The most popular African celebration sound is called the ‘ululation’. It has multiple variations as you travel across the continent but bears starkly similar tenets. Usually, ululation sounds just like it is written. A high-pitched scream while the tongue wiggles vigorously around an empty mouth. It is chaotic, transcendent, and beautiful. Find time, get onto a video app and search for ‘African Ululation.’ I promise you premium entertainment, and you will learn something new. Mostly, it is reserved for our African women because their voices can hit the high notes much easier. When performed in unison, albeit beautifully chaotic, it captures the raw symphony of an African celebration. I have had a ‘ululation’ moment on every stage of my life: when I was born, when I got a university placement, when I graduated from the university, when I got my first job… And most recently in November at the airport in Nairobi, Kenya. I was a few minutes from boarding the flight to Frankfurt, the first time outside my country. And just before I bid them farewell, the ladies from my extended family did me the honor of attracting the full attention of the airport to me.
In April 2024, I was about to belt out one of those ululations in the SAP Discovery Showroom. I imagined it would be an inconvenient spectacle and restrained myself. The occasion, however, deserved ululation: After a month’s enablement and training as a member of the League of Storytellers program, I held my second tour in Walldorf, building 19.
When I joined SAP in February 2024, the program was looking for participants and registration was ongoing. I was in between learning building names and numbers, meeting my new colleagues, reading about the portfolio of SAP’s solutions, understanding the lunch menu in the different canteens, and on-boarding. My buddy Zoe Angelova, whom I propose you should meet, sent me the registration link. I was selected for the first cohort, that included a selected circle of dedicated colleagues.
I am quick to admit my background: I was a journalist in Kenya for 10 years until November last year. I reported about startups, human interest stories, and once in 3 months spoke to octogenarians about the best memories of their lives. I wrote for newspapers and worked for TV and radio. My knowledge about SAP’s Solutions and workings was not the best. I, like many other journalists, thrive off curiosity. The League of Storytellers program promised to empower Corporate Process and Information Technology (CPIT) colleagues with the skills and knowledge to become storytellers for SAP. This including the tools necessary to host tours in the SAP Discovery Showroom, that is a physical, digital, and virtual multimedia experience for employees, customers, and partners.
And that’s exactly what I learned through the training and enablement month. Britta Lehn and Anja Rosker led us through sessions that gave me opportunities for networking, skill development, and collaboration with other colleagues, ultimately leading to enriched content and increased awareness about SAP. At the end, I knew a lot better about SAP’s transformation, with a behind the scenes view of how SAP works, which products we use to become an even better business, how we run our business, and what it is like to work for one of the world’s leading technology companies.
Then came the penultimate week of April: I was in the office, on my desk, in a meeting. The weather in April still catches me by surprise, but I remember it was sunny. There was a tour, and I was available, in my maroon sweater, checkered shirt tucked into my jeans to complete the look. I partnered Britta as a tour guide, speaking about how we work at SAP. At the end of the tour, a cheerful clap from the audience.
Had you posed the question to me at this time last year, asking what I thought I would be doing today, I would have gone on about so many things. And not this. Looking back, the League of Storytellers has empowered me, and sparked an interest I did not know existed. I certainly look forward to learning more about SAP, and to give more tours while at it, be it Business AI, Business Technology Platform (BTP) and any emerging technologies SAP will develop.
Whenever you hear ‘ululation’ around the Walldorf SAP Campus and see some guy darting up and down in celebration…. That’s just me celebrating the League of Storytellers, in African way. You can stop by and say ,,Wie Geht’s”.
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