The passion of the dauntless
I am one of 12 colleagues who got the privilege to be on a social sabbatical in Bucharest, Romania. On day 2 of our assignment and we got introduced to our host organizations.
After weeks of preparation, calls and pre-reads we were all so curious to meet the companies we are going to support for the next 4 weeks. Representatives of each NGO (Non-Governmental Organization) came to our hotel meeting room to learn about SAP’s CSR (corporate social responsibility) mission but most of all to introduce themselves and their own vision of how to improve people’s lives in their neighbourhood.
What stood out to me most was how naturally enthusiastic they presented their ideas and visions. You could feel the energy and strong will to change something to the better — especially when you cannot expect a lot of support from government side. My impression was that they feel a kind of obligation to fill the gap local authorities leave behind, which is here mainly access to education for all children. All four host organizations (Techsoup Romania, Impact HUB Bucharest, Progress Foundation Romania and Policy Center for Roma and Minorities) fight with their ideas and hopes for a better Romania. Contrary to a common trend in Romania these representatives decided to stay in their home-country. They still believe in Romania while about 40% of the population live in poverty or extensive material deprivation (Eurostat).
This deep-rooted passion for a greater purpose somehow left me feeling ashamed. How often in our saturated world we take obvious deficits in society in our hands with the intent to change it to the better actively?
Originally published at medium.com on July 11, 2018.
