Robb Farago’s talk at Ignite Waterloo 5 turned out to have some terrific repercussions. In addition to Robb’s update, here’s a report on how his talk touched the life of one of the people in the audience that night, Sudhershi Kularatnam. Her story is as inspiring as Robb’s.

Touched by Ignite

Hello, my name is Sudhershi Kularatnam and I am a third year Speech Communication student at the University of Waterloo. During the winter 2011 term I took a course titled SPCOM 329, Digital Communication, instructed by Jill Tomasson Goodwin. As part of this course we attended Ignite Waterloo 5, not only to spark our creativity and imagination, but to guide us with our own end of term “Ignite 329.”

When I was first introduced to our Ignite 329 presentation assignment I assumed that we had to choose a technology we felt would change the world because the original vision of Ignite celebrates technology. I chose smart phones.

It wasn’t until we attended Ignite Waterloo 5 that my great idea started to seem not so great anymore. I was watching these presenters talk about their topics with such knowledge, enthusiasm and passion. I thought to myself ‘how on Earth will I be able to conjure up the passion to talk of smart phones like that?’ After speaking with Jill during the intermission I came to the revelation that, as wonderful as they are, I just wasn’t that interested in smart phones to speak about it for Ignite 329.

As the second half of Ignite 5 went on, I heard Robb Farago, a WLU student speak about his involvement with 5 Days for the Homeless as a participant and the executive director of the national campaign. He was close to shedding tears speaking about his personal connection to why he camped outside Laurier for five days to raise money and awareness for homelessness and at-risk youth. On the bus ride home I recall mentioning to a classmate how amazing I thought his story was and that I would actually consider doing it myself. We both thought it was a little extreme and brushed off the idea. Later that week, I started to feel differently, so I looked into the campaign details and realized that the University of Water did not participate. I shot Robb an email about starting it up on our campus and he emailed back asking to co-chair and start up the campaign. Another interested UW student, Ameesha Isaac, and I did just that and participated in the campaign by living homeless with no food, money or showers for 5 days.

It was life changing.

Our first morning during the campaign we shared a small slice of cake five ways which we’d saved from the night before. We made a pact that whatever food we received, however big or small, we would split equally. We struggled as homeless people. For the first few nights, “hell” would be the only word I could use to describe the experience of sleeping in the cold knowing that warmth wasn’t coming anytime soon. Most days I would wake up really early because I physically could not sleep in the weather and just hoped I’d gotten enough hours of sleep so I could start the day and warm up.

For my Ignite 329 class presentation, I decided to say “You should donate to 5 Days for the Homeless or purchase a 5 Days bracelet.” Homelessness is a current problem that can happen to anyone at anytime and needs to be eliminated. Only when shelters and rehabilitation institutions have the necessary funding to permanently get someone off the street and keep them going and not just giving them a temporary fix can we eliminate this problem.

To appeal to my class audience, I relayed that we have all witnessed homeless people on the streets, sometimes begging for change, but we usually turn a blind eye to them. This may be because we don’t know what our money will be going towards purchasing or we just don’t want to bother spending the time to stop and pull out some change. I also wanted to share my story the same way that Robb shared his to impact my class. Donating to 5 Days is helping the homeless without directly giving them your cash, but by helping the institutions designed to get them on their feet do the rehabilitating. I wanted them to build trust in the organization and the cause.

If it weren’t for attending Ignite Waterloo 5 I would have never heard Robb speak or even have known that the 5 Days campaign existed. I am so glad his passion for the campaign resonated with me and had the power to move me towards action. It taught me a lot about altruism and that university does not have to be all about academics. I learned so much through this experience and I think it has really changed me as a person. I will never walk past a homeless person again without knowing that they could be warm and well fed. I will never pass judgment on them again. But not just homeless people — everyone in general. It’s helped me realized that everyone has their own story and different experiences make up who we are. Some people are more fortunate than others and I understand this and I know that those in the positions to help should use it wisely. I will end off with the words from Edmund Burke I shared in my Ignite 329 presentation, “Nobody made a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could only do a little.”

In Canada there are over 300,000 people living on the street and of those a full half are youth. Robb Farago talks about 5 Days for the Homeless at the February 5th Ignite Waterloo 5. You can check out his full presentation here. Robb was kind enough to submit a recap of his experience speaking at our last event. Read his thoughts below, and be sure to read the companion piece by audience member Sudhershi Kularatnam.

Touched by Ignite

My first exposure to Ignite Waterloo presented itself when a friend of mine informed me he was speaking at Ignite Waterloo 3. At that time, I was actively looking for events to attend and get involved in that would get me more in touch with the Kitchener Waterloo community. Ignite Waterloo was exactly what I was looking for. The event itself was inspiring and I walked away with the urge to present my own Ignite talk as soon as possible. The opportunity presented itself with Ignite Waterloo 5.0.

At the time I had recently accepted the position of Executive Director for 5 Days for the Homeless National, a campaign that gets students from universities across the country to live outside for 5 days and nights to raise money and awareness for the issue of homelessness and youth at risk. I knew that this is what I wanted to share with Kitchener and Waterloo.

Preparing myself for Ignite Waterloo 5.0 was a challenge in itself. I have done countless presentations in front of a variety of audiences, but nothing like what Ignite Waterloo was offering. This audience would be the best, brightest, and most active of individuals in their fields. I was nervous and excited to be presenting to such a dynamic and impactful group of people, especially about something I was so passionate about.

The presentation went better than I could have expected. I shared my experiences with the 5 Days for the Homeless campaign to a captive and interested audience. I felt comfortable sharing a personal story to people I had barely gotten to know, if at all. They were fully engaged in everything I had to say. After the presentations were complete I was able to talk to many different individuals who each had their own story to tell that revolved around the issue of homelessness.

The connections I made after my Ignite talk were impactful and worthwhile. Particularly, my Ignite talk inspired students from the University of Waterloo to participate in the 5 Days for the Homeless campaign despite the short time frame before the national campaign began. I was able to work closely with students from the University of Waterloo and helped them exceed their donation goal for the 2011 campaign benefitting two local organizations in the Waterloo region that support homeless and youth at risks. The University of Waterloo will now be an active participant in the 5 Days for the Homeless campaign for years to come and it is all because of the opportunity to present a 5 minute, 20 slide presentation on a topic that I am passionate about.

More information on the 5 Days campaign can be found on our website at or via Twitter at @5days_National. I encourage anyone who is passionate about something to throw their hat into the ring and give an Ignite talk. Presentations are one thing, but an Ignite talk takes everything to the next level. Nowhere else will you be exposed to an audience that can provide so much opportunity and potential.I only hope I can give another Ignite talk in the future.