Apr 10

Written by: reh
4/10/2008

April 10, 2008, Thursday

8:30AM Call from Rosibel Ramirez asking if we can meet at 1:00PM (of course we can)
10:00AM Fernando’s reporter friend’s name is Luis Rodrigoez. He is the financial reporter for El Heraldo (El Heraldo is written for a more educated audience-like the Wall Street Journal) – I’m impressed. We were received cordially by Mr. Cuevas and started by talking in the receiving room while standing. I started by explaining that I know he cannot do a follow-up at present and that human interest stories are fillers to be worked on when time permits; I simply wanted to stop by as a reminder to keep us on his list for future stories. I think he really appreciated that I wasn’t trying to push for immediate results. I, then, explained that the young lady in the US who did the story is very young and inexperienced. As a result she did a story about a little girl; we are feeding 1000 students at 14 schools and we really need a follow-up to look at the total project. Also, there were a few inaccuracies that left a wrong impression. I explained that Anabel is not back on the street but is living with relatives at another school supported by the program and is doing fine. By this time he is into the conversation and asks us into his office where we all sit to continue the discussion. He, then, started asking questions that the young reporter in Montgomery should have asked. By the end of the meeting, he was kind of into the story and, if nothing else, he knows and likes the program. We’ll see.
On the ride back to the hotel, Luis explained that he does not work for a wire service but his newspaper trades stories with European and Mexican newspapers; would we be interested in him working on a story? I should have said, earlier, that Luis was raised in Nacaomi and really likes the idea that we are helping kids in Valle District.
Finally, at the hotel, he explained that he does a Sunday morning radio show for a local station in Nacaomi where he discussed political topics of interest and asked if I would come for a live interview this Sunday. Sure. Fernando says it’s a local radio and TV show; we’ll see.
11:15AM Ms. Ramirez calls; there is a 1:00PM conflict. With apologies, she asked if we could come over earlier, actually, now?
12:00PM Vice President’s house. In attendance: Rosibel Ramirez; Cristina Diaz, Director of Brazos Abiertos; Jessica, and me. After introductions I said that I know they have another obligation so I will go directly why I asked for this audience on such short notice. I stressed 3 points:
1.  We put together a functioning operation so we can approach other entities explaining what we are doing; not what we want to do.
2.  Our BOD and Exec. Committee is made of managers and small business owners. We look to the long term; that is our background. We only add schools when there is a prudent expectation that we can support the school over the long term.
3.  We know the importance of a strong local management team and close ties to headquarters. We have developed such a team in Honduras and we visit the operation at least 4 times a year, usually more.
I finished by saying that I am not sure where we go with this but we offer a strong management presence in the poorest rural district in Honduras and I am sure there is some way we can help each other.
Ms. Ramirez explained that they have the supplies and people (doctors, teachers, etc) to implement their program to assist malnourished babies/children but do not have a management team. They also want to work in poor rural areas. They definitely want to tour several schools with Kristi on June 23 and 24. Ms. Diaz and her advance staff will work with Jessica and Fernando setting up village meetings where they will weigh/measure children to determine amount of malnutrition in advance of Kristi’s trip. Kristi, they really want to put a program of substance together so they can make some real progress during your trip. I hope the reader understand the significance of what is happening; the office of Vice President of Honduras sees L4L as their best entry into helping malnourished infants in rural Honduras. This truly is a big deal and we are compelled to do what we can to make it work.
1:00PM We used up our time. Jessica and Ms. Diaz really hit it off well; I expect them to move things right along.
1:30PM Taking notes, setting up for my trip back to Nacaomi
5:00PM End of day.

Tags: