Once I was a toddler rising up in Egypt, I used to face in entrance of a whiteboard in my room, pretending to be an inspiring trainer — a dreamer sharing information, kindness, and hope. Life had completely different plans; I turned a software program engineer. However that dream of sharing one thing by no means really left me.
Years later, Cisco’s Time2Give initiative — a profit that gives workers 80 hours a yr of paid time to offer again to causes they care about — made my dream of educating potential in a method that isn’t certain by borders or continents.
As an expat dwelling in Kraków, Poland, I’m usually requested how I navigate cultural variations and whether or not I discover it tough to attach with folks. My reply tends to shock folks: I’ve by no means really felt there have been main variations.
Which may sound naïve or unusual at first — but it surely genuinely displays how I see the world. I don’t say this to disregard the truth of cultural nuance. Fairly, I’ve at all times seen humanity as entire. Whether or not in Egypt — the place I grew up — or in Poland, the place I’ve constructed a brand new chapter of my life, I’ve discovered a shared ardour for music and love for magnificence, heard related struggles, and tales that echo that all of us face the identical ethical dilemmas even when the tales are advised in numerous languages.
This particular worldview has formed not simply my capacity to adapt, but additionally my need to offer — to contribute meaningfully, and to stay with curiosity and compassion. That is what Time2Give means to me: connecting with out hesitation and embracing the idea that humanity ought to at all times come first.
In November 2024, I flew to Cairo, Egypt, after receiving affirmation from my supervisor that I may use my Time2Give days there. The very subsequent morning, I awoke early to fulfill the bus from an area nonprofit centered on training and social assist. We set off from New Cairo towards El-Duweiqa, a group within the hills of Muqattam.
El-Duweiqa is a deeply underserved neighborhood that tragically got here into the general public eye after a devastating rockslide in September 2008. The catastrophe displaced hundreds of households, lots of whom have been later relocated to housing initiatives — however poverty, neglect, and lack of alternative continued to form each day life there for a few of them, particularly for youngsters.
I spent the day with a group the place issues we frequently take without any consideration — like constant entry to training — have been seen as privileges. My function was easy but highly effective: to supply love, consideration, and share technical information. The youngsters had little or no, but carried boundless pleasure, curiosity, and starvation for studying. Their self-discipline at school and their sharp minds made it apparent — they have been prepared for extra, if solely given the possibility.
We shared smiles, performed video games, and easily related. I additionally spoke with the nonprofit employees about their ongoing tech challenges and the way we may enhance security and connectivity of their studying areas.
Once I returned to Poland, my second dwelling for the previous three years, one thing surprising occurred. Maciej Kordas, an incredible chief in software program engineering, heard a few of my tales at Cisco Stay — Cisco’s international tech convention — and invited me to take part in an open day for an area highschool during which his daughter attends. It wasn’t a charity occasion, however a knowledge-sharing session with youngsters — exhibiting them what a profession in IT may appear to be. The scholars visited our Cisco Kraków workplace, as a part of a daily initiative by Related Poland.
Whereas I spoke about know-how, I additionally shared one thing extra private: the significance of various views in tech, and the way younger ladies can carve their very own paths in a subject that’s nonetheless predominantly male.
I’ve spoken at Cisco Stay and different main occasions however standing in entrance of teenagers was one thing else completely. Youngsters don’t sugarcoat something. When you’re boring — they’ll let . When you’re inspiring — you’ll see it mild up their faces. They taught me one thing profound: that authenticity issues greater than experience, and that to attach with them, you should be extra actual than the digital noise they stay in.
In each El-Duweiqa and Kraków, I used to be reminded of the little woman I as soon as was — standing in entrance of a whiteboard, dreaming of sometime giving again. Time2Give didn’t simply fulfill that childhood dream — it humbled me. Each time I present as much as educate, I depart having discovered one thing deeper: about humanity, honesty, respect, the braveness to talk up about severe points, and the readability that comes from seeing your house in a a lot greater world.
It’s a liberating feeling — to offer with out anticipating, to attach throughout borders and generations.
When you’re trying to find goal, I urge you to search for these alternatives. That’s why I like working at Cisco. With Time2Give, we’re inspired to make an influence — given 80 paid hours a yr, on high of trip time, to help our communities, share our skills, and pursue our goal. These alternatives allow us to change the world, however in addition they change us.
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