Hi everyone! My name is Lorantiya and I am a recent graduate from UBC after majoring in psychology and minoring in Spanish. I’ve known Maria for a few years now and recently took her Spanish translation course last term, I thoroughly enjoyed translating targeted for one audience to a completely different one. It truly is a powerful ability, and after translating documents for my work for at Collingwood Neighbourhood House for my final project last term, I was asked if I could assist in establishing a partnership with CNH as a large portion of its members across various programs are native Spanish speakers. So here I am this semester, excited to say that I will be the Student Liaison for SFC with Collingwood Neighbourhood House. I am especially thrilled to say that we will be working on a few documents provided by the recently opened RISE Community Health Centre operated by CNH.

For a little bit about me, I am Sri Lankan-Canadian and the particular region my family is from was colonized by Portugal, hence my surname Fernando-Geekiyanage (people often get super confused by that haha). I am a lover a languages and currently speak six: English, Tamil, Sinhalese, Spanish, Portuguese and Italian and I’m currently tackling German and French. In my spare time I am an avid rugby player, power lifter and major dog mum of Ben and Loki or really any dog I encounter.