REAL TASTER ENCOUNTER

A childcare volunteer in Sri Lanka can make a vital contribution to brighten up the daily lives of children from challenging backgrounds. From supporting educational development and encouraging a positive lifestyle, you can play a key role in making a positive impact on the local community. The projects we work with provide a vital safety net for these children. The more help and encouragement they can get from volunteers, the better and brighter their future.

 

BACKGROUND TO THE CHILDCARE PROGRAM

In Sri Lanka today, care homes are the fate of many children for a multitude of reasons. According to UNICEF, out of over 21,000 children in children’s home’s in Sri Lanka, one or both parents of over 19,000 of them are still alive. Poverty is a root cause with families feeling they cannot afford to adequately provide for the child, to give them the education and start in life they need and deserve.

 

These children may have been abandoned by their parents, abused, lost both parents or not have a family who is able to support them. In addition, there are also a lot of children in care due to the high number of people who seek employment outside of Sri Lanka, especially in the Middle East. As there are not enough jobs available or a sustainable income in Sri Lanka, many parents are forced to find work abroad. In these cases, their child may be temporarily living in care.

 

If you volunteer with children in Sri Lanka, you’ll find it is a highly rewarding experience and one that people from all backgrounds can get involved in. You can support these children’s homes to ensure the kids get a positive start to their education and development. Sharing your time, skills and affection as a childcare volunteer in Sri Lanka will be deeply appreciated by the families affected.

 

CHILDCARE VOLUNTEER PLACEMENT EXAMPLES

Sun Rise Preschool & Day Care Centre – Each childcare volunteer in Sri Lanka has the opportunity to join this morning project. You’ll be providing much-needed help to the local community and working parents, who otherwise would not be able to afford quality care for their young children. PMGY provides a fully-funded safe environment for children aged 1-4 years old. Subsequently, this allows parents to work and earn an income, generally in local cinnamon or garment factories, in order to provide for their families.

 

Sri Lanka United Nation’s Friendship Organisation – In the afternoons, the volunteers will support the girls’ children’s home, which was established by the UN in 1999. There are around 30 girls at the home, between 4-17 years of age. The children at this facility are full-time residents of the home due to difficult family situations, which may range from neglect to poverty. Please note that generally only female volunteers are permitted to work at the girl’s home.

 

Government Child Development Centre – As a childcare volunteer in Sri Lanka, you may also support the government-funded Child Development Centre, which cares for around 80 boys and girls between 6-18 years of age. While some of the children may have lost both of their parents, others are rescued from broken homes and abusive families. For instance, their parents may have been involved in criminal activities, or many are given up by their families as they simply cannot afford to look after them. For any male volunteers wishing to join our childcare program then this may be where you are located.

 

YOUR VOLUNTEER ROLE & TYPICAL CHILDCARE DAY

Your main role as a childcare volunteer in Sri Lanka is to help encourage and care for these children, providing them with the opportunity to boost their confidence and to help maximise their potential. You will volunteer in Sri Lanka from Monday-Friday. The morning sessions at the preschool run from 9am-11.30am. The afternoon sessions are typically from 3pm-6pm. The placement locations take around 30 minutes to reach by tuk-tuk or private minibus.

 

The first hour or two of your afternoon on the childcare program is allocated for teaching the children English and enhancing educational development. We encourage volunteers to use engaging educational activities to hold the children’s attention, as well as inspire their learning. Be creative, use exciting ways to learn new vocabulary and introduce interesting topics in a fun way. You could use alphabet props in a matching game, create topical posters, or even find items in the garden to create a counting activity.

 

The remaining time on your Sri Lanka volunteer program will be spent inventing outdoor games, designing creative activities and playing sports. The children’s homes have a lot of outdoor space so utilise it! This time can be used to practice conversational English and commands in a more informal manner, as well as boosting confidence and encouraging the children to engage in a positive way. Our local team are on hand to support you with any ideas or activities you wish to perform whilst you volunteer in Sri Lanka.

 

At the preschool, the childcare volunteers will be supporting the preschool with basic education. Working with this age group is not as structured as teaching older children. In other words, their language can be improved simply through play and interaction. As a result, just a few words or phrases will stand them in good stead for learning English in the future. If you volunteer with children in Sri Lanka, you’ll need to prepare activities for this accordingly.

