I spend a lot of time volunteering with the local Laos community. I want to reconnect with my roots and associated culture. I wasn’t overly connected while growing up, so it’s been very rewarding learning about where I come from and some of that history. Our community is fairly small, only about one-thousand people, so sharing who we are is important to me. Volunteerism is the ultimate showcase of compassion and sharing in one’s community. It is hard work, but we do it for free, we don’t need the exchange – it’s something we do from our hearts for each other.