Love is Blind: Social Sabbatical
Falling in love with purpose in Ghana
Ok, here’s a big confession: I love reality TV shows. And one of my favorite reality TV shows is called “Love is Blind” on Netflix. Love is Blind is a show where contestants who are looking to find love, go on speed dates in pods without physically seeing the other person. At the end of dating, if contestants make a connection, they will get engaged — and finally meet their love match in person for the first time. These couples then go on a journey to get to know each other better over vacations, living together, meeting their families, etc. And at the end of a few weeks, they decide if they will get married or would be better off as friends.
This week, as I was watching reunion episodes of “Love is Blind” on Valentine’s Day (or in Ghana they call it Chocolate Day!), I couldn’t help but think of some similarities that this show has with my SAP Social Sabbatical experience. I’m currently in Accra, Ghana with 11 other SAP colleagues who simply want to make the world run better and improve people’s lives: we each have a common goal of finding purpose and creating a positive impact in the world. Each of us is volunteering for one month with local non-profits and social enterprises in Ghana, by sharing our knowledge, skills and expertise with our host clients.
All 12 of us blindly signed up for the Social Sabbatical program without knowing what location in the world we would get to serve, what other SAP colleagues we’d be paired up with, and which non-profit or social enterprise we would be working with. Once we each found out we would be volunteering in Accra, Ghana, we began virtual “speed dating” — to find out more about our fellow SAP teammates, and also getting to know our host clients better in preparation for once we arrived in Ghana.
Fast forward to arriving in Ghana: we finally get to meet our “love matches” in person! Not only was this the first in-person encounter with fellow SAP colleagues, but this was the first time we met our host clients in person. Currently, my colleagues and I are on our “dating” journey…
From a social perspective, we are getting to know each other every day over breakfast, lunch, dinner, discussions and collaboration in our team meeting room, and of course, fun activities! We explored Kakum National Park last weekend and completed a canopy walk. Although the canopy walk was at times a bit wobbly, shaky and very high — our team bonded by encouraging each other, making jokes and sharing excitement when we all completed the walk as a team.
In addition, all of us are in the midst of our “dating” journey with our host clients. Each day we are understanding the business challenges of our host organizations, and we are all trying to solve these challenges through our assigned projects. My team is supporting Environment 360 — a nonprofit in Ghana that creates green jobs by providing skills training to women and youth that teaches them how to turn plastic waste into products with value. My team is working on a business plan to help their Circular Innovation Hub achieve financial independence.
Although I’m only 2 weeks into my “dating” journey, I can already see the love and appreciation that is growing for both my SAP colleagues and host client. Each and every person here is focused on improving lives and helping the world run better. We are all finding purpose and love through helping our host clients increase their societal impacts.
So, do I think “Love is Blind”? The Dalai Lama says, “the root of happiness is altruism — the wish to be of service to others”. When we focus on serving others and not ourselves, our happiness, and love will grow!
Stay tuned for updates to my journey in Ghana, and check out more information on the SAP Social Sabbatical program.
#SAP #SocialSabbatical #Accra #Ghana
