After I was a baby rising up in Egypt, I used to face in entrance of a whiteboard in my room, pretending to be an inspiring instructor — a dreamer sharing data, kindness, and hope. Life had completely different plans; I grew to become 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 provides staff 80 hours a yr of paid time to offer again to causes they care about — made my dream of educating doable in a means that’s not 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 folks. My reply tends to shock folks: I’ve by no means really felt there have been main variations.
Which may sound naïve or unusual at first — however it genuinely displays how I see the world. I don’t say this to disregard the truth of cultural nuance. Slightly, I’ve at all times considered 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 informed in numerous languages.
This particular worldview has formed not simply my means to adapt, but additionally my want to offer — to contribute meaningfully, and to stay with curiosity and compassion. That is what Time2Give means to me: connecting with out hesitation and embracing the assumption 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 an area nonprofit targeted on training and social assist. We set off from New Cairo towards El-Duweiqa, a neighborhood 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 1000’s of households, lots of whom had been later relocated to housing initiatives — however poverty, neglect, and lack of alternative continued to form day by day life there for a few of them, particularly for kids.
I spent the day with a neighborhood the place issues we regularly take without any consideration — like constant entry to training — had been seen as privileges. My position 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 possibility.
We shared smiles, performed video games, and easily linked. 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.
After I returned to Poland, my second residence for the previous three years, one thing sudden occurred. Maciej Kordas, an incredible chief in software program engineering, heard a few of my tales at Cisco Dwell — Cisco’s international tech convention — and invited me to take part in an open day for an area highschool wherein his daughter attends. It wasn’t a charity occasion, however a knowledge-sharing session with youngsters — displaying them what a profession in IT might seem like. The scholars visited our Cisco Kraków workplace, as a part of an everyday initiative by Related Poland.
Whereas I spoke about know-how, 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 Dwell and different main occasions however standing in entrance of teenagers was one thing else totally. Youngsters don’t sugarcoat something. In case you’re boring — they’ll let . In case you’re inspiring — you’ll see it mild up their faces. They taught me one thing profound: that authenticity issues greater than experience, and that to attach with them, you have to be extra actual than the digital noise they stay in.
In each El-Duweiqa and Kraków, I used to be reminded of the little lady 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 realized one thing deeper: about humanity, honesty, respect, the braveness to talk up about severe points, and the readability that comes from seeing your home in a a lot larger world.
It’s a liberating feeling — to offer with out anticipating, to attach throughout borders and generations.
In case you’re trying to find goal, I urge you to search for these alternatives. That’s why I like working at Cisco. With Time2Give, we’re inspired to make an influence — given 80 paid hours a yr, on high of trip time, to help our communities, share our abilities, and pursue our goal. These alternatives allow us to change the world, however additionally they change us.
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