Once I was a toddler rising up in Egypt, I used to face in entrance of a whiteboard in my room, pretending to be an inspiring trainer — a dreamer sharing data, kindness, and hope. Life had totally different plans; I turned a software program engineer. However that dream of sharing one thing by no means really left me.
Years later, Cisco’s Time2Give initiative — a profit that gives staff 80 hours a yr of paid time to present again to causes they care about — made my dream of instructing potential in a approach that isn’t certain by borders or continents.
As an expat dwelling in Kraków, Poland, I’m usually requested how I navigate cultural variations and whether or not I discover it troublesome to attach with individuals. My reply tends to shock individuals: I’ve by no means really felt there have been main variations.
That may sound naïve or unusual at first — nevertheless it genuinely displays how I see the world. I don’t say this to disregard the truth of cultural nuance. Somewhat, I’ve at all times seen humanity as complete. Whether or not in Egypt — the place I grew up — or in Poland, the place I’ve constructed a brand new chapter of my life, I’ve discovered a shared ardour for music and love for magnificence, heard related struggles, and tales that echo that all of us face the identical ethical dilemmas even when the tales are advised in numerous languages.
This particular worldview has formed not simply my potential to adapt, but additionally my need to present — to contribute meaningfully, and to dwell with curiosity and compassion. That is what Time2Give means to me: connecting with out hesitation and embracing the idea that humanity ought to at all times come first.
In November 2024, I flew to Cairo, Egypt, after receiving affirmation from my supervisor that I might use my Time2Give days there. The very subsequent morning, I awoke early to satisfy the bus from a neighborhood nonprofit centered on training and social help. We set off from New Cairo towards El-Duweiqa, a group within the hills of Muqattam.
El-Duweiqa is a deeply underserved neighborhood that tragically got here into the general public eye after a devastating rockslide in September 2008. The catastrophe displaced hundreds of households, a lot of whom had been later relocated to housing initiatives — however poverty, neglect, and lack of alternative continued to form every day life there for a few of them, particularly for youngsters.
I spent the day with a group the place issues we regularly take as a right — like constant entry to training — had been seen as privileges. My function was easy but highly effective: to supply love, consideration, and share technical data. The youngsters had little or no, but carried boundless pleasure, curiosity, and starvation for studying. Their self-discipline at school and their sharp minds made it apparent — they had been prepared for extra, if solely given the prospect.
We shared smiles, performed video games, and easily related. I additionally spoke with the nonprofit employees about their ongoing tech challenges and the way we might enhance security and connectivity of their studying areas.
Once I returned to Poland, my second residence for the previous three years, one thing surprising occurred. Maciej Kordas, an incredible chief in software program engineering, heard a few of my tales at Cisco Stay — Cisco’s international tech convention — and invited me to take part in an open day for a neighborhood highschool by which his daughter attends. It wasn’t a charity occasion, however a knowledge-sharing session with youngsters — exhibiting them what a profession in IT might seem like. The scholars visited our Cisco Kraków workplace, as a part of a daily initiative by Linked Poland.
Whereas I spoke about expertise, I additionally shared one thing extra private: the significance of numerous views in tech, and the way younger ladies can carve their very own paths in a area that’s nonetheless predominantly male.
I’ve spoken at Cisco Stay and different main occasions however standing in entrance of teenagers was one thing else totally. Youngsters don’t sugarcoat something. Should you’re boring — they’ll let you recognize. Should you’re inspiring — you’ll see it gentle up their faces. They taught me one thing profound: that authenticity issues greater than experience, and that to attach with them, you should be extra actual than the digital noise they dwell in.
In each El-Duweiqa and Kraków, I used to be reminded of the little woman I as soon as was — standing in entrance of a whiteboard, dreaming of sometime giving again. Time2Give didn’t simply fulfill that childhood dream — it humbled me. Each time I present as much as educate, I depart having discovered one thing deeper: about humanity, honesty, respect, the braveness to talk up about critical points, and the readability that comes from seeing your home in a a lot greater world.
It’s a liberating feeling — to present with out anticipating, to attach throughout borders and generations.
Should you’re trying to find function, I urge you to search for these alternatives. That’s why I really like working at Cisco. With Time2Give, we’re inspired to make an impression — given 80 paid hours a yr, on prime of trip time, to assist our communities, share our skills, and pursue our function. These alternatives allow us to change the world, however additionally they change us.
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