Volunteer Interview with Don DeWaard: Building Trust and Listening Well
Don DeWaard has worn many hats. A CPA by trade, he’s bought, started, and ran several businesses during his career. He’s spent 35 years coaching football. And he’s currently serving in his second term as mayor of Pella, Iowa.
For nearly two decades, Don has shared his gifts with entrepreneurs in Honduras as a Partners Worldwide Business Affiliate (BA).
What led you to become involved with Partners Worldwide?
My wife and I had done some mission work, and I always came back from those not really feeling fulfilled. I wasn't always sure that we had actually done any good, because I knew that if we went back six weeks later, it probably would still be in the same place it was. So what really attracted me to Partners Worldwide was the possibility of helping create long term results.
You made your first BA trip to Honduras in 2006. Was it what you had expected?
Being an accountant, my initial thought was, “I'm going go down there to these small businesses and help them set up an accounting system. I’m going to help train people to run businesses.” But first, it was all about building relationships.
My initial trips back in the mid-2000s, the plane was full of people coming down to help. So the citizens saw just group after group after group after group, and many of those groups never came back. I think they were a little bit suspicious. What are you guys here for? We'll never see you again.
So we were very intentional about doing a trip every six months. We wanted to make sure they understood we were in it for the long haul, and that went a long way towards building relationships that allowed us to have more impact. We built trust. So later, when I started talking about their need for a loan loss reserve, let's say, in their loan program, they trusted that I knew what I was talking about, and they were willing to implement it.
Do you have a favorite story?
Oh, I’ve got a lot of them, but one for sure. We first met him back on our first trip back in 2006. He was a carpenter in rural Olancho, making doors and furniture with one little table saw that he had built himself. He was an entrepreneur, doing business to provide for his family. And he’d built this model of a house—you could take the roof off and see the rooms inside. And he said that this was going to be his house, someday.
We helped him get some more tools and some loans to increase his capability of working. And within five years, he built that exact house and was living there. He expanded his shop, too, he just kept expanding and hiring employees. And we watched his phenomenal growth to the point where he had probably 3,000 square feet of shop space next to his house and 13 employees.
What skills are required of a BA?
Well, obviously, communication is critical. You need to be willing to listen and understand people who might do things a lot differently than we do. And ultimately, you have to have an attitude that you're there to serve. We're not there to tell them what to do. We're there to be a resource.
