One Great Adventure

How is it that I'm the luckiest person on the planet?

A couple of months ago I found out about an incredible program that IBM was starting called the Corporate Services Corps. The media outlets are dubbing it the "Corporate Peace Corps" and with good reason. If you are accepted into the program, IBM sends you to a developing country in either Africa, Eastern Europe, or Asia to work with local government and non-governmental organizations on real-world humanitarian issues for one month. The program has a lot of benefits for everyone involved. IBM gets to send some of its promising leaders over to gain global knowledge and skills first-hand. The non-profits get some of IBM's business and technological expertise, which should help them help more people who really deserve the help! The employees who go not only get an incredible opportunity to make a real difference in the world, but they get to travel, be immersed in a new culture, and get some great leadership experience to boot. Here's a recent article in the New York Times about it:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/26/technology/26blue.html?ref=worldbusiness

For me, it was a no-brainer to apply as this program brings together every single one of my passions (the enthusiasm and belief that I can make the world a better place, travel, new languages, cultures, technology, and leadership - nice job to the team that invented and pitched this idea - it's incredible).

The problem with the program is the application part. You had to have had good yearly ratings for the last two years, volunteer experience, leadership experience, and a stellar personal statement. Oh, and by the way, this was only open to IBM employees. Even with those criteria, the program became EXTREMELY competitive. They ended up getting 5500 applications from around the world, 3200 of which were eligible. Of those only 110 people - 110! were chosen. When I heard about the shear numbers of applicants a couple weeks ago, I pretty much lost all hope of being accepted. I've only been with the company for 3 years...there's no way they would pick me.

Then the most surreal thing happened. I got a phone call from the director of the program and he said, "Congratulations, you've been accepted into the program". Words can't really express how I felt at that moment. Shock, excitement, relief, wonder, extreme happiness - those all sound good, but don't do the moment any justice. That moment was only surpassed by the one in which I found out where I was going: Arusha, Tanzania.

Arusha, as it turns out is on the border of Tanzania and Kenya, about 30 miles from the base of Mt. Kilimanjaro. Also not far from Lake Victoria, the second-largest lake in the world. My program runs from August 23rd - September 20th. (The only problem with that being that the trip I had planned with my parents to Glacier National Park had to be canceled. Luckily my wonderful parents are pretty understanding about why I needed to ditch them!) I'll be working with two non-governmental organizations: FINCA International (which distributes microloans of about $50-$300 to small entrepreneurs, many of them women, to help them lift themselves out of poverty) and KickStart (which designs and sells technologies like their "Super MoneyMaker Pump", which is an irrigation system that allows small farmers to produce enough to feed their families and afford health care and education costs).

Are you in shock? Because I'm pretty sure I still am! There is a downside. I won't be living in Glacier this summer because the cost of internet and the hassle for only two months just isn't going to be worth it. Also, I need a slew of shots ranging from Yellow Fever to a Polio booster and even Rabies if I intend to be outside (which I will be if I'm lucky enough to stay a couple extra weeks to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro and go on a photo safari).

Anyway, again, I am incredibly honored and excited to be in this program. I'm proud to work for a company that has given this opportunity both to its employees and the world (I know that sounds like I'm sucking up, but I really mean it)! I'm incredibly thankful to all of the people in my life and career that have gotten me to this point (too numerous to list for sure). Stay tuned, you will be hearing every juicy detail as the program moves forward!