 

Each childcare volunteer in Sri Lanka will be the driving force behind some light housekeeping such as meal preparation and sanitary assistance to the young children at the preschool. In addition, your volunteer work in Sri Lanka will involve helping out at mealtimes, as well as organising free-time activities and games for the preschool children.

 

A rotation between the projects can be organised when you volunteer in Sri Lanka. For instance, if volunteers would like the opportunity to partake in both morning and afternoon programs then the local team can help to arrange this.

 

OTHER THINGS TO CONSIDER WORKING WITH CHILDREN IN SRI LANKA

Top PMGY Destination – Sri Lanka is widely considered to be the best PMGY volunteer destination due to the superior local support, value for money and overall experience on offer in Ambalangoda. The local Sri Lankan team really go above-and-beyond to ensure each volunteer has the best possible experience and this is reflected in volunteer feedback. As a result, we believe this is the perfect destination for a first-time traveller who is looking for a little extra support, plenty of organised weekend trips and wants to get involved in some fantastic local initiatives in an exotic location.

 

Project Flexibility – As this volunteer project only runs during the morning period in Sri Lanka, there is an opportunity to get involved in the childcare or teaching projects in the afternoon. We do require a minimum commitment of 1 week on each project and you can make these arrangements once you are in Sri Lanka. There are no additional costs and we would always welcome any additional support across the community-based projects.

 

Resources – On the childcare project in Sri Lanka, resources can be very limited. Volunteers are recommended to bring materials to the project each day to maximise their productivity and day to day involvement. It is therefore important for volunteers to prepare well in advance to get the most out of their childcare volunteering experience in Sri Lanka.

 

Weekends – Your project work in Sri Lanka runs from Monday-Friday and weekends are free. You are welcome to relax and hang out at the volunteer accommodation but most participants will use this time to travel and explore the country. As a result, you can check out our Sri Lanka Weekend Travel Guide for top tips on how to spend your weekend. We also run two separate weekend trips which you can sign-up to before you depart for Sri Lanka. We offer the Adventure Hill & Country Trip, the Cultural Triangle & Elephants Trip along with the Maldives Chill Out Trip with opportunities running every month.

Being a dog in Sri Lanka is a tough life. One of the first things you’ll notice as a Sri Lanka dog rescue volunteer is the vast number of strays wandering the beaches and streets. Lack of food, shelter and care can dramatically reduce the lifespan of a street dog, as well as the rising problem of rabies in Sri Lanka. Help protect and care for these wonderful canines and improve the animal-human relationship in the community.

 

BACKGROUND TO THE DOG RESCUE PROGRAM

The rising number of street dogs across Sri Lanka poses many risks and challenges, including poor treatment, terrible injuries, malnutrition, untreated diseases and the concern of human deaths caused by rabies. This fear leads to poor treatment of stray dogs and poor awareness of how the local community can help.

 

Rabies is a fatal disease which is transmitted by various animals, but in Sri Lanka, it is most prevalent amongst dogs. This viral infection is spread via the saliva of a rabid animal; hence it can be passed on through a bite or contact with an open wound. Unfortunately, rabies will continue to exist until there are further efforts to eliminate it. There are a large number of dog bite cases in Sri Lanka, which is a cause for concern for tourists and locals alike. In addition, this creates huge bills for Government hospitals treating the victims.

 

The Sri Lankan Government have recently adopted more humane methods to control the population and spread of rabies, focusing now on neutering and vaccinating stray dogs. As a result, there has been a significant drop in the number of human rabies deaths and incidents. Our mission is to continue these efforts in the local community with the help of volunteer work in Sri Lanka.

 

By offering vaccinations and neutering it helps to manage the population of stray dogs and reduce the risk of diseases, especially rabies. Many female strays produce multiple litters each year, many of which are dumped at temples or on the roadside. These puppies have a low chance of survival, as they are at high risk of contracting diseases, malnutrition or being involved in road traffic accidents. This is where our Sri Lanka dog rescue volunteers step in.

 

DOG RESCUE VOLUNTEER PLACEMENT EXAMPLE

Bring Them Home Dog Shelter – This animal care volunteer program aims to improve the wellbeing of street dogs in the local area. This volunteer work in Sri Lanka provides a safe home for vulnerable, sick and disabled dogs, with daily care, vaccinations, rehabilitation and rehoming. As a Sri Lanka dog rescue volunteer, your extra pair of helping hands enables the project to provide enough care and love for all the canines. In addition, you can help in preventing rabies and improving the situation in the local community.

