: premal shah | September 20, 2008 at 09:55 AM
In case I never get to meet you personally- hello Dr. Mau! I will be heading over to Prisma, Honduras late November to work with your staff as the Kiva Fellow. I am really looking forward to working with your staff and your organization. Take care!
Posted by: Sierra Visher | September 20, 2008 at 05:13 PM