2528 lifestyles thousands of new salads
from around the world and even pictures
of food plates that my friends have for
lunch
everything inside a device that fits
right in my pocket the world has never
felt so small so connected and informed
but I’ve always felt as if there was
something missing and I didn’t know what
it was until 2015 in 2015
I got a scholarship to study in the
United States through the Georgia Rotary
student program sponsored by the Rotary
Clubs of Savannah South and West
after settle on campus I started to feel
as if this missing piece was now much
bigger and that the world was so
disconnected I felt as if I was
disconnected from the community a
completely new lifestyle new academic
expectations new rules and regulations a
new culture and even a completely new
accent y’all the gap between the
community and myself was so deep so I
started filling up the gap day by day by
doing what I do best volunteering in
Srilanka
where I was born and raised volunteer
hours are not heard of contributing your
time and energy for the betterment of
the community is a part of our daily
lives
every single person contributes to
elevate the quality of all of our lives
because after all if we don’t understand
each other and promote inclusive ‘ti
fear and bigotry can tear us apart
volunteering has been the vehicle of
hope that I’ve used to connect myself to
you when I volunteered I met new friends
made new friendships and learnt about
this culture I understood different
challenges people in this community face
every day and started seeing them in
their shoes I learned more from my
friends about their lives and this
society and it was very clear that even
thousands of miles away from my home
people here were no diff
and they search for the same things I do
happiness and love whatever the
definition it may be I learned about
different issues in this community that
I’ve never really spent time thinking
about and started embracing those
challenges as my own so now I started to
volunteer more this time not just on
campus but also off campus feeding the
homeless or backing for the Second
Harvest Food Bank or just randomly
walking around embracing the culture I
started bridging the gap between the
community and myself by volunteering
everything that this community is about
was suddenly about me the history of
Savannah was suddenly relevant to me
downtown was suddenly my neighborhood my
college became my home and Georgia
became a part of my pride volunteering
is not so complicated it is your
willingness to embrace when we volunteer
we get a chance to meet people who are
just like us but different in
perspective we meet like-minded people
who spark ideas to create great things
we become the positive energy that
improves lives volunteerism can empower
us as people and builds bridges across
neighborhoods to find unity love and
harmony 1358 lifestyles hundreds of
conversations and a lot of sweet tea
the friends I’ve made here in Savannah
will now empathize with the people of
Sri Lanka and when I go back my friends
in Sri Lanka will empathize with the
people of Savannah because of me when
hurricanes Hermine and Mathew swept
through Savannah friends are made all
around the world cared about this city
as if they belong here because of me
when London was attacked in March I was
personally affected because of my
friends living in London it was not just
a random news story anymore I connected
to their world as if it were my own
because of friends I made through
volunteering this is how you and I can
use volunteering to create a united
world and accept every single human
being as a brother or sister I’m just
one person
imagine this community if you dedicate a
couple of hours to volunteer for causes
you care about whenever you’re free
imagine the friendships you make and the
cultures you connect with volunteering
can be the key to mobilize communities
well before you leave today turn around
and introduce yourself to the person
behind you and in front of you because
connecting communities can start today
right here in Savannah inside this Jepson Center thank