Michelle from Kiva has been in touch with our Honduras General Manager, Orbelina Valeriano. A Spanish version of Michelle's audit report was sent to Orbelina for her comments. Orbelina assures me that all is well and that her division will work very hard to fully comply with all the new requirements. Once they mutually agree on the changes, a new contract will be signed.
It'll probably be the middle or end of March 2008 before Honduras starts listing loans again on the Kiva's website. The loan officers are excited about participating in Kiva again. They are very proud to participate in such a valuable endeavor for their fellow citizens and at the same time it's very prestigious for them to have their loans funded by the international community. They get on their computers and track every loan that's funded and get depressed when one doesn't move as fast as another. They also note that the competition does not offer such an uplifting program for its employees in which to participate.
Although it will be almost 6 months that we will be in pause status, the time was well spent. On the one hand, the Honduras staff had to really think over why it wanted to continue participation in Kiva's program, and on the other, Kiva needed a break from Prisma to also rethink why our partnership was of any value to the lending community. It was a good break. Now we're ready to get back to work. Thanks Michelle and Premal.
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