 

The team have an on-call rescue facility to transport dogs that have been found injured, disabled or abandoned. They will be brought back to the project so the team can conduct a general health check and provide assistance. At the dog shelter, each Sri Lanka animal volunteer can observe or assist the Vet with their weekly general check-ups, vaccinations, medical treatment or minor surgeries.

 

The shelter also tries to find new loving homes for the healthy vaccinated dogs with local families, with education about how to properly care for their new pet. As a volunteer in Sri Lanka, you can help to produce and provide animal welfare education to the community. Consequently, this improves the understanding, attitude and treatment between humans and dogs. The aim is to introduce this on a community level and bring about long term change.

 

Please note some of these sessions on the animal care volunteer program run on an ad hoc basis. Therefore, if it is something you are interested in when you volunteer in Sri Lanka then please speak with our local staff who will make the appropriate arrangements.

 

YOUR VOLUNTEER ROLE & TYPICAL WORK DAY

Our Sri Lanka dog rescue volunteers spend their days assisting with daily tasks and care for the dogs living in the shelter. The project runs from Monday-Friday from 9am-12pm. You’ll be transported to the Sri Lanka volunteer program by tuk-tuk. When you volunteer in Sri Lanka, typical duties on this wildlife volunteering abroad program include:

 

• Cleaning, maintaining hygiene and upkeep in the project premises and bedding areas
• Preparing meals (for example cooking chicken, rice, fish) and feeding the dogs
• Playtime and socialisation with the dogs
• Walking and exercising on a daily basis
• Showering and washing the dogs
• Creating training and enrichment plans
• Assisting with medication
• Grooming and checking for ticks
• Creating and maintaining documentation for dog profiles (history, vaccinations etc) and site visits
• Caring for sick/disabled/injured dogs
• Animal welfare education

 

You will be assisting the local staff in these tasks each day. Any additional duties will be based on current need and availability. For instance, rescuing puppies in danger, pet adoption and community awareness.

 

PMGY’s Sri Lanka dog rescue volunteer program is an incredible opportunity to do your bit to help protect and care for these lovely animals. You can make a positive impact whilst spending time in a country that will amaze you on so many levels.

 

OTHER THINGS TO CONSIDER WORKING WITH DOGS IN SRI LANKA

Top PMGY Destination – Sri Lanka is widely considered to be the best PMGY volunteer destination due to the superior local support, value for money and overall experience on offer in Ambalangoda. The local Sri Lankan team really go above-and-beyond to ensure each volunteer has the best possible experience and this is reflected in volunteer feedback. As a result, we believe this is the perfect destination for a first-time traveller who is looking for a little extra support, plenty of organised weekend trips and wants to get involved in some fantastic local initiatives in an exotic location.

 

Project Flexibility – As this volunteer project only runs during the morning period in Sri Lanka, there is an opportunity to get involved in the or teaching projects in the afternoon. We do require a minimum commitment of 1 week on each project and you can make these arrangements once you are in Sri Lanka. There are no additional costs and we would always welcome any additional support across the community-based projects.

 

Experience – If you are a veterinary student you may be able to assist in more tasks. Naturally, this will depend on your level of knowledge, experience and qualifications in this area. You may be able to help with the sick, injured or disabled dogs. Furthermore, there may be more opportunities in advanced veterinary care such as vaccinations or neutering procedures.

 

Weekends – Your project work in Sri Lanka runs from Monday-Friday and weekends are free. You are welcome to relax and hang out at the volunteer accommodation but most participants will use this time to travel and explore the country. As a result, you can check out our Sri Lanka Weekend Travel Guide for top tips on how to spend your weekend. We also run two separate weekend trips which you can sign-up to before you depart for Sri Lanka. We offer the Adventure Hill & Country Trip, the Cultural Triangle & Elephants Trip along with the Maldives Chill Out Trip with opportunities running every month.

Join us as an elephant volunteer in Sri Lanka to play a key role in education, research and conservation of Asian elephants. Based in the central province, the Wasgamuwa region and National Park is famous for hosting a large number of wild elephant herds. Volunteers will engage in a wide range of research and conservation to see how these elephants live and move in their natural habitat. Help provide solutions and education to the conflicts that exist between the elephant population and multiple villages located within the area.

