¡Poverty should not be more expensive! Have you ever thought about that?
Imagine you are facing a new culture, a new language, new people realities – very different from each other: the fortunate ones and the most vulnerable ones, exploring new business models with heart-touching missions, new society expectations and regulations, the list goes on and on. On top of it all, you need to team up with colleagues you never worked with, you never met before and knowing just very little about their personalities. You need to team up to create added value for the local organization you will be serving at for a month. And as per usual, there is not enough time. Before you know it, you are already on the social roller coaster with all ups and downs.
This is what it means to be on a social sabbatical. Away from friends and family, your daily routines, and surroundings, away from your daily business tasks and responsibilities. Experiencing the unknown, learning and exploring every day. Listening with open heart and living life through the local peoples’ eyes. Understanding their reality and the local demand to jointly succeed for their communities. Moving forward together is our corporate social responsibility at SAP. We focus on accelerating businesses, building future skills, and working with purpose to make tangible contribution to social change. All of us representing different parts of the world: Varun from India, Kim and Stefan from Germany, Yakelin from Peru, Frank from Switzerland, Sue from USA, Niels from Denmark, Alex from Romania, Eszti and Csabi from Hungary, and myself from Bulgaria.
Niels, our local project assistant and Argentina expert Juan, and I are on a mission in Buenos Aires to support a social enterprise onsite for a month. And we could not be luckier! Our local host organization called Nilus is very welcoming and open to discuss challenges and ambitious goals with us. We agreed on a work scope and immediately dived into the world of Nilus.
And this is Nilus – a triple impact company which creates economic as well as social and environmental value for the communities they empower, with a special focus on the people in the slum neighborhoods. And if you think about a pure NGO, well – this is not the case. Nilus is a business driven company with an incredibly important mission: Poverty should not be more expensive. Very powerful and oh, so true!! Believe it or not, but life can be very expansive for the people who do not have proper place to live, who do not have all the comfort these days of having transportation near their house door, or pharmacy and medical services, or different supermarkets and shops down their street – if there are any streets at all. If we look at the numbers: there are at least 1 billion people in the slums. Niels, Juan and I are more than proud and excited to be part of Nilus for a whole month. Here is a quick summary of our journey 😊
Nilus aims to prevent food waste and supports people from the most vulnerable places in Latin America region, especially those living in the slums. With offices in Buenos Aires, Mexico City and Montevideo, they reach places that no one else dares to enter. And they use technology to solve a very, very big and important problem. Through their platform, they help people in the poorest places to afford food and a healthy diet at affordable prices – lower than the standard. At the same time, they prevent unnecessary food and product waste. It’s really crazy that there are 1.3 billion tons of food wasted every year. Every single year. And the numbers are rising. In many cases, because our society is not willing to buy a funny looking carrot or tomato or oranges. We demand perfect shape, perfect color, perfect packaging. But is this what really matters? Is this what equals to healthy diet and better lifestyle? Or simply a twisted way to perceive reality, making up unnecessary standards about the look and shine of products being more relevant than their actual quality!?
Nilus’ business model helps food producers, social gastronomers, and community leaders to thrive and grow.
#Food producers can optimize their income and prevent throwing away good products just because they do not fit into our society standards.
#Social gastronomers like restaurants, soup kitchens, supermarkets, social institutions, etc. can purchase products from Nilus at a better price and satisfy their community needs.
#Community leaders – people from the slums –, can lower the cost of living for their family and friends in the slums through organized community buying, and so save time and money for the people who already have so very less.
And as if that’s not enough. Nilus even partners with PedidosYa – a well-established food delivery company – to help people with privileged background to include funny looking products in their diets too and so educate people that it is not about the looks, at least not always 😉
At Nilus, everyone is connected to the company’s purpose and is inspired to deliver their best. The PEOPLE at Nilus know that their hard work touches so many precious lives. And I could not put down in words the beautiful spirit of the diverse team at Nilus. It’s been a true pleasure from day #1 to meet and work with everyone in the Nilus offices. Onsite or virtually, their passion, dedication and mission focus has been contagious and energizing. Working for Nilus has made our experience a beautiful one. All the moments we shared and the way we connected, all of it was so unique and real. Very rewarding and so appreciated after two long years of global pandemic. Even when our assignment ends, I will feel a strong connection to Nilus, and I will only wish to see this amazing team and the entire company continue to grow and reach all their goals. Because they truly deserve it.
Stay tuned for a final blog on my social sabbatical journey :)
¡Gracias y chau!!
