Why I’ve chosen to work for Better Globe, by Elida Leon

I’ve worked with sales in different industries for a long time, but never felt fulfilled by it, I’ve worked to live and to put food on the table. I always wanted to work where I could contribute to something, but I had a hard time finding a job like that.

I went back to school in September 2010 after taking a break from my job to study, which was one way for me to find meaning with what I was doing. During my education I got in contact with Better Globe and got to know what they work with and how their operation works.

One evening when my husband and I was sitting at home choosing between buying stock in Nordea or making donations to Better Globe, my choice became easy. I get a return from both, but one of them contributes to a better world and the other one makes rich people even richer. That’s when I made the decision to become part of Better Globe and became a member in November 2010, and in one week I had performed so well that I managed to get an extra donation package, and I have gotten one every month since then.

In the winter of 2011 I chose to go back to my fulltime job selling cars, the same job I had before I started studying. There I was in a job from 9am-6pm or later, and worked every second weekend. As many suspect, the salaries in the car industry are good and I was working so hard on increasing my salary I didn’t even notice that I had less and less time for Better Globe, I didn’t even log into my ambassador page on their website. I buried myself in work and said I didn’t have enough time; I even made the decision to not go on the annual trip to Africa I had committed to earlier.

One day in April I finally logged into my ambassador page and found out that I had 1000 € (!!) or about 10 000 SEK in my account. That was based on my earlier work for Better Globe and the small amount of time I had spent on it since I started my fulltime position selling cars. A week later I got my paycheck from my sales position, the job I spent about 40 hours a week on and after looking at all deductions and benefits, my salary made me mad. If I had spent all that time on Better Globe, instead of my fulltime job, how much money would I have had in my account?!

It made me mad thinking about all the time I had spent on my sales job, the hours away from my family, the time I hadn’t been able to spend with my kids and their activities, the time I hadn’t spent staying in touch with my friends, the lack of energy for activities after work, my lack of patience, and the time I hadn’t spent on personal development.

My perspective changed when I looked at it that way and I signed up for the trip to Africa again. The trip was July 1st through 14th, and I had decided that my income from Better Globe would cover the cost of the trip, and I managed to reach that goal!

I took on translating Better Globe’s website to Spanish, what we do within Better Globe is so great and need to reach the whole world. I have South American ancestry; my mom is from Paraguay, and my dad from Uruguay. I’ve been going to South America since I was a little kid and I have seen poverty, I’ve seen how different life is in Scandinavia and I realize how lucky I am that my parents were able to go to Sweden, escaping Argentina’s military junta in the 70ies.

We had a good and safe life, we didn’t’ have to worry about poverty, malnutrition, or worry about not having a roof over our heads, or losing a parent. Translating the website to Spanish enables us to reach many more people, which means that more people are able to contribute to a better world and make money at the same time.

I saw myself as a wonder woman when I prepared for my trip to Africa, I had seen poverty, and I wanted to go there and see the operations and meet the people behind this unique operation. But believe me; what I saw in Africa would break anyone. I was so touched; it was heartbreaking and joyful at the same time.

The joy for the work we do in Better Globe is something truly unique, the happiness we spread, the life we give these people and the dignity that stems from it, the self-esteem, the hope for the future, and most of all, the will to make a better life through hard work and not be dependent on charity. This filled my heart and I get emotional just writing about it.

When I get the question ”Why are you doing this Elida?”, the answer is simple: I want to be a person who contribute to change in the world, I want to make enough of a difference so people can live good lives regardless of where in the world they are born. I want to participate in creating justice in the world, justice for these children born without any knowledge, justice for women who don’t know what rights they actually have, justice for the men fighting to keep their families together even though they believe they have no opportunities.

This isn’t only for Africa, but we have to start somewhere, I have a vision, a goal to bring Better Globe to Latin America. Everything starts with a vision, all great people started with a dream that became a vision that turned into a goal, which lead to an accomplishment.

When TV and radio have a campaign reporting about the problems in the Horn of Africa, everyone make a small contribution, and then don’t do anything until the next time the TV and radio is covering another issue, why not make a monthly contribution? All contributions are valuable, but we must keep in mind that a whole continent can’t live just on donation when we in the western world feel like it; poor countries must learn how to become self-sufficient.

We have such a good life in our ultra designed architect houses, our apartments with the latest technology, all electrical gadgets we just have to have since the neighbor have them and the media tells us to, which we have the right to, but when you ask yourself if you want to contribute to a better world, contribute so more people than just us in the western world have a good life, then you can consider if you have the 49 € or not, to contribute to a better world. That is 450 SEK, which will become 3 100 SEK in 20 years, not counting on an increase in wood prices, something everyone knowing the industry knows will happen, which means the return will be more than 3 100 SEK. Look at the different tree options here ”Våra kunder berättar”.

Today, I’m a very proud Better Globe ambassador, my life changed thanks to my new insight, I left my job selling cars to spend time on Better Globe’s operation, study international development, and started my own company with focus on Better Globe, coaching and internet marketing.

Now I get up in the morning with a big smile since I know I’m making headway in improving the lives of so many, for a new beginning in Africa, but there are no limits for how far we can reach. I’m finally doing something that fills my heart and soul with happiness; I can die tomorrow knowing I contributed to changing the world.

Please contact me at elida@betterglobevision.se if you have any questions!

Best Regards,
Elida León Gustafsson