 

BACKGROUND TO THE ELEPHANT PROGRAM

Over the past 50 years, the elephant population in Sri Lanka has reduced substantially. Firstly, not only are there persisting issues of keeping captive elephants, elephant riding and labour, but nearly 5,000 elephant deaths in this period are believed to be a direct result of the conflict that exists between humans and elephants. In the present day, human-elephant conflict is said to be responsible for around 250 elephant deaths and 80 human deaths annually in Sri Lanka.

 

So what is human-elephant conflict? The simplest explanation would be the elephant and human populations not getting along. One of the main reasons is the competition for land. On one side of the coin, it is humans encroaching onto the territory of elephants and habitats shrinking daily. On the other hand, rising populations and urbanisation challenges see elephants having nowhere else to go and end up in fields searching for food. This is much to the dismay of many poor farmers who haven’t changed their daily lives and routines for generations. However, they see their crops, villages and ultimately livelihoods being destroyed.

 

To expand on this, the destruction of forests through logging, encroachment and shifting cultivation are some examples of major threats to the survival of elephants. Conflicts occur when elephants raid crops of subsistence farmers, which are scattered over a large area fragmenting elephant habitat. Devastation and destruction in human settlements is another major area of human-elephant conflict occurring in small forest pockets, encroachments into elephant habitat, and on elephant migration routes. Subsequently, thousands of homes are destroyed by elephants and millions of dollars worth of crop damage arise, wrecking livelihoods and incomes of rural farming communities.

 

ELEPHANT VOLUNTEER PLACEMENT

Wasgamuwa is the core base of your work as an elephant volunteer in Sri Lanka, representing an area where human-elephant conflict is the highest prevalent issue and concern. Wasgamuwa National Park is adjacent to the villages and forest reserves where most of the volunteer work is conducted. Moreover, this is the only national park in the whole of the central province where you will encounter these gentle giants in their natural habitats. Established originally by a team of biologists in 1995, the wildlife volunteer program aimed to distinguish root causes to the conflict, as well as work with the local people to educate and establish mitigation systems. It was vital that these measures protect the villagers’ livelihoods, as well as help minimize elephant casualties. Meanwhile, allowing wild elephants to live in their natural habitat.

 

As an elephant volunteer in Sri Lanka, you will be working directly with 12 of the villages based in the Wasgamuwa area where human-elephant conflict is an ongoing issue. Your role on this wildlife volunteering abroad program will be aiding the research and conservation techniques to halt the decline of this wonderful endangered species. This includes monitoring elephant behaviour and movements. Meanwhile, your role is in tandem with helping the communities and villages learn to live side by side with these amazing creatures.

 

Working alongside local biologists, research assistants and conservationists to help conduct research, you will get involved in a number of activities as an elephant volunteer in Sri Lanka. You’ll be focusing in the fields of conservation and research on this wildlife volunteer program, all with the ultimate aim of reducing human-elephant conflict and promoting sustainable land-use practices.

 

YOUR VOLUNTEER ROLE & TYPICAL WORK DAY

Based in the wild Wasgamuwa region, each elephant volunteer in Sri Lanka will be working in one of the most spectacular and tranquil places across the globe. Your day will be split into morning and afternoon activities, often working in subgroups depending on how many people volunteer in Sri Lanka. Usually, you’ll be up early to start after breakfast around 8:30am, breaking for lunch and finishing around 6pm from Monday-Friday. You will get around the project by jeep from the accommodation into the heart of the reserve and jungle. Journey times will usually be up to 45 minutes. The schedule is designed around the activity patterns of elephants.

 

Consequently, this ensures conservation techniques and research can be maximised and your role is varied and meaningful. The timings of each activity are set in a routine to minimise the impacts on the daily cycle of an elephant. There are two main goals of the project; reducing the human-elephant conflict to protect elephants and help the local community as well as protecting elephants through applied conservation methods. Here are a variety of tasks that you will get involved with to achieve these goals:

 

Reducing Human-Elephant Conflict

 

Throughout your time as an elephant volunteer in Sri Lanka, you will work closely with the local villages to help them live compatibly with elephants. The main goal is to naturally decrease the conflict and repercussions that follow between humans and elephants. Your role in this includes:

 

• Observing Interactions – Most importantly, between wild elephants and also human-elephant interactions.

 

• Conducting Human-Elephant Conflict Surveys – An elephant volunteer in Sri Lanka will visit village homes that had been raided by elephants to collect information about the conflict.

 

• Monitoring Electric Fences – These fences were erected to stop elephants from raiding village homes. Walking the length of solar-powered electric fences erected to protect villages and their fields, identifying the need for maintenance and repair along the way.

