After 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 instructor — a dreamer sharing information, 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 provides workers 80 hours a 12 months of paid time to offer again to causes they care about — made my dream of educating doable in a means that isn’t sure by borders or continents.
As an expat residing in Kraków, Poland, I’m typically 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.
Which may sound naïve or unusual at first — but it surely genuinely displays how I see the world. I don’t say this to disregard the truth of cultural nuance. Somewhat, I’ve all the time seen humanity as entire. 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 skill 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 idea that humanity ought to all the time 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 wakened early to satisfy the bus from an area nonprofit targeted on schooling and social support. 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 1000’s of households, a lot of whom have 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 kids.
I spent the day with a group the place issues we regularly take as a right — like constant entry to schooling — have been seen as privileges. My function was easy but highly effective: to supply love, consideration, and share technical information. The kids 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 have been prepared for extra, if solely given the possibility.
We shared smiles, performed video games, and easily related. I additionally spoke with the nonprofit workers 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 house 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 world 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 — exhibiting them what a profession in IT might appear to be. 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 women can carve their very own paths in a discipline 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 solely. Youngsters don’t sugarcoat something. In the event you’re boring — they’ll let you recognize. In the event 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 go away having realized one thing deeper: about humanity, honesty, respect, the braveness to talk up about critical points, and the readability that comes from seeing your house in a a lot larger world.
It’s a liberating feeling — to offer with out anticipating, to attach throughout borders and generations.
In the event you’re looking for goal, 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 affect — given 80 paid hours a 12 months, on high of trip time, to assist our communities, share our skills, and pursue our goal. These alternatives allow us to change the world, however additionally they change us.
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