Born Ready — SAP Social Sabbatical in the Philippines (Week 4)
My Motto in the Philippines
Since my first week in the Philippines, my teammates, Daniel and Marco, and I had a motto. Every time Dan asked me the question: "Are you ready?", my answer would be "I was born ready!" 😉
This became a motto for us and even when I was not around, when Marco and Dan went to Boracay for the weekend, I received this photo.
This simple phrase made me think about the experience in the Philippines and how, sometimes, we are not ready at all to things that show up in our lives, but if we are really open to embrace, to live and to learn, we will take the best of it.
Sometimes, what God gives you is not exactly what you want but it is precisely what you need.
Filipinos = Kindness
If there is one thing that I really appreciated the most in the Philippines was to be around Filipinos and Filipinas.
It still makes me reflect on their style of life. Many things that bothered me a lot, were really fine for them. Huge line? Take your time. Takes a long wait to serve your food? Talk to your friends. Songs are too loud? Sing with the song.
The truth is that we, occidentals, live in a very speed up pace. On the other hand, Filipinos accept the pace things are. Really different from us. Are they right or wrong? I really don't know. Maybe to think about if we should not slow down a little bit and enjoy more.
The 12 Mosketeers
Our cohort in the Philippines is a group of 12 SAP employees with different nationalities, backgrounds, ages. It is a very diverse team and yet, we've got the challenge to come to a different country and work together in different groups for our NGO's / Social Enterprise.
Has it been easy? NO. Have we struggled for different reasons during this month? YES. Have we learned a lot? FOR SURE! But honestly, what each one of us will take from the Social Sabbatical experience is different, but it has changed us some how in a very deep manner.
Thank you, Manila Eagles!
My brothers from another mother
I was blessed to have these guys by my side in the Philippines. Together we had fun, we talked a lot, we danced, we sang. We were able to connect with a very special bond and to learn together and work together for the best recommendation we could give in the time we had for our host organization, Mother Earth Foundation.
So to my new brothers from another mother, Daniel Slawe and Marco Pfeifer, my gratitude and tons of love. 🥰
I already miss Mother Earth Foundation
As it is over, I have the feeling that I was really blessed to have met the team of Mother Earth Foundation. They were amazing from day 1 and made us feel as we were part of the family.
My sincere admiration and respected for what Tita Sonia has built and that has evolved into a family that works for Zero Waste in the Philippines.
So thanks to: Tita Sonia, Germaine, Jayson, Tin, Rap, Thea, Liz, Prax, Ranz, Shan, Regina, Reggie, Trisha, Gara, Luz, Marigen and Rufa. I will miss you more than you can imagine. 🥰
I want to be like Tita Sonia
In the last week of our assignment we got the chance to meet the Board Member and Chairman of Mother Earth Foundation, Tita Sonia Mendoza (linkedin.com/in/sonia-mendoza-341a6261).
She will be 80 years old this year and she is full of energy, dreams and keeps inspiring so many people. I really believe that while we have dreams and we keep our minds active, age is just a number that does not define who we are.
Honestly, she is a power of nature! So full of wisdom, with a big smile, I really loved meeting her. This was the perfect closing for the this amazing journey with MEF.
Thanks, Tita Sonia!!
Thanks for the Support
It is important to say that we had all the support needed not only from SAP Philippines but also from Pyxera Team. Without them, we could not have reached our full potential of learning and experiencing Social Sabbatical and the Philippines.
My deeply appreciation to:
SAP Philippines Team— Rudy Abrahams, Hazel Taparan, Carole Monteloyola, Joel Tesorero, Saraj Jessica Yangco, Rissa Colayco, Satya Narayan Sahu
Pyxera Global — Vidhata Naik, Norman Cualteros, Larkin Dennison
The End or the Beginning?
My learnings from Social Sabbatical are endless but I would like to highlight 3 important ones:
- Empowerment through connections — relationships are everything in the Philippines. It is THE most important thing to know people, to make business, to bond. Learn how to do it!
- Respect the differences, leverage the similarities — in a world of opposites fighting all the time, we realize that would me much easier to focus on the similarities and find a common ground. This helped us a lot during this month.
- Learn the Filipino way to do things — be resilient and smile even when things go wrong. Acceptance is a blessing.
So, this is the end of Social Sabbatical but he beginning of a new cycle for all of us with different perspectives and really different hearts and souls.
Thank you all for being there for us!! Wish you the best future that God can give you all.
Going Back to my Loved ones
During this month, I talked to my family whenever was possible. I really miss my sunday lunches with my entire family together. So now, I will have the chance to be there with them again and if I have been here for a month, it is because they supported me and they thought me to get out of my comfort zone.
And last, but not least important, my best friend, my love, my husband: Anselmo. We have chosen to share our lives with each other and I am really grateful for having him by my side in the journey of life. We have been together for almost 20 years and I am looking forward for the next 20 years to come. I could not dream what I dream, travel the world and be here in Social Sabbatical if I did not have his support and mainly his arms to go back and his heart as my secrete and safe place.
I am very grateful to have had the chance to be part of SAP Social Sabbatical in the Philippines. Now I have 2 families: my Family in the Philippines and my family in Brazil. Am I lucky or not?
God Bless you!
With all the love and gratitude from Ate Nayla
SALAMAT PO!
