2022-June-07

Did you know? You can share this story using the social media icons on the upper left. Use the hashtag #WeAreCisco. You can also rate or comment on the story below.

My Journey Towards Responsible Travel

BY CAROLYN PHILIPPE · REGIONAL IT THEATRE SUCCESS MANAGER · UNITED STATES

WITH HELEN GALL

4 MINUTE READ · 6 MINUTE LISTEN

March 2003: Carolyn dressed as a traditional Moroccan Berber bride on her vacation.

It was 1999 and I joined Cisco out of our San Jose office. I was blessed with having a culturally diverse team of colleagues — a melting pot of Americans with origins in other countries, all working together harmoniously on Tasman Way.

I was curious to learn about the countries where my colleagues originated — the Philippines, India, Armenia, Lebanon, and China to name just a few. This research ignited a dream to visit every country in the world at least once in my lifetime to better understand their cultures.

In November 1999, I started exploring countries in Europe during my vacations. In 2003, a Cisco colleague and I decided to go together on an escorted tour of Morocco — our first trip to the African continent.

During one of our guided city walks, a boy followed our tour group around asking for “un stylo” meaning “pen” in French. I asked the guide, “Why was he asking for a pen?”

I learned that in local schools pens were considered a luxury. The image of the little boy stuck with me. I decided that in the future I would engage in what I called Responsible Travel, giving back to the communities I visit as a tourist. Today this idea is part of Sustainable Tourism.

Bonding with the Lalla Meryem Orphanage volunteer team where we helped take care of the babies and toddlers.

A medical leave of absence, relocation to New York City to care for my elderly mother, and a job transfer to a new division of Cisco delayed my goal to volunteer internationally. In July 2009, I used PTO for my first service program with the nonprofit Cross-Cultural Solutions. I was attracted to their slogan “Volunteer Abroad. Change their world. Change Yours. This Changes Everything."

Before the start of the service program, our in-country leader told us that children in Morocco don’t learn French until they start school. As such, I arrived at my placement with a list of essential Moroccan Arabic words to communicate with them. It was amazing to provide service, bond with like minded volunteers, improve my French, and meet locals to participate in a cultural exchange.

Volunteering in South America

October 2009: I took care of babies in the morning and then in the afternoon did recreational activities with the older kids.

My second international volunteer trip was to Salvador de Bahia, Brazil, where I worked at another orphanage. It was difficult not being able to communicate with the children and staff in their native language. This inspired me to learn Brazilian Portuguese once I returned home.

After Brazil, I paused my international volunteering. In 2010, my mother was diagnosed with Dementia and other medical issues. The responsibilities of being a caregiver were difficult. Neither the Adult Caregivers Network nor the Alzheimer’s Support Network existed at the time, so I was on my own.

As such, until my mom’s passing in 2014, any travel was focused on getting respite so that I could continue to support her daily needs at home.

Cisco launches Time2Give: Back to Morocco

Cisco’s Time2Give program launched in 2016, which I used to return to Morocco for another service program in May 2017.

I loved this assignment as the kids enjoyed the activities and it was a great language exchange experience for all of us! The kids taught me to say things in Arabic, while I taught them to say the same words in English.

Supporting early childhood education in Costa Rica

Helping the children plant in their newly built raised garden beds. I taught them the English words for the different parts of the flower.

In February 2020, just before the COVID pandemic, I was participating in my fourth international volunteering trip in Santa Cruz, Costa Rica. I was assigned to teach at an early childhood education center. Every day the volunteers came up with creative ways to help the kids learn English.

This was a rewarding assignment as I’ve always been passionate about the education of the youth who will be the next generation of leaders in our society.

In 2021, I returned to Portugal to teach conversational English in Beja with Global Volunteers.

Giving back to international communities isn’t the only form of sustainable travel. It is also about visiting places that need our support and stimulating the economy.

I visited Haiti — my parents’ birthplace, in January 2018 and January 2019. We stayed at Haitian-owned hotels, shopped at Haitian-owned art galleries, and employed Haitian guides. There are many more facets to sustainable tourism that I have yet to explore, but I’m eager to do more for the world’s communities.

One never knows how meeting Cisco colleagues from diverse cultural backgrounds will inspire us. How accepting a job offer from one company over the other will shape us. 23 years later, Cisco continues to make the opportunity possible for me to contribute to communities all over the world.

I have my Time2Give planned out for 2022. Do you?