Local businessman promotes mission effectiveness

Story and Photos By Christine Bordelon, Clarion Herald

Local entrepreneur David Cusimano concluded several years ago that many people hear the cry of the poor but don’t know how to connect their “hearts, minds and strengths” to curb poverty.

With a master’s degree in economics, Cusimano wanted to help those in third-world countries use their skills to grow their businesses.

He found a vehicle to use his financial acumen in the Christian global nonprofit Partners Worldwide, which pairs business people in the developing world with business people in the developed world. By helping a small business grow, that business can hire employees who can feed their families and benefit a community.

Three weeks after he discovered Partners Worldwide, he self-financed a trip to Nicaragua.

“I remember having a realization, ‘Oh my goodness, I don’t know a soul in Nicaragua. I’m on this plane by myself. Either I’m going to get kidnapped and never seen again or maybe something good’s going to happen.’ Fortunately, it was the latter,” Cusimano said.

One project grew to three

Cusimano, a Jesuit graduate with an engineering degree from LSU, a master’s in economics from the University of Texas at Arlington and an MBA in finance from Tulane University, said his skill set was used in Nicaragua on a strategic plan to renegotiate loans for a coffee-growing consortium.

Shortly after, he met Eric Wingerter, a parishioner of St. Margaret Mary Parish in Slidell and a former CEO of a company with a servant leadership culture. Wingerter believes Christians in business should seek a holistic approach in evaluating what business is used for, what is gained and how a business’ profits are used.

After sharing each other’s “stories, backgrounds and thoughts,” Wingerter, a graduate of St. Paul’s School and Loyola University New Orleans, said he knew they were compatible.

Cusimano and Wingerter have joined as volunteers not only with Partners Worldwide but also have funded loans – an average of $150 a loan with a 95% repayment rate – to women in Kampala, Uganda, through Jumpstart Africa.

Divine Mercy Parish Deacon Larry Oney, who heads the Catholic nonprofit Hope and Purpose Ministries, made introductions for the pair in Uganda, Wingerter said. 

Before their first face-to-face African project, Jumpstart Africa founder Fred Mawanda recommended they read, “When Helping Hurts.” 

The book characterized the difference in relief that creates dependency by “doing for” people as opposed to a partnership where businessmen “labor with” local businesses on their journey of dignity through work. 

“It transformed our thinking about methods we use when working on projects,” Cusimano said. “We have a desire to help, but how do we make sure what we are doing is really helping?”

Their third venture entailed two exploratory trips to Trinidad with the Network of Christians in Business leadership to see how they could help. 

Hope others join them

Cusimano and Wingerter shared their humbling and eye-opening experiences fighting poverty Jan. 15 at St. Dominic Church in New Orleans. Cusimano, a former St. Dominic parishioner who now attends  Our Lady of the Lake in Mandeville, said the endeavor has been “spiritually rewarding.”

“Some of the projects have worked out well, while others haven’t,” he told like-minded individuals at the first of six sessions about how business people can use their skills and resources to help entrepreneurs in developing countries.

Both men felt drawn to the Catholic call to service for others and have since discovered their best success has been through providing small business loans. That “working capital” has empowered the Ugandan women to develop their God-given talents to support their families.

  A “Poverty Cure” video gave examples of unintended consequences of foreign charity that, in some cases, has stifled thriving local businesses. 

The first video asked the question: “How do we connect our good intentions and desire to help with things that actually work?”

It detailed how a humanitarian effort by a church that sent eggs to Rwanda after the genocide put a successful, egg-selling businessman out of work, and he lost self-sufficiency. When the aid stopped, the community was forced to obtain eggs elsewhere.

Another person in the video discussed how an influx of second-hand clothes in Africa in the 1980s and ’90s caused the textile industry to close. Again, people lost livelihoods and sense of pride through work.

“Just giving them stuff doesn’t solve the problem,” Cusimano said. “They are smart people, full of dreams and stories,” but they live in a different environment than Americans know.

Hands-on knowledge

Wingerter’s and Cusimano’s approach to assisting small businesses involves assessing the current need in an area and working with locals to figure out “how do we put our money into development,” Wingerter said. This moves people from dependency to sustainability.

Cusimano cited four objectives in their endeavors:

1. To create a biblically based entrepreneurial training program that teaches the importance of entrepreneurship as part of the natural law God has created;

2. To grow the local portfolio by raising money;

3. To invest in upgraded operations software for loan qualification and administration;

4. To establish savings “groups” to increase local capital so entrepreneurs can combine their savings with external injections from the U.S. and put money to work.

“I don’t know what God has in store next, but I’m sure more is to come,” Cusimano said. “We have learned a lot. We know we have so much more to learn. We know we don’t have all the answers or attest that we don’t have all the answers.”

Three remaining sessions are all at 6:15 p.m. in St. Dominic’s Siena Center, 775 Harrison Ave., New Orleans:  “Circles of Exchange,” Feb. 5; “The Power of the Gospel,” Feb. 12; and “Churches, Communities and Culture,” March 4.

For information, email [email protected] or visit emergedynamics.com.

Christine Bordelon can be reached at [email protected].