Feb 25

Written by: reh
2/25/2008

February 25, 2008 (Monday)

9:00AM At the gate of the guard house of the V. President’s house. Jessica explained that we were here for a meeting with the V.P.’s wife, Becky de Santo at 9:30. The guard checked his records and signaled us in. No metal detector, bag search; nothing. Receptionist showed us unto a very pleasantly appointed, fairly large sitting room.

Kristi: The next part is a narrative of the meeting. Please read because by the end of the meeting I volunteered you to coordinate a joint effort with the V.P.’s office and L4L. We will talk a great deal about this coordinated effort among ourselves and, hopefully sooner than later, you will be down here working with the V.P.’s wife, Becky de Santos and her secretary, Rosibel Ramirez, putting this together.
The V. President: Elvin Santos
The V.P.’s Wife: Becky de Santos
Secretary, V.P.’s Wife: Rosibel Ramirez
After introductions, I explained that my Spanish is not sufficient for this meeting so, with my apologies, I will have to talk in English. Both Mrs. Santos and Ms. Ramirez speak English so the conversation flowed easily.
I explained that we had originally requested a meeting because our Honduras permitting process had stalled (the truth is, I have no idea who requested a meeting for us with the V.P’s wife and, so far, everyone I’ve asked doesn’t know. Obviously, somebody requested an audience on our behalf. When Ms. Ramirez called on behalf of “Becky” I had to ask who “Becky” is.). With the efforts of several of the administrators of the present administration, our registration was successfully completed last week. The urgency of the meeting is decreased and I would like to use this time to explain the L4L project. A 5 minute critique followed. Mrs. Santos listened carefully and interrupted for details (such as, specific locations, names of schools, etc). After my explanation, Mrs. Santos explained that she, Ms. Ramirez and a few others have established a nutrition/education program for children from birth to 5 years old (I have learned since, that she and her husband had formed this non-profit prior to being elected into the present position. My understanding is that this is actually an official function of the President’s wife; presumably Mrs. Santos is doing this for the President’s wife-don’t pretend to know the dynamics). The name of their organization is Fundacion Brazos Abiertos (The Open Arms Foundation). While their initial efforts were the poorer outskirts of Teguci., they agree that, due to a stronger social fiber, the poor rural areas are where they want to go. They presently have a team in Cholutecha trying to get a handle on population of birth to 5 years old (asked if we had any such data – I explained that we do not but want to expand our program into the poorer areas to help the most kids per dollar and would love to see any data they develop). Mrs. Santos asked if L4L had any interest in expanding into the birth to 5 year olds in the Cholutecha area. I explained that the management and directors of L4L are seasoned business people who realize we must stay focused on our target group, that if we follow every need, we would become ineffective. We will continue with elementary schools in rural Valle District, where we have a strong management team. I asked if they would be interested in evaluating neighborhoods of schools we serve or adjacent neighborhoods where we could design a joint effort. They definitely are. All immediately saw the value of nutrition/education from birth to 5 then nutritious lunches through elementary school. Fernando invited them to join us to dedicate the new kitchen on Wednesday. They were genuinely interested and would check their schedules (when they realize how far out the school is and that the visit will take all day, add security for V.P. staff, and I don’t expect to see them-but I’m guessing they will call). Kristi, this is where I explained that there is a very active member of the L4L executive committee who was once a teacher and now runs a small business; she would be an excellent person to coordinate a joint program with Mrs. Santos and her staff; her name is Kristi Holzimmer and I will introduce everyone via email when I return to the US. Kristi, we have a management team in place and the V.P. staff understands the significance of that. A secretary interrupted to say that Mrs. Santos’ next meeting is waiting. She had spent 1.5 hours with us. She left but Ms. Ramirez stayed to talk about logistics. Meeting ended at approximately 10:45.
They are impressed that we are actually doing something and want to work with us. They will bend their plans to meet us more than half way. L4L should aggressive pursue this opportunity. Kristi, a vacation trip to lovely Tegucigalpa and points south, think about it.
12:00PM Lunch at the Mariott
1:30PM Stopped by the Associated Press, reporter not in, possibly Friday. In a phone conversation with Edvardo, it seems that we are scheduled to meet a deputy of a director of the Vice President at 10:30 tomorrow morning. I will shave time and chance being late for the Principal’s meeting for the V.P. but not for the assistant of the assistant of… Called back and said schedule is too tight I’ll meet with his on the next trip when we can set a more relaxed schedule.
3:00PM It is necessary that our Honduras registration documents be advertised in a one of the recognized papers. The cost is $230! Another one of those costs of doing business.
4:30PM End of day.

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