Volunteer in Sri Lanka

Volunteer in Sri Lanka with International Volunteer HQ today. IVHQ's local team in Sri Lanka require volunteers NOW! IVHQ has a wide range of volunteering projects in Sri Lanka, including Childcare, Teaching, Elderly Care, Temple Renovation, Medical and Turtle Conservation.

LOCATION OF SRI LANKA VOLUNTEER PROGRAM

The IVHQ Sri Lanka volunteer program is based in the sacred city of Kandy, with projects based in and around the city. The Turtle Conservation project is based in Ambalangoda.

START AND DURATION OF SRI LANKA VOLUNTEER PROGRAM

The IVHQ Sri Lanka program begins on the first and third Monday of each month. Volunteers can choose to volunteer for durations ranging from one week to six months (Turtle Conservation has a minimum duration of two weeks).

SRI LANKA VOLUNTEER REQUIREMENTS

Volunteers must be 18 years or older on the program start date and have at least a high school education. Teaching volunteers must be fluent in English. Long term volunteers wishing to learn Sinhala can be directed to Sinhala language schools by our local staff. All volunteers must provide a criminal background check to IVHQ partner staff on arrival in Sri Lanka.

HOW MANY OTHER VOLUNTEERS WILL THERE BE?

SRI LANKA VOLUNTEER TESTIMONIALS

SRI LANKA VOLUNTEER PROJECTS DESCRIPTIONS

Childcare

With little resources and limited staff, IVHQ volunteers are in high demand to assist with childcare in both disabled centers and orphanages in Sri Lanka. Through the interactions and care shared with the children, volunteers help build a positive and loving atmosphere within these centers, fostering the development of greater levels of confidence in the children.

Volunteers caring for disabled children work alongside staff across many different areas, including playing with the children, helping with their daily exercises, assisting in physio therapy and speech therapy sessions. Volunteers can also help with basic maintenance at the centers, which may include gardening, painting and cleaning. There are opportunities for volunteers to work in a disabled school with around 40 students, or in a disabled orphanage (female volunteers only).

Orphanage work also varies and volunteers participate in teaching English, assisting with homework, arranging games and activities and assisting staff with everyday day work in the orphanage. Volunteers should also be prepared to participate in cleaning, gardening and washing the children's clothes. Children in these orphanages range in age from 4 to 18 years old and volunteers have the option to be placed and accommodated at a boy's orphanage, as assistance is needed to get the older boys ready for school in the mornings. There are also opportunities to work in a baby orphanage, which houses children from 2 weeks old to 9 years old. Volunteer roles will vary depending on which age group you are working with and those working with babies below 12 months can expect to help staff with cleaning bedding and nappies and helping prepare food and feeding the babies.

Teaching

Teaching volunteers in Sri Lanka have the opportunity to teach in local schools and villages, or to teach Buddhist monks.

Volunteers teaching village children are accommodated with a host family and teach at the school attended by the children of their family. The number of children you will be teaching varies, but volunteers can expect to work with up to 15 students.

Volunteers staying for four weeks or longer can teach in local schools around Kandy, assisting local teachers with students aged 6 years and older, taking two or three classes per day. The main aim is to provide English education for those who are unable to afford private lessons. Volunteers are also required to teach in areas including, sports, English, German, French and Computer Science.

There is also the opportunity for volunteers to teach Buddhist monks at a local temple. Volunteers have proved highly effective in developing the written and spoken English skills amongst monks, who enjoy attending classes with international volunteers. As many monks attend university in the morning and visit village ceremonies on a daily basis, teaching will usually take place in the afternoons from 3pm to 6pm. However, this is subject to change and depends on the program of the monks each day. Please note, the minimum program duration for volunteers wishing to teach monks is two weeks (volunteers teaching in local schools and villages can volunteer for one week or more). Volunteers do not need to be qualified or experienced teachers to participate on the Teaching project.

Elderly Care

Volunteers on the Elderly Care project in Sri Lanka are placed in an elderly home, which provides accommodation and care free of charge for 75 adults, who would otherwise have little or no support in their old age. Although the home provides food, clothes and a medical facility for the elders, it is in great need of volunteers to provide the love and companionship the elders are missing in the face of low staff numbers.

Volunteer roles include listening and talking with the elders, assisting with their cleaning and bathing, helping the sisters with cleaning the home and preparing food if required and assisting sick elders in taking their medicine. Please note, this is a full day project and can be combined with another project if the volunteer wishes.

Temple Renovation

Through the renovation of Buddhist temples, this project offers a unique opportunity for volunteers to learn about manual Sri Lankan construction methods, without the aid of machinery.

Volunteers on the Renovation project also have the opportunity to gain a greater appreciation of the Sri Lankan culture through interacting with villagers and children, to whom the temples hold great significance. Volunteer efforts will be focused on repainting and cleaning the temples, assisting with the construction of temples and helping the temples establish community centers for the youth of the village.

Medical

Volunteers are placed in a small private hospital in Kandy, where you will have the chance to work alongside local hospital staff and patients and learn about medical operations with basic medical resources.

Volunteer roles within the hospital are allocated according to existing qualifications and volunteers follow a duty roster with day and night shifts. Please note, even if you are a qualified medical professional, hospitals in Sri Lanka cannot allow volunteers to work alone. This means your work within the hospital will be primarily observational. The minimum duration for the Medical project is four weeks and volunteers need to be qualified or training in a relevant medical field to participate. Volunteers participating on the Medical project must have completed at least two years training at medical school and have appropriate documentation to present to IVHQ's partner organization in Sri Lanka. 

