don't cry for me sr. oswaldo!

Tuesday adventures:
-had lunch at our new favorite chiclayo restaurant, el boom.
-had an italian buffet dinner at our other favorite restaurant, mia casa. on the sidewalk in front of the restaurant was a guy dressed in a garfield costume, attacking pedestrians. the garfield costume didnt quite fit the rustic italian flair of the restaurant.

wednesday:
Today was our last full day in Chiclayo.

Fortunately, we completed everything that we set out to accomplish (and more).

We created:
-a visual business model for NPIC
-a simple version of the NPIC business model for use on the website
-an NPIC operations manual
-a franchisee operations manual
-an entrepreneurial handbook
-a list of common business terms and definitions
-a profit/loss excel spreadsheet with programmed formulas
-an NPIC excel financial model, with programmed formulas

Due to Danielle's computer virus, the website has been temporarily put on hold. but it will be complete within a week or so.

When we presented all of the materials to Oswaldo, he kept saying "Perfect!" and he was giggling and pointing with glee. Then, about halfway through, he started to cry! He was touched that we thought Peruvians deserved an equal amount of attention as any organization in the US. When he said that, I was a bit surprised. Obviously, we had simplified a lot of the processes considering we were working with micro-enterprises; however, we never doubted the Peruvians' capacity to thrive entrepreneurially.

I like how Stephen Gibson sums it up:

“If we stop thinking of the poor as victims or as a burden and start recognizing them as resilient and creative entrepreneurs and value-conscious consumers, a whole new world of opportunity will open up.”

Although I am very ready to go back to America -- land of nutritious food options, free water, iced drinks and free toilet paper -- I will still feel a tug on my heart from Chiclayo. This city is about 20 years behind the states, and it just doesn't have to always be that way. I hope that Oswaldo and NPIC are successful with implementing their vision, and I'm glad that we helped give the organization the little push that it needed to start rolling.

Hasta luego,

Lindsay