 

• Meeting with Community Leaders – Monitoring human-elephant conflict resolution projects and to understand the cultural perceptions and attitudes of local people.

 

• Riding the Elefriendly Community Bus – You can travel on the bus early in the morning when school children are transported to school and home through the elephant corridor. The bus was established in 2016 and educates the children on living alongside the elephants. The maintenance of the bus and its operation is fully funded directly through the elephant volunteer in Sri Lanka project. Before the bus, many children would not go to school or turn back home should they encounter an elephant while walking to school.

 

• Promoting Project Orange Campaigns – Research by the team has found elephants dislike citrus. As an elephant volunteer in Sri Lanka, your role is working alongside the team to educate and promote citrus-based crops as natural deterrents and to provide farmers with an alternative income in the village communities of Wasgamuwa. Consequently, this will protect and conserve their crops, property and livelihoods. At the same time, it provides them with a sustainable additional income. Help farmers to take care of their orange groves, check for diseases and pests, dig holes to plant new orange plants. During the fruiting season, help count fruits, harvest and sort them for sale. The Sri Lanka elephant volunteer program will provide transport costs for the farmers to take them to the markets for sale with the long-term aim to get into supply with Sri Lanka’s largest supermarket supply chain.

 

Protecting Elephants Through Conservation Techniques

 

An elephant volunteer in Sri Lanka will monitor elephants closely in order to help develop strategies to conserve and protect the local wildlife. Here you will use an array of field methods, conduct observations and help to implement conservation measures:

 

• Monitoring Tracks – Setting up sand traps across the jungle and elephant corridors to study tracks, building research, analysing findings and understanding the diversity that exists in the forest. This will require physical energy as you will dig up and rake fresh new 2 x 2-metre sand traps each week to check for new footprints. Expect to find more wildlife prints than just elephants as you look for signs of leopard, sloth bears, wild buffalos and of course elephant activity.

 

• Setting up Camera Traps – As an elephant volunteer in Sri Lanka, you may be responsible for setting these up in hotspot locations across the forest. You’ll be replacing these each week with new SD cards. After a busy morning in the depths of the Sri Lankan forest, it’s time to return to the office to download data from the SD cards you collected and check the computer for what the camera traps have picked up in the last week. Be ready to make conclusions on the findings as you learn what different wildlife exists in the forests, what times of day elephants and other wildlife pass through the corridor and more.

 

• Gaining GPS Experience – You’ll be polishing off your navigation skills on the Sri Lanka elephant volunteer program. For instance, in the use of GPS across your time in the forest.

 

• Observing Movements – During the afternoons you might be located high up in the jungle treetop in tree huts. These are along the elephant corridor, which is the traditional popular route elephants use to move between the forest reserve and national park. Here you will observe passing elephants, collate data on their movements, behaviours and other variables.

 

• Gathering Data – For example, on elephant foraging transects, plants elephants eat and their impact on various habitats and plant species.

 

• Inspecting Elephant Dung – Taking measurements to assess the size and sex of elephants. After that, analysing the dung to find out what the elephants have been eating, any foreign objects inside and their movement patterns. An elephant volunteer in Sri Lanka can also learn about the elephant’s sex and age through the size of the dung!

 

• Trekking Through Dense Jungles and Wetlands – As you walk along typical elephant trails to record findings, you’ll assess any seasonal variations in behaviours, habitat preferences and better understand elephants that live outside the national park.

 

• Updating Records – You will get to spend a session at the Weheragala Tank looking for Sri Lankan elephants to observe and photograph for ID purposes. You will also have to fill in an elephant identification datasheet to build up a catalogue of elephant numbers, movement behaviours and any individually defining physical features.

 

Whatever the activity, being an elephant volunteer in Sri Lanka will incorporate you being based in the heart of their natural habitat as you trek through the jungles, wetlands and mountains of Wasgamuwa along the way. In your free time enjoy the incredible views offered by the volunteer accommodation, overlooking a large central reservoir surrounded by the Knuckles Mountain Range.

 

Each volunteer in Sri Lanka will receive an orientation session before heading into the field to better understand their role, impact and history of the Sri Lanka volunteer program. If you truly want to make a difference to wildlife conservation efforts by working closely with local communities, then volunteering in Sri Lanka with elephants is the project for you.

