Week One of my SAP Social Sabbatical in Jaipur, India— July 2025

🚀Bhayli & SAP: One Team, One Dream⭐ Jai Seva — Victory in Service ⭐

My first week in Jaipur has been nothing short of a whirlwind. The SAP Social Sabbatical is all about stepping outside of our comfort zones, working closely with local organizations, and learning through immersion. But what I didn’t fully anticipate was how much the city itself — its rhythm, its chaos, its warmth — would shape the experience.

The program brings together SAP employees from around the world to support innovative non-profits and social enterprises, helping them tackle real business challenges. Every organisation we’re working with are aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals, which makes this experience extremely meaningful, as it is fully aligned with some of my most treasured core values.

This opportunity hits close to home — using the skills I’ve built over the years to support communities and businesses doing good in the world has always been a personal pursuit.

Together with my SAP colleagues Nidia Miguel and Lucrecia Maphupha, we kicked off the program with introductions at the Marriott Hotel, where leaders from customer organizations shared their perspectives and expectations. Our client is Bhayli, who empowers rural women in Rajasthan by training them to transform waste materials — like plastic bottles and beverage cans — into beautifully handwoven and handcrafted products. This not only creates sustainable livelihoods but also provides women with steady income and independence. By upcycling everyday waste into functional designs, Bhayli promotes a circular economy where trash is given new value. In doing so, it supports both women’s empowerment and environmental sustainability in a single, impactful mode. You can find more about Bhayli’s mission and vision in their website here and Instagram account here.

SAP Social Sabbatical Kick-Off Event

After a great panel discussion with senior executives and C-Level professionals in the Hotel, we visited our customer’s office for the first time. The drive back gave us our first taste of Jaipur’s infamous traffic: one hour on the road, followed by a rainy evening where flooded streets turned dinner into an adventure. Getting to the customer’s office on the first day was an experience. The streets of Jaipur seemed to move in a rhythm of their own — cars, tuk-tuks, motorbikes, buses, and even cows all weaving in and out of each other’s paths. The constant honking wasn’t aggressive like in Europe; instead, it felt like a kind of language, a way of saying “I’m here, don’t hit me.”

The sound never stopped, forming a noisy but oddly coordinated symphony that somehow kept the traffic flowing. The Customer office welcome there was warm and genuine, and as a gesture of cultural exchange, we brought small gifts from our home countries — candies from South Africa, Germany, and Portugal — to share with the Bhayli team. What might have seemed like a simple act became a moment of connection, laughter, and curiosity. Watching our colleagues taste unfamiliar flavors (and sometimes making funny faces) broke the ice instantly. It reminded me how food, even something as small as a sweet, can bridge worlds and spark conversations.

The following days continued in the same unpredictable spirit. Even getting to the office became a challenge — Uber rides canceled because we were “too far,” drivers navigated through flooded roads, cows, and mud. On one occasion, our car got stuck, another broke a tire, and my phone even took a dive into the water (and miraculously survived). Despite all this, we managed to run our first workshop, focusing on the current product and mapping the customer journey. Exhaustion hit hard in the evenings, but team debriefs with Pyxera Global kept us grounded, and exchanging small gifts from our countries reminded us of the global connections we were building.

Work at the customer site together with Erin Burnson and Angraj Svami soon became more structured. We run design together thinking workshops and mapped both the Customer Journey and Production processes, revised project scopes, and distributed tasks among colleagues. Some days ended with team drinks, others with solo dinners when the flu left me too drained. Food was its own journey: “interesting” lunches, comforting chicken dishes that reminded me of home, fresh coconuts from the market, and the occasional pizza or pasta to reset.

Customer Journey and Production Processes Mapping

Design thinking workshops

Outside of work, Jaipur offered glimpses of both beauty and challenge. One morning, I woke up at 4 a.m. to visit the Govind Dev Ji temple with extended SAP Team. Walking barefoot and watching the celebrations was an unforgettable cultural moment, followed by wandering a local market where I saw my first monkey and ordered my first coconut water.

Govind Dev Ji temple

Chai Toast

Not everything was easy — I battled the flu, an upset stomach cut short my tour of Amber Fort, and many evenings ended in early nights with simple meals of toast, rice, or bananas. But even in these quiet moments, there was space to reflect, to connect with colleagues, and to call home to share stories from this incredible city.

Visit to Amber Fort

Looking back, this first week has been about more than just work. It’s been about adapting, embracing the unexpected, and finding joy in small things — a shared chai, a laugh over a broken Uber, or a comforting meal when far from home. Jaipur has challenged me with its traffic, its rains, and its energy, but it has also welcomed me with its colors, flavors, and people.

And this is just week one.