Turtle Conservation

The Turtle Conservation project is based in the coastal town of Ambalangoda, 90 kilometres from the Sri Lankan capital of Colombo. Here volunteers work alongside a local team to help to protect critically endangered sea turtles from extinction. Volunteers are involved in protecting turtle nests, hatching eggs, collecting turtle eggs, feeding turtles, treating turtles who are victims of commercial fishing and various illnesses, cleaning the beach and turtle tanks, releasing turtles back to sea and educating visitors about the turtles. Please note, the minimum duration for the Turtle Conservation project is two weeks and volunteers will be accommodated with a local family in a homestay, located within 5 minutes' walk of the project. 

SRI LANKA PROGRAM COSTS

ACCOMMODATION AND MEALS

Volunteers are accommodated in a volunteer house where they will live with other volunteers and food is prepared by the house manager. Volunteers on the Turtle Conservation project live in a home stay with a local Sri Lankan host family. Living is comfortable and all volunteer houses have electricity and running water. Volunteers can expect to share a room with three or four other volunteers. Private rooms and matrimonial rooms can be requested for an extra US$70 per week. There is also the option of staying with a local Sri Lankan family (home stay accommodation), which costs an extra US$30 per week.

Sri Lankan food is tasty, diverse and volunteers can expect to experience a myriad of flavours and meals during their volunteer house or home stay experience. If volunteers wish to eat out, there are a large numbers of restaurants and cafes to suit all tastes and budgets. If you have any special eating requirements, please let us know ahead of time so that we can make arrangements for you. However, we need to stress the point that you should not expect to eat as you normally do at home. We will do our best to see that you are well taken care of, but also as a volunteer, there is a need to be flexible.

ORIENTATION

Orientation begins on the first and third Monday of each month and lasts for one week. Orientation is conducted by our local staff in Kandy (regardless of if you are doing the Turtle Conservation project – you still will be taken to Kandy for orientation before taking the train to Ambalangoda) and will cover everything you need to know for your volunteering program in Sri Lanka.

The first day involves a standard IVHQ country orientation including an introduction to Sri Lanka, Sri Lankan customs, rules and expectations, safety in Sri Lanka, travel opportunities in Sri Lanka, introduction to your project and placement, city tour, cultural show and Sinhala lessons. After the first day of orientation, short term volunteers (one and two week volunteers) are given the option of starting their projects, while the remaining volunteers (staying for a duration greater than two weeks) will continue with orientation week. Shorter term volunteers are able to continue orientation week if they wish. The remainder of the orientation week is spent doing a variety of local tours, sightseeing, Buddhism lessons, Sri Lankan cooking lessons, Sinhala lessons and experiencing an Ayurvedic massage. The orientation week is a fantastic introduction to Sri Lanka and gives you a chance to experience Sri Lankan culture first hand, while also getting to know other volunteers.

VOLUNTEER WEEK

First Day: On the first day of the volunteering placement, volunteers will be escorted to the project and introduced to the project staff you will be working with.

Weekdays: While our programs are flexible and can be fitted to your requirements, an example of a typical day is as follows:

• 8.00am: Breakfast at the volunteer house (or home stay if you are on the Turtle Conservation project).
• 9.00am: Volunteer leaves home and travels to the project. Volunteers are given a duty roster and a day plan by the project staff. There is usually a tea break and lunch break. Work hours vary and are dependent on the project.
• 12.00pm: Lunch at the volunteer house.
• 1.00pm: Afternoon work commences.
• 3.00pm: End of your work day. Volunteers are free to visit local sites or go shopping.
• Evening: Dinner at the volunteer house.

Weekends: During the weekend, volunteers have spare time and usually just relax or take the opportunity to explore other parts of Kandy and Sri Lanka. Long weekends can be taken to travel further afield to destinations, such as Colombo, Galle or even Southern India. Our local team also offer some great travel packages for volunteers over the weekend and after their volunteering program finishes.

TRAVEL AND VACATIONS IN SRI LANKA

Our local team in Sri Lanka can help you arrange any trips you wish to do in Sri Lanka, with some special packages for volunteers, including Elephant Experience (based at Pinnawala), Trekking Week (a week of hiking some of Sri Lanka's most famous treks and mountains), Beach Week (a week of activities on Sri Lanka's coast) and Body and Mind Week (a week of yoga and Ayurvedic massage at a retreat in Sri Lanka). All of the above can be enquired about directly with local staff once volunteers are registered on an IVHQ program and cost approximately US$330 for the week including meals and accommodation.

SRI LANKA VOLUNTEER FEES

What do my fees pay for?

Registration Fee (Refundable if you choose not to go*) – 24/7 support from IVHQ staff, program marketing costs, information pack, administration costs, travel costs to inspect programs and communication costs with volunteers.
Program Fee – Airport pick up, orientation, program supervision, accommodation and meals during volunteer placement period, In-country 24/7 volunteer support and In-country administration costs.

What additional costs will I have?

Visa, flights, travel insurance (recommended), vaccinations, souvenirs, trips or tours you do while in the country, transfer back to the airport from program, transport to placements, spending money (volunteers in Sri Lanka generally find US$30 to be sufficient for basic weekly expenses)

SRI LANKA TURTLE CONSERVATION FEES

What do my fees pay for?

Registration Fee (Refundable if you choose not to go*) – 24/7 support from IVHQ staff, program marketing costs, information pack, administration costs, travel costs to inspect programs and communication costs with volunteers.
Program Fee – Airport pick up, orientation, program supervision, accommodation and meals during volunteer placement period, In-country 24/7 volunteer support and In-country administration costs.

What additional costs will I have?

Visa, flights, travel insurance (recommended), vaccinations, souvenirs, trips or tours you do while in the country, transfer back to the airport from program, transport to placements, spending money (volunteers in Sri Lanka generally find US$30 to be sufficient for basic weekly expenses)

* - Terms and conditions do apply.