LillyPad, Our Company Blog: 220 Employees Selected for 2012 Connecting Hearts Abroad Program

February 7, 2012 | BY: David Marbaugh

I remember when I learned last year that I would be going to India as part of Lilly’s Connecting Hearts Abroad program.  All the wonder, awe, apprehension, and gratefulness.

Now 220 other Lilly employees are bursting with their own emotions having just learned that they have been selected for the 2012 program. (1,300 employees applied.)

They will be forever changed.  

They will participate in a two-week, company-paid, global service assignment.

They will travel to 11 economically developing countries to work with people whom often lack basic resources.

They will lend their heads, hands, and hearts in the areas of education, elder care, health care, and community development.

They will meet Lilly colleagues from all areas and all levels of the company, forming new, unexpected, and lasting connections.

They will work to break down geographical and cultural barriers – both real and imagined.

They will raise their cultural IQ, and hopefully bring new awareness to their work – and, most certainly, to their lives.

They will push beyond their comfort zones frequently, with their flexibility tested again and again.

They will struggle to fit in the first few days; they will not want to leave by the last.

They will wish they could do more (and they will).

They will feel that they have been given far more than they gave.

They will be wrong.

They will have forever touched the people they meet – and will be touched in return.

I speak from experience.  

And wish our 2012 ambassadors all the best.

We’ll talk more about their stories and journeys throughout the year.

About Eli Lilly and Company
Lilly, a leading innovation-driven corporation, is developing a growing portfolio of pharmaceutical products by applying the latest research from its own worldwide laboratories and from collaborations with eminent scientific organizations. Headquartered in Indianapolis, Ind., Lilly provides answers—through medicines and information—for some of the world's most urgent medical needs. Information about Lilly is available at www.lilly.com.

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