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Helio Guimaraes’ transformative journey to Malawi shows how acts of service can forge deeper connections, inspire personal growth, and ignite lasting change.
After 25 years with TD SYNNEX, Helio Guimaraes, Vice President and General Manager for the MCA region, has built a reputation for leadership and community involvement. Based in the Miramar office, Helio has long believed that volunteering is about more than financial contributions—it’s about taking action. This belief recently led him on a transformative journey to Malawi, where he joined a group of 35 volunteers to work at the Ubuntu Nation School, a project near a refugee camp housing 50,000 people, including 20,000 children.
Helio’s journey to Malawi began with a chance encounter on social media. A friend, who was also volunteering in Africa, shared the details of an initiative organized by Fraternity Without Borders, a nonprofit dedicated to supporting underserved communities. Inspired, Helio decided to join the 2023 trip, bringing his son along for what would become an unforgettable experience. “When I talked with my family about the idea, my older son told me ‘If you go, I’ll go with you,’ so I got even more excited and we decided to go [together],” Helio recalls. “I think that when we participate in something like this, we get closer to the people who are working with us. So, for me, it was a very, very important time to be with my son.”
The preparation for the trip took six months, requiring vaccinations and mental readiness for cultural differences and challenging conditions. Once in Malawi, the team worked tirelessly to support the Ubuntu Nation School, which serves only a fraction of the children in the refugee camp due to limited resources. Helio and his son immersed themselves in various tasks, from assisting in classrooms to connecting with families. The work was emotional and eye-opening, exposing them to the harsh realities of life in the camp but also the strength and resilience of the local community.
One of the most profound lessons Helio took from the experience was the collective spirit of the people he met. Despite facing significant challenges, the community exhibited an unwavering sense of unity and gratitude. “No matter how difficult the situation is for everyone, what impressed me is how united they are, how they think collectively before thinking individually,” Helio says. “When we start to look at problems that are completely different from what we have today, we start to give a lot more value to things.”
The trip not only deepened Helio’s connection with his son but also enriched his perspective as a leader. “Our life is much more complex than just our work and our family. We complement each other when we get involved with other people, different causes, and learn a little more about the world,” he explains. “I believe volunteering helps us to develop this human side and when we work, we all work with people and dealing with people demands a lot of this human side to understand how and what people feel.”
Since returning, Helio has continued to champion initiatives that blend personal growth with community impact, including a TD SYNNEX Brazil donation of devices to the Ubuntu Nation School to introduce digital literacy to students and teachers. “Everything that exists in the school there is done by volunteers. Me and some other people who come from that side of IT started discussing how we could support and bring a little more of this digital knowledge to the school. That’s how I got the opportunity to donate laptops,” he says.
For Helio, volunteering is more than an act of service—it’s a journey of discovery. “I think it’s a lesson in humanity. That’s what this experience was for me. Humanity,” Helio says. Let Helio’s story serve as a profound reminder that each act of humanity has the power to transform lives and make a lasting difference.
