Wishing for Tunisia.
Whilst our work isn’t going to change the country overnight, it will hopefully be a small step for the organisation, and those it inspires and supports, to help improve people’s lives and help the world run better.
This is how I closed out the first part of my blog [here]. Two weeks later, I’m sat in the airport with such a mixed set of emotions. I’ve been reflecting on the journey since arriving, and how quickly it feels the time has passed, a thought process shared by the entire group. 29 days ago we arrived as strangers, today we depart as a group who have been through so much together — shared work experiences and creating lifelong memories of travel and food.
The SAP SoSa closing event, hosted by PYXERA at the offices of my client, was a great chance to reconnect with those we had met on the first day, and all that had been achieved by the SAP and host organisations. The whole event was emotional, with shared stories of challenges, accomplishments and experiences — coupled with laughter, tears and pride. Our host agreed with our approach of an unscripted, but structured, fireside chat to discuss the experience and the learnings — which was a perfect reflection of our working style — relaxed, adaptable but impactful.
The second half of the assignment was about diving deeper into the organisation, forging a clear path forward which the client could easily follow. Creating documentation is never fun, but it was amazing to document what had been achieved. We had spoken to many stakeholders, “interrogated” the host organisation staff and spoken so much about every aspect of the process and program, compiling this into a single, logical and purposeful document was a challenge. The team was able to create a cohesive document which was broadly targeted on a series of short term opportunities, a mid-term objective which would help them define and track their performance and a longer term objective to define and implement a data strategy.
Alongside the documented deliverable, some of the more rewarding work was the interaction with those in the ecosystem, the start-ups within the current lifecycle and the staff of the host organisation. I hosted my first Mindfulness focussed introduction session which I received awesome feedback about, I was also able to provide feedback on investor pitches and was amazed by how much the presentations had developed in such a short space of time — with the input of the host organisation, the catalysts and the hard work of the entrepreneurs. Personally it broke a self-constructed glass wall in my mind that I didn’t have anything to offer to these amazing people.
It’s given me the confidence to want to be more active in the social enterprise space, and will be something I will be exploring when I get back home. The breadth and depth of the knowledge that is often taken for granted when working in corporations can be so impactful, as well as the opportunities that SAP provide its employees is incredible and often never really appreciated or considered: the amount of experts available to us, the learning content and courses we can access, and the various programs we can engage in is so valuable. I’ve been thinking about the impact corporations could have if they opened their learning catalogues up to the whole world for free would be. I know understand the impact it could have within the ecosystem within Tunisia, and it’s incredible.
Outside of the office, I was fortunate enough to attend a weekend trip organised by one of the start-ups to the south of Tunisia with their community. The trip was simply breathtaking. The place is part of the reason, the diversity of Tunisia is incredible — coastline, canyons, desert and differing crops cover the landscape. Did you know that Tunisia holds the best preserved amphitheatre? No — nor did I, look at it!
The hidden gem of Tunisia is definitely the people and the culture. Every meal time was a celebration of friends, family and the present moment. The songs that were sung were beautiful, the smiles heartfelt, the embraces genuine and the dancing all from a place of freedom and joy. The chats by the open fire under a moonless sky, the pride that each Tunisian has in their country was so clear — I think everyone I interacted with wanted to make sure that my perspective of Tunisia was accurate. It is truly an amazing place. These pictures were taken at about 4am in the morning, as you can see there were still some lights on and the party had only just stopped for some of the group. The beauty of the stars, the vastness of the skies has always amazed me and in one shot I managed to capture two shooting stars. I feel very fortunate for a number of reasons, but those two stars granted me two wishes according to folklore, so here are my two wishes that I’m putting out into the ether.
1) Tunisia, and similar countries, are allowed to grow and shine freely. The amount of passion, genius and love the people have is endless. Hopefully the legislation catches up with the digital age and that it accelerates the growth of the individuals, the companies, the ecosystem, the country and the region.
2) That those of us who are in fortunate positions take a moment to appreciate that, and when presented with an opportunity share that experience and knowledge with those who desire, freely and without conditions.
The SoSa experience has been life altering, and I am grateful for the opportunity to participate, to contribute and benefit from such a wonderful experience.
