2017-July-11
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An Experience of a Lifetime: Cisco Employees Serve Children in India
When it comes to giving back as part of Cisco's culture, Cisco really does walk the talk. Look at the Time2Give initiative. Time2Give allows Cisco employees to take up to five paid days per calendar year to give their time to a cause that matters to them. Many employees use the time to volunteer at their children's school, or to participate in a group volunteer day, skiing with disabled vets or cleaning up a local beach. And then there are people like Gioia Ferretti, Marketing Project Specialist, who are taking Time2Give to a whole new level.
Ferretti—along with two other Cisco employees who attend her church, Kaylin Zimmerman, Marketing Analyst and Nolan Volk, Partner Operations Manager—used her five days to travel halfway around the world to help orphans in India. The orphanage, located in the tiny town of Kesinga in rural Eastern India, provides clean water and classroom education for its residents. These are things that many of us take for granted, but they make a big difference for the children at the orphanage and in the local village. "When children are provided with clean drinking water and access to education," said Volk, "it's amazing the potential we all have. These kids will be the next leaders of India."
Gioia, Nolan, and Kaylin, working with five other members of their church, put on a three-day summer camp for the orphans. They spent the rest of their time playing with, talking to, and just listening to the children. It was a different experience from what Kaylin expected: "I wanted to leave beyond exhausted and knowing that I put all my energy into these kids, into what they needed," she said. "It turns out, the reality of what they needed was hugs and to be loved."
Twenty-five million of India's 500 million children are orphans. Those numbers, along with the remote location, drew Nolan to serve in India: "I knew we could have an impact there, even it was just for a short trip," he said. "And more than anything it would be a great opportunity to challenge ourselves, and challenge the status quo of what I'm used to."
It's impossible to measure the impact that these three had on the kids they encountered, but they all agree that their own lives were changed for the better. Nolan is grateful for the opportunity that Cisco made possible, "It's amazing that a company like Cisco would invest in their employees in such a way that they want to see their employees follow their dreams and follow their passions."
Read more about their trip (and watch a video) in Gioia's blog post.
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