Why the Most Significant Journey Adjustments You Too

Before touring to Africa, I believed I understood why folks volunteer overseas. I assumed it was about giving again, supporting conservation, and exploring new cultures. While that’s true, my time in Africa has taught me that the folks and locations we serve usually affect us simply as a lot in return.

My first go to to the Imire Rhino and Wildlife Conservancy in Zimbabwe with my daughter and Cisco colleagues made a profound impression. I returned house feeling grounded and reconnected to what actually issues. But over time, I seen how simply on a regular basis life pulled me again into outdated routines.

When I returned to Imire for a second time in April 2026, I used to be extra intentional about being absolutely current. I invited eight associates, together with 4 Cisco colleagues, to hitch me — many of the group had by no means been to Africa or participated in worldwide volunteering.

I wished them to expertise the connection and perspective that had impacted me so deeply and hoped the journey would function a reminder of the goodness, goal, and humanity on the earth.

Each day at Imire regarded totally different. Some mornings, we cleaned elephant pens or cleared invasive weeds, and different days, we repaired broken roads or ready hygienic requirements for younger women in the neighborhood.

We had been in a position to work together carefully with Imire’s elephant rescues, even handfeeding and caring for them. Being in such proximity to those animals was transformational. They possess a uncommon intelligence and gentleness that’s tough to explain till you expertise it your self.

The native Shona folks welcomed us warmly, sharing their traditions, values, and putting sense of gratitude. For the Shona, every household lineage is linked to a spirit animal, or “totem.” At the tip of our keep, we had been every assigned a totem based mostly on our strengths and contributions all through the week. I used to be assigned the zebra, which symbolizes teamwork, togetherness, resilience, and the flexibility to navigate tough environments whereas remaining open to new views and options.

In my function as a Senior Leader on the Partner Incentives crew, my tasks focus on serving to groups navigate complicated challenges and work collaboratively via change. The qualities of my spirit animal and volunteer expertise really feel carefully tied to my profession at Cisco and the values I intention to carry to my life and work.

I watched my associates and colleagues endure their very own transformations. They left feeling linked to one thing bigger than themselves. That, I consider, is the true present of mixing journey with volunteer work. You set off with the aim of constructing a distinction for others, however someplace alongside the best way, you notice the expertise is reshaping you too.

Taking these journeys with Cisco’s Time2Give has renewed my appreciation for day-to-day life and given me a deeper sense of what actually issues. I’m grateful to work for a corporation that gives time to present again and recharge in such a significant manner.

I plan to carry the teachings I discovered at Imire ahead and hope that my story encourages your individual affect journey. With Cisco’s subsequent Global Week of Giving going down from August 31 to September 4, I encourage you to discover service alternatives on Benevity and get entangled.

To uncover extra about volunteering with the Imire Rhino and Wildlife Conservancy, please join the upcoming webinar on September 3, at 7 a.m. PST (full-time workers solely). Imire will obtain $10 for each attendee, so take the chance to be taught from others and determine if volunteering overseas is perhaps a match for you.