We really do work.

Heather has headed to bed and I'm going in a few minutes, but I wanted to assure everyone that we do work. Tomorrow morning we're going to get up at 6:30 (translation: 7:15) so that we can be ready for a long day of grueling labor. In the morning we're going to go visit three of our microempresas, do a quick analysis of where they are as far as finances, operations, marketing, and personnel, and then we are going to ask enough questions to be able to write a history about them. The histories will be useful in order to have as a record but also for Eagle Condor to find others who are willing to donate to funding more microcredit projects.

In the afternoon tomorrow, we're going to do write-ups, pick out quick suggestions of things they can do to improve, make a list of possible long-term suggestions to be addressed next summer (painting walls, installing tile, etc.), then we'll report back to the companies. In the interim, we're going to be working on this presentation we're doing next Friday, which is basically a motivational speech for the companies. I'm thinking of something along the lines of Matt Foley...actually, we want to give them an idea of where they've been, how far they've come, where they're going, and where they can continue to go with hard work and focus. Go team! We're also working on creating a training on marketing basics, differentiating themselves in the market, creating products that customers actually want and value, maximizing on the capture of products through diverse product lines, etc., and lastly, we'll be working on creating job descriptions for the local Eagle Condor offices so that all the Peruvian offices will be operating the same. Jenry is the manager of the Trujillo office, but there are offices in Chiclayo, Cuzco, and I think other places that are escaping me at the moment. The managers of the offices all work as each other's checks and balances, auditing each other, checking each other's customers, so it would be great for everything to be done in the same way across the board. We have our work cut out for us but it's exciting.

I'm supposed to be awake in 6 1/2 hours and I still have scriptures to read and prepping for tomorrow to do, so...I better get to it!