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What link is there between an IT company managing Agile software development projects and an international human rights NGO fighting for people’s right to food? A priori none, however sometimes it only needs two individuals (let’s suppose a couple where Mrs. works for Pyxis and Mr. works for FIAN…) for a relation to become possible and for realizing that even if their activities are obviously very different, Pyxis and FIAN strive to put the human in midst of preoccupations, searching for dignity and improvement of living and working conditions.
Pyxis’ raison d’être is the following: “Pyxis helps software development companies to become places where results, quality of life, and fun coexist sustainably by being first and foremost an example of what it proposes to its clients and by coaching them.” Furthermore, Pyxis publicly shows in its blog its commitment to increase the growth of the organization while improving people’s life and having fun.
FIAN is working hard for the right to food with, among others, letter campaigns addressed to authorities violating this right. Therefore, when peasants are being expulsed without any compensation or when native people are forced to flee their ancestral territories to allow for agricultural or natural resources exploitation projects, FIAN intervenes in order to handle situations endangering the daily nutrition of thousands, indeed millions of people. FIAN’s activities are not limited to this since FIAN is very active in international forums (United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO)) in order for the right to food and nutrition to be defined as one of the pillars of development and co-operation policies of ‘Northern’ countries, whose goal has been for over 40 years now to eradicate hunger worldwide. And this goal is far from being achieved: in 2009, humanity has for the first time exceeded the symbolic level of billion of people affected by hunger and malnutrition (1.02 billion according to the FAO in June 2009). This situation is simply unacceptable on a planet that could feed 12 billion persons if food resources would be distributed equitably.
In July 2009, I had the opportunity to meet many employees of Pyxis in Laval (Quebec), and I was quite surprised of their interest for FIAN and our activities. Personally, I wanted to take advantage of this encounter to tell them about the communication challenges within FIAN’s structure, i.e. between our different components (salaried employees, board of directors, voluntary workers, translators, European colleagues…). Potential solutions were quickly found since communication challenges within an NGO are quite similar to those of a team of computer engineers. What stood out is the installation—above all the use—of a wiki as a first step in order to no longer waste this very precious resource called time. I imagine that Pyxissians (people at Pyxis) are still asking themselves how an NGO like FIAN is able to work with the very few efficient information sharing tools they have… And yet, it is possible because people at FIAN are passionate persons in the same way as Pyxissians are in their domain.
Because of these common passion and goal to put the human in midst of preoccupations, Pyxis decided to financially support FIAN by developing an iPhone application and donating to FIAN all revenues generated by its sale.
Xavier Papet
