Volunteer Nursery Children in Coastal Resort Sri Lanka

  Sri Lanka

Rural Areas

Term: Academic Year 
Durations of Program: 2-4 weeks, 5-8 weeks and 9-12 weeks
Typical Duration of Program: 2-4 weeks
Dates: All year

Description: This project is at the beach side education centre at the Buddhist temple central Kosgoda and close to the main road, shops and local amenities. The second location is a short journey 2 miles inland to a morning nursery for pre school children.

The project has 3 different teaching sections available to volunteers to choose and custom make a package to suit them. The first is teaching English to local Buddhist monks in the beach side education centre from 8am -12. The Monks range from 10 to 19 years old and due to lack of contact with good English speaking people would benefit enormously from being taught by volunteers. The extra exposure and assistance with English language both spoken and written to a group of about 20 students would greatly enhance their education and is the biggest need.

The second teaching project that volunteers can choose is to work in the day nursery where around 30 pre school children attend play group. Although these young children from the local community don't speak English volunteers can assist with a number of tasks such as painting, playing with toys as well as keeping the children active and bus with various games. The children are also fed on site as the staff prepare the staple food of curry and rice cooked on a fire that volunteers can also assist with. The nursery is close to town and the beaches but is set in quiet lush tropical surroundings. This project on its own is just in the mornings only until 1pm where volunteers are taken back to their accommodation or can take part in another project if they wish. (This can also be combined with the girls orphanage where volunteers can work as another location when the girls return from school)

The final teaching placement is in the education centre at Kosgoda where the local children attend afternoon classes. Volunteers can customise their own skills and experience to integrate into the lessons teaching subjects they have knowledge of. These classes run from 2-5pm The volunteers can even instigate their own lessons if they require. One such area would be spending time teaching them about windows and computers if volunteers take a laptop computer that has been very successful on other projects in the past. This afternoon teaching placement can be done alone so the volunteer is free in the mornings or can be combined with either of the above two.

Highlights: Kosgoda is a beach resort located 2 hours from the airport and 1 hour further down the coast to the Dutch fort of Galle. Kosgoda has miles of spectacular beaches and tropical lagoons with many hotels where volunteers can visit for a drink or for a small fee be able to use the pool and other facilities.. Kosgoda also boasts stunning wildlife from Turtles to eagles, lizards, monkeys and other interesting habitats can be viewed at the local lagoons by boat. Across Sri Lanka our staff can arrange a huge variety of personal trips for volunteers to ancient cities, Elephant orphanages and vast Buddhist temples. Other attractions include the spice gardens, tea plantations and Adams peak in lush jungle complete with waterfalls. We can also arrange language and cultural inductions so people can fully embrace the society of Asia on a personal level never privilege to tourists.

Qualifications: This project would suit not just teachers, trainee teachers of people with experience handling young children. The community here lacks many basic resources and those willing to contribute their skills to the children of Kosgoda can easily have a program custom made to suit them. The day nursery project would suit people of all ages who are good at interacting with children. As it is morning based volunteers could take this as a combination holiday or vacation enjoying the afternoons by the beach, pool or other areas to relax. As with all projects patience is a virtue! This is because the quality of English for many of the staff in these facilities is poor due to lack of exposure.

Cost in US$: See website for latest offers

Experience Required: no

Typical Volunteer: A diverse and flexible teaching project fro those wishing to work with a variety of ages and to be able to teach things specific to the volunteer. Its also located in Kosgoda that is a popular tourist resort so these projects can be enjoyed along side great beaches and interesting culture. As our staff are local they have extensive knowledge of the area and can take volunteers off the beaten track and into the real community. Volunteers wishing to take teaching aids of any type are also also very welcome as the local children spend longer in education due to lack of resources.

Age Range: 21+

This Program is open to World Wide Participants. This Program is also open to Families, Couples and Individuals

Participants Travel to Sri Lanka Independently

Application Process Involves:

• Online Application plus Application Assessment
• Resume

Inspire Kenya's Mission Statement: To send groups of people to Kenya to contribute to the people and culture in a productive and meaningful way.

Year Founded: 2006