 

OTHER THINGS TO CONSIDER VOLUNTEERING WITH ELEPHANTS IN SRI LANKA

Strictly Hands-Off – Please be aware the elephant conservation volunteer work in Sri Lanka is strictly hands-off. Volunteer work with elephants in Sri Lanka will involve no physical interaction with animals. This project is designed to observe elephants in their natural habitat rather than offering a human interaction experience

 

Rural Location – Please note that our Sri Lanka elephant volunteer program is based in a rural area, which is more remote than our other projects where you can volunteer in Sri Lanka.

 

Combining Projects – It is possible to join another Sri Lanka volunteer program on the south coast at the beginning of your trip, before your volunteer work with elephants in Sri Lanka. Please speak to a member of our team to discuss your options.

 

Weekends – Your project work in Sri Lanka runs from Monday-Friday and weekends are free. You are welcome to relax and hang out at the volunteer accommodation but most participants will use this time to travel and explore the country. As a result, you can check out our Sri Lanka Weekend Travel Guide for top tips on how to spend your weekend.

You can volunteer teaching English in Sri Lanka to dramatically boost future opportunities available for young people. Having the ability to speak English is a valuable tool, especially for career prospects and achieving future goals. Above all, conversing with fluent English speakers can encourage students to develop this essential language skill. If you are enthusiastic and have lots of positive energy then this is the project for you!

 

BACKGROUND TO THE TEACHING PROGRAM

Sri Lanka’s education system is pretty impressive for a developing country of its size. Universal public education is available from the age of 6 to the age of 18. However, many government schools, particularly in rural areas, receive minimal government funding. Especially considering the size of the communities they are expected to serve. The facilities at the schools are very basic. In particular, the classrooms get extremely cramped as average class sizes are around 40 to 60 children.

 

The ability to speak English is becoming of growing importance in Sri Lanka. The two main sources of income in Sri Lanka are from tourism and migrant workers going to the Middle East. Both occupations require the ability to speak English – the world’s global language. However, the level of English teaching in government schools is limited. Class sizes are large and the teachers’ English speaking skills are by no means perfect. It is only the middle and upper-class children who can afford private English lessons.

 

The children attend local government schools during the mornings but often can’t afford the tuition needed to excel beyond the basics. In Sri Lanka, these additional tuition classes are key to excelling at school. In other words, the government education system is too basic to be able to provide enough time and provisions for students. Certainly, there is not enough time allocated to learn English. The teachers will have basic English themselves, often using “parrot style learning”. For instance, students only learn to repeat from a textbook, rather than understanding words in context. However, tuition classes involve a weekly fee that many of these families cannot afford.

 

Therefore it is no surprise that children from most low-income families speak little or no English. Our aim on the English teaching program is to give the poorer children of Ambalangoda the same opportunities as their more wealthy peers. As a result, they too will have the chance to develop their ability to speak English and enhance their future career prospects.

 

TEACHING VOLUNTEER PLACEMENT EXAMPLES

A volunteer teaching English in Sri Lanka will be based at one of the locations where we provide free English lessons. Most importantly, you’ll be helping in one of the local Tsunami village communities, on our own after-school education program. In addition, you have the amazing opportunity to teach English in Sri Lanka to young Buddhist monks.

 

Community Village School Projects – These English teaching projects provide an after-school education program, initiated and ran by PMGY since 2013. This is the main project for a volunteer teaching English in Sri Lanka. We work in a number of villages across the Ambalangoda district, often with fishing communities who were displaced by the Tsunami.

 

These families were relocated further inland by the government following the natural disaster in 2004. At this time, education was not seen as essential and survival was the main priority. Each volunteer teaching English in Sri Lanka can help to provide free language lessons and education opportunities for children typically from lower-income families.

 

Our aim is to further their English language development by providing these free after-school English lessons in the afternoons. These projects will take place in a makeshift classroom or community centre within the village. One of the projects is even based at a teachers house, where the volunteers will teach in her front garden.

 

On the English teaching program, each class is divided based on the student’s level of English. Class sizes usually vary from 4-15 children per class. You could be teaching students from 6-18 years old, depending on the current project need and availability. A local team member will be on hand to help when you volunteer in Sri Lanka.

 

Temple Schools – Every volunteer teaching English in Sri Lanka will also have the option to enrol in our Temple School project. This may be joined in addition to the standard afternoon community village school project.

 

The temple schools run in the morning, where you will teach English to novice Buddhist monks. Many of the Buddhist monks speak very little English and the temple schools often welcome poor children from the community to come and learn English too. There tend to be around 5-10 students in each class, generally between 6-18 years of age.

