Volunteering in Kenya – #Dreamjob
Being offered to go on an all expense paid 2 week trip to Kenya as part of your work, and share your knowledge and expertise with organizations who use our platform? And whilst being there, also being offered to go on safari’s and follow research surrounding elephants? Who wouldn’t want to do this?
I was one of the people at Salesforce.com that noticed this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity offered by our foundation and expressed my interest towards this trip. I wasn’t the only one and a selection process was started during which we had to sell ourselves first to our foundation, and afterwards the NGOs in Kenya made the final decision. They selected one lucky person and it was me!
I will use this blog to share my adventures in Kenya. Although I realize that I won’t be building houses or teaching to the younger generation of the Kenyan population, I still hope that I can make a difference for the 3 organizations where I will be offering my knowledge:
The above described selection process started at the end of February. During one of our regional all hands meetings we had a timeslot for the foundation, during which they explained the difference that we made last year and we were encouraged to participate the coming year as well. The Kenya trip was advertised as part of participation for this year, and I immediately send out an email to express my interest. Whilst working for Salesforce.com we are all allowed and encouraged to use our 6 days of VTO (volunteer time off) each year, and I have been using that over the last couple of years extensively. I even assisted with the setup of our Foundation Council in the Netherlands, so that our ever expanding team of colleagues has enough options to spend their 6 days of VTO each year.
After my formal application, it went very quickly. I explained as part of my application that I had a connection with Kenya as part of my family, as one of my uncles has been a missionary for over 30 years with Mill-Hill up until his death in 1995. Parts of my family have already visited the country which my Uncle liked so much, and getting this opportunity for me was going to be the icing on the cake of an exciting period whereby I managed to finalize and pass my MBA in November 2012.
April 2013 is going to be a month for me to remember for a long time. It will start with my MBA graduation ceremony on the 5th of April in London, followed by my first marathon in Rotterdam on the 14th of April. The second half of April is completely filled with my trip to Kenya which starts on the 15th of April.
Writing a blog is completely new to me, so any feedback is much appreciated. I will try to provide regular updates in the run-up to my Kenya trip and I might even enjoy blog writing and continue with it afterwards as well…
Vaccinations are already in (painful arm and leg are the current reminder of that), my graduation skull has arrived for the 5th of April and I have spend a lot of time the last couple of months running outside in preparation of the marathon. April 2013 can start as far as I am concerned.
Thijs Bokkers 