Projects Abroad in Sri Lanka

  Sri Lanka

Galle,  Kalutara,  Kandy,  Rural Areas

Durations of Program: 2-4 weeks, 5-8 weeks, 9-12 weeks, 3-6 months and 7-12 months
Typical Duration of Program: 5-8 weeks
Dates: All Year Round (you set the start and end date)

Description: Sri Lanka is a beautiful country with many wonderful volunteer projects and internships available for volunteers interested in exploring this island in South Asia. Sri Lanka is the teardrop off the tip of Southern India. This tropical island is famed for its palm-fringed beaches, tea plantations and rickshaws.

Our projects in Sri Lanka are available for anyone interested in volunteering in the developing world, including those on a college summer break, gap year, career break or volunteer vacation.

Projects Abroad Sri Lanka has an office based in the capital city of Colombo. We offer overseas voluntary work placements in Teaching, Care, Medicine and Journalism.

Most of our volunteer placements are located along the coast between Negombo, about an hour north of Colombo and Galle in the south-west of the island. We also have projects in and around the beautiful hill town of Kandy, or in the gem town of Ratnapura.

As with most of the overseas voluntary work placements that we offer, you will normally stay with a local host family, which will give you a rounded insight into Sri Lankan culture and lifestyle.

Volunteering on a Placement Overseas in Sri Lanka

Medicine - Volunteers normally work in a variety of departments on a two week rotation system. The common departments volunteers work in are General Medicine, obstetrics, gynecology, the Labor Ward, ENT, and Pediatrics. It is also possible to spend a few days working in neurology, the mortuary, rheumatology and the chest clinic. If you let us know your particular interests, we can usually arrange for you to work within your areas of preference.

The amount of hands-on experience that volunteers gain depends on your level of knowledge and experience, but also your enthusiasm and commitment. Many volunteers do receive the chance to get much more involved in the procedures than would be possible in your local hospital at home. For example, one pre-college volunteer helped deliver five babies in one day on her placement.

Care - Most children at the orphanages and care centers still attend school in the mornings, sometimes at the same site or at a school nearby. Volunteers therefore help with basic education for a few hours in the mornings, usually teaching conversational English in government schools. Some volunteers also work with very young children during this time, helping four years olds learn the alphabet or doing coloring and art activities for example. In the afternoons volunteers assist in numerous areas with the children, from helping with homework to organizing and playing sports and games with the children or reading to a child individually.

Some of the orphanages where we work are home to children with severe disabilities and volunteers are needed to help feed, wash, dress and do physical exercises with these children. These placements are not for everyone, one volunteer described her placement as 'shocking but the most rewarding month of my life'. Volunteers here are greatly needed but it won't all be fun and games.

Journalism - For those seeking to gain cutting-edge work experience in journalism this is a fantastic opportunity. While living and working in the buzzing capital, Colombo, you will gain an incredible amount of work experience. The Sunday Times is one of Sri Lanka's prime English language publications, reporting on news, current affairs, arts, sport and business. In Colombo there is never a dull moment and you'll find plenty to report on.

We can now also offer a Radio Journalism placement with TNL Radio Network based in Colombo.

Depending on your interests and experience you could work in the following areas: broadcasting, sales and marketing, creative writing, news journalism and there are also opportunities within the technical department.

The hours of work are flexible and volunteers will be expected to work late or on weekends if the work requires it.

The head of the radio station also prefers that you apply for at least a three month placement and requests that you submit a copy of your resume when you apply. Volunteers need to view this as a serious work placement, and the head of the station would prefer to accept volunteers who have already completed at least one year of college and are looking to pursue journalism as a future career.

Teaching - In schools in the South-West of the country, the increasing popularity of Sri Lanka as a tourist destination makes English a priority. We work in schools outside of Colombo whose locations range from villages amongst paddy fields to the mountains of surrounding tea plantations. Some of the schools are close to the beach; some are based in temples!

Students are generally aged 10 to 14 years old. They will often be able to speak some English, but your focus will be to develop their confidence and fluency. If a student is able to understand and speak confidently to their English teacher it is a real step forward. Additionally, your presence increases the teachers' language abilities.

Teaching IT - If you are looking to make a practical contribution in the developing world, there are few better placements than teaching children and adults computer skills. Based in a tiny village on the coast near Wadduwa, children come from miles around to take classes on the course we have established. You will help teach the basics right from how to switch on a computer and what a mouse does up to how to use software such as Word, Excel and the Internet. Children also have fun with some educational games and receive a certificate when they complete the course.

Many people in this part of Sri Lanka have never used a computer before and helping them become computer-literate is invaluable for their future education and job prospects. Our Computer Center currently has ten desktop computers and we are in need of enthusiastic volunteers to help. You should have a reasonable working knowledge of the main Microsoft packages - but you don't need to be an expert since it's just the basics that you'll be teaching most of the time.

Highlights: Sri Lanka, Emerald Isle of the Indian Ocean, is home to heavy warm air, sweet fruit scents and incense and bright colors pouring out of every nook and cranny. From the extraordinarily lush foliage and bright offerings of flowers outside temples, to orange robed monks under their umbrellas and glamorous Sari's whizzing past on the back of motorbikes (normally with the limbs of their child peeping out between the mother and the driver!), there are many fascinating and beautiful sights to be enjoyed.

All accommodation is organized, paid for and monitored by Projects Abroad. All project placements are regularly visited and checked. We require high standards of supervision and accommodation, which are verified before you arrive in Sri Lanka.

This project offers the opportunity to become fully immersed in the culture in a manner which even the most hardened of backpackers could never hope to do.

Qualifications: For our journalism placements in Sri Lanka you must have some previous journalism experience or have studied it in school.

Cost in US$: From US$ 1,795 up

Experience Required: no

Typical Volunteer: Open-minded with a desire to travel.

Age Range: 16-80

This Program is open to Worldwide Participants. This Program is also open to Couples and Individuals

Participants Travel to Sri Lanka Independently Or in Groups

Typically Participants Work Independently Or in Groups

Application Process Involves:

• Letters of Reference
• Written Application

Post Services Include:

• Alumni Network
• Exit DebriefingAbroad
• Re-Entry Debriefing at Home

Projects Abroad's Mission Statement: As part of the global economy, Projects Abroad helps create local employment wherever we send volunteers. Employing local staff overseas and using their talents and knowledge is important to us. This local knowledge and support enables the organization to channel the skills of the volunteers from more affluent countries to regions around the world where they are needed. Volunteers also learn from their placements and the people they meet, and they gain experience in a chosen field. In the 21st century, we believe this mutual respect is what cultural exchange is all about.

Year Founded: 1992