 

YOUR VOLUNTEER ROLE & TYPICAL TEACHING DAY

Your main role as a volunteer teaching English in Sri Lanka is to share your time, knowledge and skills to teach English to the local communities in Ambalangoda, boosting their confidence in conversational English and helping to maximise their potential.

 

The after-school education Sri Lanka volunteer program is available from 3pm-6pm each afternoon from Monday-Friday. Usually, you’ll get there by tuk-tuk or minibus, which takes around 10 minutes.

 

The first two hours are spent teaching English and the last hour is allocated for games and activities. We encourage volunteers to make lessons as engaging and interactive as possible by being creative and proactive when preparing lessons. Use fun educational games like interactive word searches or Hangman, or a bit of class competition in Hot Seat or team quizzes. Games, songs, art, sport and music are all great tools.

 

The presence of international volunteers gives the children an insight into different cultures; a global perspective they greatly benefit from. Use your creativity and knowledge to help these eager young minds reach their true potential.

 

Each volunteer teaching English in Sri Lanka will lead their own classes and have the freedom to create a lesson plan of their choice. There may be a topic or curriculum materials that you can follow if you need some inspiration. Your volunteer work in Sri Lanka may be in pairs or small groups per class, however, this is dependent on the current need and the number of volunteers at the time. We usually run three to six classes in each community, but again this will be dependent on the number of volunteers.

 

There will be a local coordinator at the project each day who is on hand to support volunteers with their efforts and can help with overcoming the language barrier. Please note the local staff will not be leading the class. It is also important not to constantly rely on the coordinators for translation when you are teaching English in Sri Lanka.

 

At the temple schools the classes run in the morning, usually at 8:30am-10am from Monday-Friday. The tuk-tuk journey takes about 5 minutes. The topics and activities here can be very similar to the after-school education program, with a focus on learning in a calm environment (minus any shouting or active games). In return for your contribution to the temple, you will find the monks are often keen to invite you to learn more about their religion and way of life.

 

OTHER THINGS TO CONSIDER TEACHING CHILDREN IN SRI LANKA

Top PMGY Destination – Sri Lanka is widely considered to be the best PMGY volunteer destination due to the superior local support, value for money and overall experience on offer in Ambalangoda. The local Sri Lankan team really go above-and-beyond to ensure each volunteer has the best possible experience and this is reflected in volunteer feedback. As a result, we believe this is the perfect destination for a first-time traveller who is looking for a little extra support, plenty of organised weekend trips and wants to get involved in some fantastic local initiatives in an exotic location.

 

Experience – For the English teaching program, teaching experience is not essential as the mere presence of a native English speaker is invaluable. As long as you are creative, determined and resourceful you can have a constructive impact on the development of the children’s education.

 

TEFL Course – We encourage volunteers to prepare as much as possible for their English teaching program overseas. You can make the most out of your time by completing our convenient, inexpensive and international accredited 60 hour Online TEFL Course. The cost of this course is only 120 USD.

 

Resources – On the teach English in Sri Lanka project, resources can be very limited. Volunteers are recommended to bring materials to the project each day to maximise their productivity and day to day involvement. It is therefore important for volunteers to prepare well in advance to get the most out of their teaching English project experience.

 

Weekends – Your project work in Sri Lanka runs from Monday-Friday and weekends are free. You are welcome to relax and hang out at the volunteer accommodation but most participants will use this time to travel and explore the country. As a result, you can check out our Sri Lanka Weekend Travel Guide for top tips on how to spend your weekend. We also run two separate weekend trips which you can sign-up to before you depart for Sri Lanka. We offer the Adventure Hill & Country Trip, the Cultural Triangle & Elephants Trip along with the Maldives Chill Out Trip with opportunities running every month.

As a medical volunteer in Sri Lanka you can gain valuable medical experience in a new culture, an opportunity not to be missed in this gorgeous part of the world! If you are looking for a learning experience or would like to pursue a career in the medical field, then this program is the ideal way to give you an insight into the Sri Lankan healthcare system.

 

BACKGROUND TO THE MEDICAL PROGRAM

The history of the Sri Lankan medicine system dates back thousands of years, with a rich history stemming from their extensive kingdoms. It is believed that the concept of hospitals around the world was actually introduced by the Sinhalese, thanks to their royalty. Kings were not only demanding to have their own hospital homes built but they were often practitioners of medicine themselves.

