Akash Sidhu

Transcript

food water Community what do these three things all have in common they're all things that we can't live without my name is Akash to do and I'm excited I'm excited to be a part of this community are you excited who here has a demanding Mama I'm talking demanding put your hands up high where I can see them awesome awesome now take all that Stir It Up and you got my mom growing up my mom told me akash you gotta give back to the community and if you do you will receive back tenfold and you know what I gave it a shot and before I knew

it I was hooked I'm talking I was taking as many opportunities to volunteer more than I could count I was in the hospital in food banks schools and it was getting out of control and it wasn't just the endorphins it was the insatiable people the people and role models that I met while volunteering that really changed my outlook people like Rohit from the food bank who would look at me and tell me akash you look like someone who can change the world and it's a very simple notion but it was these people that kept me coming back people that made me believe that I actually

was special made me believe that I actually could be greater and it helped me Unbreak these false chains and barriers that I'd set out for myself from a very young age that was the gift my local community gave to me when I was in university I heard about a competition called the hall prize which is a competition where you create a social business to help solve one of the world's most pressing challenges and I decided to give it a shot and I'd always had this belief that internet access has helped me in so many different ways and people at the bottom of the pyramid don't

have this type of opportunity but if there was a way where we could provide internet access to them it could be mind-blowing it can provide them with an um an even playing field and also it can highly uplift them and that's what we did my team and I embarked on this Mission and as we reached out the the community we received back tenfold a community agency called the United Nations decided to set us up on a field mission to go to Uganda to refugee camps to to live there and also fuel test there fast forward the very first day of The Knockout Valley refugee camp

my friend Joseph and I my teammate we enter it in the very first thing on the schedule said Youth Center discussion it was 9 A.M we walked into the youth discussion there was about 10 youngsters gathered around and they were talking about math science Innovation and the one person leading this entire charge was a was a man known by the name of Richard and Richard was someone who was a refugee from Congo who had left his his family behind and had to leave because of war and persecution but here he was the same age as me with an insatiable hunger to give back and to

give to his community and that really stuck according to really stuck a chord with me and as Joseph and I had ended this discussion we're putting on our bags heading out the door all of a sudden these ten groups this ten this group of ten they surrounded us and Joseph and I looked at each other going like what the heck's going on and Richard came close they all took a step closer and at this point in time I'm saying oh man what did I sign up for and Richard had his hand behind his back the whole time he pulls it out slowly and in his

hand was a tambourine and he said guys don't go just yet we made a song that we wanted to share with you he went back to the cupboard grabbed a small guitar a keyboard and two other tambourines they circled around us and all of a sudden they started to sing a song called We Are One before I knew it I was dancing along shaking around also singing in his voice we are one we are one we are one and before I knew it Richard had taught me something that I never experienced before which is true Community doesn't mean people that look like you or live

in the same district as you community is a place where you feel safety in a place where you can feel love and Richard opened his arms with love for Joseph and I to be a part of this community and he taught me and he shared his We Are One Moment and that that helped inspire me in a day in an age today where we live with polarization talks about building walls Richard's voice and his message shines bright like a diamond we are one we are one we are one and I implore you in your everyday life search for those We Are One moments it doesn't

matter where you're from or what you look like people with a similar belief a similar passion you can connect and when you do like mama said you said if you give back you will receive tenfold now last part in words when I was cast on The Amazing Race Canada this season I didn't know what would happen and the response I got from communities I didn't even know shocked me and it made me think back to Richard's voice the words of wisdom and Grace only made me further understand the idea of We Are One we are one we are one so all of you I hope

you continue to understand the abilities that you can do with We Are One moments thank you

Transcript generated from the recording and lightly cleaned. Some names and wording may differ from the spoken speech.