Reaching For The Sky – Volunesia Goes Corporate At SAP Bangalore
The different ways that Volunesia continues to surprise Team KYS with its ripples are unbelievable. What started as a community event at Cubbon Park last month, grew wings and flew into the corporate setup at SAP! Did we expect this? Did we plan for this to happen? Absolutely not. Are we thrilled? Beyond all measure!
How Did Volunesia Go Corporate?
Chiranjeev Brahma (CJ), our friend and SAPian, who is also an amazing photographer, attended our third Volunesia event, where he volunteered to click beautiful pictures of all the Volunesians. He enjoyed his experience so much that he pitched Volunesia to his colleague – Swathi Sushilan, who was putting together a beautiful one-day program as a part of the SAP iXp (SAP Internship Experience) Bangalore Summit. With Swathi on board, Team KYS was thrilled to meet and collaborate with the SAP team. We also had the opportunity to meet and work with Stephanie Chi, who is the Global Consultant for SAP iXp.
We were very happy when we realised that the values we wanted to introduce to the interns through Volunesia was a perfect fit with what the SAP Team had in mind.
The Essence Of Volunesia
To be frank, Volunesia is not just an event for us at KYS. It’s an experience that we want each person in the circle to experience. At Cubbon Park, the ambience is already bursting with so much natural life and energy, so we were wondering how to replicate that in a closed space and a corporate setup. We were very happy that we were able to transform the energy of the place with a few tea lights, value boards, flower petals and cleanliness! We were still not sure whether it was good enough, but when we saw some organisers and interns enter the space and say, “Wow”, we knew we had gotten it right! 🙂
The Intern Brigade
We began Volunesia with a circle hosted by Jaideep. As we looked around, it was such a happy sight, seeing all the interns wearing their handmade colourful name tags and holding a heart (one made out of paper, don’t worry) in their hands!
Jaideep started the circle with a check-in round, where everyone was asked to voice the first word that came to their mind when we asked, “What are you here for?” From Passion, Dreams, Experience and Togetherness to Love, Service, Happiness and Serendipity – we had an abundance of beautiful words trickling out.
Once we explained the concept of Volunesia to the interns, they had one hour to create some beautiful goodies. When they rushed to the stage to rummage through the waste, Team KYS was delighted to see the eagerness with which the interns started off.
During that one hour, we saw interns who had hardly spoken to each other bond over sharing scissors, connect over sharing the glue bottles, laugh over each other’s goof ups, and most important of all – experience the joy of volunteering for the underprivileged.
Love Triumphs Over All
At the end of the hour, there were some really inventive goodies on the stage, displayed for everyone to see. The same stage that held waste materials an hour earlier now held goodies that will add value and bring happiness to the lives of many Mentor India students and volunteers. From educational games and inspiring posters to beautiful bookmarks and creative cards, there were a variety of items that emerged from our creative time together and were now ready to be gifted. We closed with another circle and shared with the interns the value of what they had created.
What these youngsters had experienced in that one hour was beautifully put into perspective when we asked each of them, yet again, to answer in one word – “What do you feel now?” This time, some of the words that emerged were – Compassionate, Loved, Blessed, Grateful, Creative, Refreshed, Happy, Fun, Kind, and Ubuntu! We explained how their kind actions, filled with love, had created such a positive space within an hour. If they incorporated these values in their daily work, life would be even more rewarding.
Smiling From Ear To Ear
After a successful, heart-warming event, Team KYS was over the moon when Volunesia was repeatedly called the most memorable event of the day. The interns soon left for the day, but not without leaving some beautiful testimonials from their hearts on our (crafted) hearts! Some of them read:
“You’re really connecting. Your motive is awesome. I really want to join if I can. 🙂 “
“It was a great experience. Cookies were really good. :)”
“Felt really positive. Thanks a lot. Looking forward to volunteer. Keep up the amazing work guys!” – Tarun
“The work you guys do is commendable and we need more people like you in the world. Thanks for an AMAZING session.” – Rashmi
“You guys were awesome. You guys are awesome. Keep the spirit alive. And keep also the vigour alive.” – Pranay
“Volunesia… extend the happiness to whole Asia and the world.”
“Loved the way you spread love.” – Lots of love
Also, one of our highlights of the day was when the SAP Team tagged us with this beautiful card above. 🙂
We are still experiencing the ripples from that event, which have been reaching us in our inboxes and through phone calls. Volunesia, in its truest sense, is changing us more and more with every experience, and we can’t wait to see what it has in store for us. Seems like we have stopped guiding Volunesia. Now it’s Volunesia guiding us! 🙂
Enjoyed reading about this? Then you might like to read Jaideep 2.0: Innernet Stories From My BIG Family.Â
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