June 02

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Hello world!

Posted by on June 2, 2016 in Africa, PULSE 2016, Save the Children | 18 Comments

Hello world,

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This morning I was reborn like Vani, the Pulse blogger. This is officially my first blog, so be gentle.

Why today? It’s a memorable day, exactly 1 month before I leave on my Pulse assignment in Kenya, with Save the Children. I just booked my flight to Nairobi, so officially, Day 1 starts on 2nd July! And it will be a looooong day 1, taking off 06:55, landing 20:40, 13 hours, nice!

What you should know about myself: My name is Vanina, but I rather prefer the short name Vani. I come originally from Bulgaria, a small beautiful country in Southeastern Europe. I have economic background, my professional background is entirely in pharma / healthcare industry. I joined GSK Consumer back in 2009 as a brand manager for Balkans, and moved to Poland as area marketing manager for Central and Eastern Europe in 2013. So for the last 3 and a half years I am a passionate lover and advocate of my new host country! On a personal note, I guess I am just a regular girl: I love to travel; I do a decent amount of sports, running, yoga and biking; I am a passionate photographer; and I have the loveliest dog in the world.

Where & what I will be doing? For the next 6 months, I will be working with Save the Children in Kenya, as a communications specialist, on their Signature program in Bungoma and Busia counties.

The why? Heh, it’s a million question. But to answer in short, I wanted to grab this unique opportunity for adventure, personal and professional change, and hopefully have a bigger impact and help, where help is most needed. The need for purposeful change is a big driver for me, as in my life it’s been the periods of biggest changes that helped me learn, develop, grow, feel alive. And for a good reason, change is well embedded into what GSK Pulse program stands for: “Change communities. Change GSK. Change myself.”

Kukaa pamoja na mimi (which hopefully means “Stay with me” in Swahili, relying on good old Google Translate)

02 June 2016 // Warsaw // Poland

The PULSE Volunteer Partnership is GSK’s skills-based volunteering initiative.  Through PULSE, motivated employees are matched to a non-profit organisation for 3 or 6 months full-time, contributing their skills to solve healthcare challenges at home and abroad.  When PULSE Volunteers return to GSK, they act as catalysts to change the company for the better.