10,000 Miles and 33 Hours to the Start Line
I start my journey tonight. 10,000 miles and 33 hours of travel from California, USA to Arusha, Tanzania.
Just six weeks ago I was asked to fill-in on an opening for the SAP Social Sabbatical to Tanzania. I had a very small window of time to experience a range of emotions — surprise, acceptance, panic, and excitement — for this great opportunity. The support of my family and my SAP management and colleagues has been tremendous. Pyxera Global and the SAP Social Sabbatical team have a done a great job in preparing me and my fellow 11 SAP colleagues from around the world headed to Tanzania.
ACCEPTANCE
SAP’s vision is to Help the world run better and improve people’s lives. The higher purpose at SAP is about enabling organizations and companies to tackle some of the world’s most complex issues and advance the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals and as our CEO Bill McDermott said, “… we believe that leading companies have a moral obligation to initiate people into the modern economy, regardless of where they come from.”
“… we believe that leading companies have a moral obligation to initiate people into the modern economy, regardless of where they come from.” Bill McDermott
I accept our corporate social responsibility (CSR) mission to provide the world’s youth with the skills they need to tackle society’s problems and thrive in the digital economy. Bridging the digital divide and enhancing educational and entrepreneurial opportunities for youth around the world in order to help ensure a sustainable future for our company, our customers, and for society.
I accept the challenge of creating maximum impact by working in partnership with strong NGO/NPOs to execute on our strategy.
PANIC
Here are some warnings about travel to Tanzania: Hepatitis A/B, measles mumps, rubella, rabies, typhoid, yellow fever, malaria, denge, Zica, African trypanosomiasis (sleeping sickness), cholera, crime….and the list goes on. Yeah… this is where ‘panic’ began to set, but vaccines, drugs, sprays, clothing, and awareness can minimize all these risks.
EXCITEMENT
I was assigned to work with the Pastoral Women’s Council defining a 5–10 year financial plan that will help them diversify their income which is currently 95% donor based. The Pastoral Women’s Council is a non-profit membership organization in northern Tanzania working to achieve gender equality and community development through the empowerment of Maasai women and girls.
I am so excited to have this wonderful opportunity working on such a great cause contributing to changing women’s equality and oppression issues. This is also a great opportunity to take on a new challenge in learning about the financials of a non-profit organization and applying my strategic planning and business knowledge to this program.
I am also told that Tanzania is a beautiful country, with wonderful people. So, I am really excited to explore a new country and culture.
THE END IS THE START
Although the journey to Tanzania will be a long one, the real journey begins when we arrive and meet the SAP/Pyxera team in person, and when we begin working with the client organization I’ve been assigned to.
