The perfect ending…

Arguably ending a story is harder than writing the beginning. And the fact that I haven’t been able to write a post in the last 2 weeks of the social sabbatical doesn’t make it any easier. But even though I am already back home now, I felt that I had to do one last post to have some closure on this incredible experience.

So let’s start with a quick wrap up of the last 2 weeks.

Remember our host organization AEI, the amazing team of young, talented people working to build a network of alliance members that drive entrepreneurship and innovation in Ecuador?

Our objective at the end of week 1 was to equip the team with the capabilities to define, document and communicate their IT business requirements and successfully execute their IT projects. During week 3, we finalized our agile methodology, came up with our project management templates and executed a design thinking infused training session to enable the team.

The last week of the assignment was about refining the assets, delivering the final presentation and recommendations to the team and presenting the execute summary in the closing event.

Overall, it was an absolute pleasure to work with AEI and we look forward to keeping in touch with the team!

Apart from work, we had a chance to visit Otavalo famous for its crafts market and surrounding lakes.

We also squeezed in a day trip to Mindo where we visited a butterfly sanctuary, went zip lining and took a ride on a contraption called Tarabita which is basically a small automobile motor-powered cable car takes you across a river basin over thick cloud forest!

However, despite the action packed weekends, my favorite place in Ecuador is undoubtedly Quito. It took me some time to get used to the altitude but once I found my feet I was very much at home with the cool cafes, museums, the street food stands and the beautiful colonial buildings.

One of the closing highlights was the visit to the Oswaldo Guayasamin foundation and “Capilla de Hombre” museum on my last day, for a perfect, almost sombre goodbye to Ecuador.

We were very well prepared before leaving for this trip by the Pyxera Global and SAP CSR team running the program and it is great to be back home with loved ones. But if you are planning to embark on a similar journey, be warned; you will miss this amazing experience and your new friends on your return!