It’s already been two years since we established the Acronis Cyber Foundation! Unfortunately, 2020 changed our plans, and we cannot participate in many of our projects on-site ourselves. Annual school building treks for the Acronis team and its partners have quickly become an enjoyable tradition, and hopefully, we will be able to go again soon. Our volunteers continue to share their emotions after the treks, and we are thrilled to know that by helping others, they also rethink their values as well.

Melinda MacPhee and her lovely family told us how their lives have changed after she came back home from our Senegal school construction site in November 2018.

Melinda:

What inspired me to get involved was the opportunity to be able to help other children, be able to help them succeed with education, and be able to give back. The most inspiring moment for me on the trek was when we arrived within the village and the welcoming that we received. It was so warm, so heart-felt. Everyone was dancing, clapping, and cheering. It was one of the most memorable experiences of the entire trek. 

The message that I’d like to express for others to get involved is that the feeling you have after you experience something like this is so warming to your heart that you want to continue, give this opportunity to others, and allow them to succeed within their education. Even the looks on the children’s faces, it’s priceless. It’s just something that every person should experience. 

The way I feel about Acronis and how they developed the Acronis Cyber Foundation is just a very proud feeling. I am extremely proud to be part of a company that provides education globally around the world and puts smiles on the faces of these little kids.

The most and best experience is that I had that I brought home and implemented in my own family is closer family values. Within the village, the families are with each other every day from the moment they wake up to the moment they go to bed. And they spend all day, all night with each other. To see that you can get lost and forget where you are with your own family only because we have so much technology: we have our iPhones, we have iPads. You sit there and you look around, and everyone’s on their phones. We are not really focused on each other. So, when I came home, I decided to do a lot more family sit-down dinners, a lot more family nights, family get-togethers, family time. That, I think, is one of the best implementations that I’ve done after that experience. 

Alexis, Melinda’s daughter:

I was really proud of my mom for going on this trip and really excited to hear what she has been talking about. I think our mom’s experience encouraged everyone in our family to get involved. Damian [Melinda’s son] and I especially wanted to do more and be part of something bigger like she had.

Damian, Melinda’s son:

It encouraged me a lot, and I’m planning on going down to Florida to work after the hurricane and helping a lot of people. I learned from my mom’s experience that it’s a good feeling to help people and to be there, to help people with stuff that they don’t have, that you know you can help with. 

Jonathan, Melinda’s husband:

I felt very nervous, very scared about my wife going on this trip. I wasn’t sure what was going to happen with her. I don’t know, the communication there was kind of vague. We didn’t know how it was going to be with the kids at home. I was fine. She was happy to go, so I was ready to let it go.

The experience my wife had impacted our family: not only me, but everyone around. The way that she expressed how it helped her look at things. How she helped kids, and other people build schools, and how she wants to do it with other people. Not only that, but the way that she talked to other people about it that also inspired them to, maybe, want to do the same thing to help others. And, I know, if she didn’t help everybody, if she touched one heart, that was good for her.

After my wife’s visit to Africa, hearing all the stories, and all of the wonderful things that she experienced over there, yes, that would be something I would want to do in the near future or some time in the future. I would consider going to open a school because of all the stories and a lot of things that my wife has told me from her experience over there. At first, I was very, you know, “mmm…. ok, maybe not.” But, after she went, and hearing everything that she experienced over there with all the kids and the men and women that she had gone with, yes, I would be very happy to do that in my life.

Watch a short video of this sweet family sharing their thoughts.