WHEN Andy Hall joined a delegation of business coaches invited to Paraguay by the country’s new president as part of a campaign to transform attitudes, he had no idea what he would face.

The specialist in leadership development, who has worked for major clients in Swindon like WH Smith said he found a country hungry for change when he spoke to businesses, civil servants and students.

Andy was one of five British experts among the 250 sent by the John Maxwell Company after an approach by Horacio Cartes, who was elected on a promise to wage war on poverty and create opportunities for everyone.

He jumped at the chance even though it meant paying for his flight and hotel. “I decided I wanted to go and make a difference by myself,” he said.

The president wanted trainers to begin the transformation of his country by helping to instil the right values in government officials and business leaders in a country that has a history of widespread corruption and poverty.

“While we were there some of us were going into government offices to train, some were going to prisons, some to police. I ended up training in a Japanese Paraguayan Institute.”

Andy, from Minety, also went in to train officials at a large water company and two banks including the country’s leading co-operative bank.

The days were long and hard, especially when almost everyone fell ill at some point. The coaches got up at 4.30am and were ready to roll at 5am when they were told which organisation they would be visiting that day.

Often they found themselves embarking on a long and bumpy car journey before meeting their trainees.

The values they were attempting to impart included leadership, attitude, respect, how to be team players and how to contribute.

“We had wonderful young translators. That was a whole new experience, teaching through a translator,” he said.

Making his own contribution was one of the things he had wanted to do after leaving the corporate world.

“Part of my future plan was how to contribute to society in an original way. This was a real commitment in terms of paying for your own hotel, paying for your own flight and I didn’t know if it was going to be safe.”

“We were in a country ten times worse off than the UK, just wanting to make a difference,” he said. “The appetite for change and the welcome from the people was brilliant.”