2020-May-22
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Caring Is Contagious
BY MAHA AKKARI · NETWORK CONSULTING ENGINEER · LEBANON
In recent months it has been heartwarming and inspiring to see Cisco, our partners, and our employees come together to help those who are struggling.
In my own country — beautiful Lebanon — we have been entangled in a series of crises for some time. Social and economic upheaval. Devastating wildfires. And now a pandemic. However, in our experience, crises have a habit of bringing out the best in people.
Like everyone around the world, the people of Lebanon are dealing with COVID-19. Although we have fewer cases than other countries, our hospitals are still stretched thin.
Cisco recently joined forces with the International Committee of the Red Cross to support the main public hospital fighting the pandemic. Protective gear and medicines were supplied.
This effort led to a ripple effect of other colleagues creating similar relief initiatives in Turkey, Jordan, Palestine, Iraq, Yemen, Nigeria, and Pakistan.
Wildfires Spur Global Giving
While Australia’s immense wildfires dominated the headlines in January, Lebanon was still reeling from lesser-known but historic wildfires of its own.
Our fires broke out last October and spread over large areas of Lebanon’s forests. As they engulfed areas north of Beirut, they destroyed homes and endangered schools and small businesses, displacing hundreds of families.
The Cisco Foundation partnered with two aid organizations, Direct Relief and Anera, to launch the Lebanon Wildfire Disaster Response campaign.
As word of this effort spread, we saw something remarkable happen. Cisco’s Lebanese community on Webex Teams stepped up in a big way that none of us saw coming: They began adding themselves to the Teams space and donating money.
Many were our colleagues in Lebanon, but we also saw an outpouring of support from Cisco’s many Lebanese employees around the world — in places like Brazil, Canada, Poland, Argentina, Australia, the Middle East, and the United States.
Lebanon itself has a population of about 6 million, but our expat community is at least twice that number. In all, we had some 174 people join our Webex Teams space. There were engineers, marketers, senior managers, VPs, new hires — you name it.
They opened their hearts and wallets. Their donations funded things like asthma medications, protective gear, and burn creams for those injured in the fires.
“It was amazing to see Cisco Lebanese colleagues worldwide coming together to help their motherland,” says Fouad El Solh, Cisco Country Manager for Lebanon. “We connected with our roots using Cisco collaboration technology. Most of us never knew each other before.”
Lifting Others, One Pair of Shoes at a Time
During difficult times in Lebanon, it’s often young orphans and other children in need who suffer the most. Orphanages in Lebanon see a spike in donations around Ramadan, Christmas, and Easter, but there’s typically a decline once the holidays are over.
Recently, donations to some orphanages dropped by up to 80 percent. This has left many orphans in dire need of clothing, food, medical supplies, and other essentials.
With co-funding from Crystal Networks, a Gold Certified Cisco Partner, Cisco Lebanon launched a shoe donation campaign with Soles4Souls, an NGO that collects new shoes and clothing to distribute to the needy around the world. More than 600 pairs of shoes were shipped to three local charities in Lebanon — Skechers, no less!
We held a series of donation events to raise awareness of the challenges facing orphanages. The first, in January, took place at the Dar Al Yatima girls’ orphanage in Tripoli, about 50 miles north of Beirut.
More than 100 girls between 4 and 13 years old attended the event, along with volunteers from Cisco Lebanon, Crystal Networks, and friends and family. The girls enjoyed a day of fun activities, including Zumba dancing, face painting, and coloring.
Employees donated generously to cover the additional expenses of the orphanage visit and giveaways. It was heartwarming to see the girls’ response to receiving their new shoes and hoodies.
Momentum for the Future
These humanitarian efforts have created momentum for new projects. For example, the Cisco Dubai office recently launched an initiative to collect and donate clothes and shoes to the NGO in Lebanon.
We’re also exploring how we can use Cisco technology — in our hospitals to help with the pandemic, in our forests to detect wildfires early in hopes of staving off future disasters, and in other ways.
As Lebanese-American writer and poet Gibran Khalil Gibran once said, “Safeguarding the right of others is the most noble and beautiful end of a human being.”
These acts of coming together reflect our passion to make a positive impact on people, society, and our planet. Giving back is indeed contagious, and I hope I have inspired you to come together to help others.
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