Jessie hopped on a 12-hour flight from Australia to Sri Lanka with uncertainty and hope about her Global Village experience. What she didn’t know at that time was the journey to Sri Lanka would shape the way she would later view the world and volunteering forever.

Given the opportunity to volunteer with Habitat for Humanity, Jessie was aware of the unique opportunity she had to impact people’s lives who deserve it most. In this case it was a community who survived the effects of the civil war in Batticaloa.

However what Jessie was most surprised to learn through her experience, was the magnitude of the impact they as volunteers walked away with from their week of supporting this community.

Through this journey, Jessie learned “that happiness isn’t something you experience when you have everything; it’s something you are blessed with when you have people around you who love you. They taught us strength in the face of diversity. They taught us a new level of kindness and giving as they had only minimal to spare. Most importantly, they taught us the power of laughter and how it makes difficult days of hard labour and heat much, much easier.”

Jessie looks forward to pursuing more opportunities of working closely with Habitat for Humanity so that she can continue to play an active role in creating an impact in the world.