By Luke Voogt
Sri Lankan expat Sameera Gunawardena has been putting his Russian fluency to a unique use by visiting Geelong’s elderly.
The 36-year-old Grovedale doctor spoke to the Indy Tuesday during National Volunteer Week.
“Loneliness is the worst thing,” he said.
“It’s a good thing for them to share their memories.”
Sameera studied medicine in Moscow for seven years before moving to Australia five years ago to study immunology.
For the last seven months he has been visiting an elderly Russian lady in Geelong who speaks very little English, through Australian Multicultural Community Services.
“It’s hard to find a volunteer who speaks Russian,” he said.
“I’m learning so many things from her, like Russian culture and history.”
“I feel happy if I make someone else happy and at the same time I’m improving my Russian.”
Sameera said society sometimes neglected the elderly and that their families couldn’t keep them company all the time.
He added elderly people should mix with people of all ages.
“They were young once and they still have a lot of youth in their minds.”
Sameera encouraged Geelong residents to donate a bit of their time to the service’s program.
“Anyone with a bit of time can join us and make a difference to someone else’s life,” he said.
“There are many other people in Geelong who just need someone to talk to.”
