Living My Childhood Dream — Thanks to Cisco’s Time2Give Benefit

[ad_1] Once 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 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 actually left me.<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="lazy lazy-hidden wp-image-476936 alignright" data-lazy-type="image" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/blogs-images-new/ciscoblogs/1/2025/08/WhatsApp-Image-2025-07-01-at-10.10.49-AM.jpeg" alt="Women standing in a front of a large Cisco sign hanging from the celing of a big conference area." width="420" height="560" srcset="" sizes="auto, (max-width: 420px) 100vw, 420px"/><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="wp-image-476936 alignright" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/blogs-images-new/ciscoblogs/1/2025/08/WhatsApp-Image-2025-07-01-at-10.10.49-AM.jpeg" alt="Women standing in a front of a large Cisco sign hanging from the celing of a big conference area." width="420" height="560" srcset="https://storage.googleapis.com/blogs-images-new/ciscoblogs/1/2025/08/WhatsApp-Image-2025-07-01-at-10.10.49-AM-225x300.jpeg 225w, https://storage.googleapis.com/blogs-images-new/ciscoblogs/1/2025/08/mAMF0bdy-WhatsApp-Image-2025-07-01-at-10.10.49-AM-768x1024.jpeg 768w, https://storage.googleapis.com/blogs-images-new/ciscoblogs/1/2025/08/WhatsApp-Image-2025-07-01-at-10.10.49-AM.jpeg 960w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 420px) 100vw, 420px"/>

Years later, Cisco’s Time2Give initiative — a profit that gives workers 80 hours a yr of paid time to offer again to causes they care about — made my dream of educating doable in a manner that isn't sure by borders or continents.

As an expat dwelling 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 actually felt there have been main variations.

That may sound naïve or unusual at first — nevertheless it genuinely displays how I see the world. I don’t say this to disregard the fact of cultural nuance. Reasonably, I’ve at all times considered 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 comparable struggles, and tales that echo that all of us face the identical ethical dilemmas even when the tales are advised in numerous languages.

This particular worldview has formed not simply my capacity to adapt, but in addition my want to offer — to contribute meaningfully, and to reside with curiosity and compassion. That is what Time2Give means to me: connecting with out hesitation and embracing the idea 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 may use my Time2Give days there. The very subsequent morning, I wakened early to satisfy the bus from a neighborhood nonprofit centered 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, a lot of whom have been later relocated to housing tasks — 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 frequently take with no consideration — like constant entry to training — have been seen as privileges. My position 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 in 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 employees about their ongoing tech challenges and the way we may enhance security and connectivity of their studying areas.<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="lazy lazy-hidden size-full wp-image-476934 aligncenter" data-lazy-type="image" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/blogs-images-new/ciscoblogs/1/2025/08/Kids-in-Classroom-Poland.jpeg" alt="A group of students, mostly teenagers, are seated in a classroom, viewed from behind, facing a screen at the front of the room. In the foreground, two laptops are open on white desks; one displays a presentation slide with a Wi-Fi router icon and the text "I'm the router", and the other shows a screen with a calendar. A dark mug is also visible on a desk." width="719" height="483" srcset="" sizes="auto, (max-width: 719px) 100vw, 719px"/><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-full wp-image-476934 aligncenter" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/blogs-images-new/ciscoblogs/1/2025/08/Kids-in-Classroom-Poland.jpeg" alt="A group of students, mostly teenagers, are seated in a classroom, viewed from behind, facing a screen at the front of the room. In the foreground, two laptops are open on white desks; one displays a presentation slide with a Wi-Fi router icon and the text "I'm the router", and the other shows a screen with a calendar. A dark mug is also visible on a desk." width="719" height="483" srcset="https://storage.googleapis.com/blogs-images-new/ciscoblogs/1/2025/08/Kids-in-Classroom-Poland-300x202.jpeg 300w, https://storage.googleapis.com/blogs-images-new/ciscoblogs/1/2025/08/Kids-in-Classroom-Poland.jpeg 719w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 719px) 100vw, 719px"/>

Once I returned to Poland, my second dwelling for the previous three years, one thing surprising occurred. Maciej Kordas, an incredible chief in software program engineering, heard a few of my tales at Cisco Stay — Cisco’s international tech convention — and invited me to take part in an open day for a neighborhood 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 may appear like. The scholars visited our Cisco Kraków workplace, as a part of a daily initiative by Linked 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.

<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="wp-image-476935 alignleft" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/blogs-images-new/ciscoblogs/1/2025/08/WhatsApp-Image-2025-07-01-at-10.05.21-AM.jpeg" alt="Woman smiling holding her Cisco badge." width="426" height="568" srcset="https://storage.googleapis.com/blogs-images-new/ciscoblogs/1/2025/08/WhatsApp-Image-2025-07-01-at-10.05.21-AM-225x300.jpeg 225w, https://storage.googleapis.com/blogs-images-new/ciscoblogs/1/2025/08/h94AQAGd-WhatsApp-Image-2025-07-01-at-10.05.21-AM-768x1024.jpeg 768w, https://storage.googleapis.com/blogs-images-new/ciscoblogs/1/2025/08/WhatsApp-Image-2025-07-01-at-10.05.21-AM.jpeg 960w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 426px) 100vw, 426px"/>I’ve spoken at Cisco Stay and different main occasions however standing in entrance of teenagers was one thing else fully. Youngsters don’t sugarcoat something. For those who’re boring — they’ll let you recognize. For those who’re inspiring — you’ll see it gentle 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 reside in.

In each El-Duweiqa and Kraków, I used to be reminded of the little woman 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 discovered 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 greater world.

It’s a liberating feeling — to offer with out anticipating, to attach throughout borders and generations.

For those who’re looking for objective, 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 prime of trip time, to help our communities, share our abilities, and pursue our objective. These alternatives allow us to change the world, however additionally they change us.