 

In addition, the ancient practice of Ayurveda is also deeply rooted in the Sri Lankan medical system. Known as one of the oldest healing sciences around the world, Ayurveda translates from Sanskrit as “The Science of Life”. Ayurvedic medicine originated in India over 3,000 years ago, focusing on the concept of balance in one’s life. This can be linked to mental health issues, diet, lifestyle, healthcare and more.

 

Using holistic and natural health practices, Ayurveda emphasises prevention and balance in order to attain balance within your physical, emotional and mental states. Ayurvedic system government hospitals and teachings are also widespread across Sri Lanka. Moreover, many citizens will choose to follow Ayurvedic medicine practices for certain illnesses or accidents and western medicine for others.

 

The healthcare system in Sri Lanka is universal to all local citizens, offering both traditional Ayurvedic and modern healthcare for free across government hospitals. Nowadays most hospitals in Sri Lanka do follow a more “western medicine” approach, using procedures and medications that are seen worldwide. Certainly, as a medical volunteer in Sri Lanka, it may be perceived as very basic and outdated in some ways. On the other hand, there is a higher life expectancy and lower infant death rate than neighbouring countries in the region. Even so, there are often long waiting lists with a limitation of capacity, staff and resources. As a result, the number of private hospitals has risen to offer private healthcare services.

 

Working in a hospital as a medical volunteer in Sri Lanka is a great opportunity to get close up clinical exposure and learn about health care systems in developing countries. You will witness a variety of cases, which offers a fantastic contrast to what you might find in your local hospital! PMGY’s medical volunteer program is a learning experience available for both medical students and school leavers looking to pursue a career in medicine. Join as a medical volunteer in Sri Lanka for the perfect way to gain invaluable hospital work experience whilst exploring the wonders that this amazing island has to offer.

 

MEDICAL VOLUNTEER PLACEMENT EXAMPLES

Your placement timetable on the medical volunteer program will depend on your current status of study. Those who are studying a health-related degree at university will be placed at a government hospital. High school leavers and applicants not from a health-related background will be placed at a private hospital.

 

Roseth Private Hospital – You might volunteer in Sri Lanka within a small private hospital in Ambalangoda. The private hospital provides a structured observational and informative approach to give participants a broad insight into a medical facility in Sri Lanka. The following departments are available in the private hospital: Physiotherapy, Dental Surgery, Radiology (x-ray machine and computerised radiology), Laboratory, Phlebotomy, In-Patient Ward, Out-Patient Ward

 

Balapitiya Government Base Hospital – PMGY partner with a government hospital located only a 15 minute journey from Ambalangoda. It is a medium-sized hospital with over 500 stations. There are 20 doctors and 2 surgeons at the hospital. We can place participants at the following departments in the government hospital: Out-Patient Unit, Emergency Treatment Room, General Medicine, Obstetrics, Gynaecology, Antenatal, Postnatal, Labour Room, Paediatrics

 

Please note that the government hospital will not permit applicants who are not studying medicine, nursing or healthcare at university. Unfortunately, there are no exceptions to this rule. You will need to bring a supporting letter or document when you volunteer in Sri Lanka as evidence that you are a medical/healthcare university student. After that, you will be granted permission to be placed at the government hospital during your time on the Sri Lanka volunteer program.

 

Polwatta Village Hospital – As a medical volunteer in Sri Lanka, you may also be able to get involved at a local blood pressure clinic. This is based at a smaller village government hospital, whereby service users come weekly to get free blood pressure checks.

 

Sri Lankan Ayurvedic Medicine – Every medical volunteer in Sri Lanka will have the opportunity to participate in an Ayurveda medicine lecture, regardless of whether you are placed at the private or government hospital. A local Ayurvedic specialist will teach you all about the history of Ayurveda, its role within healthcare in Sri Lanka and how it is implemented to treat a variety of cases.

 

Ayurvedic concepts about health and disease promote the use of herbal compounds, special diets, and other unique natural health practices. The earliest references of Ayurvedic medicine in Sri Lanka are associated with a great physician; Ravana, a king of Sri Lanka dating back to prehistoric times.

 

Balapitiya Community Eye Clinic – We are delighted to share that through our medical program and renovation volunteers, our Sri Lanka team have funded the creation and development of a community eye clinic within the local government hospital. Previously, people in the community would have to travel long journeys outside of Ambalangoda to receive free eye treatment and eye tests. Now through developing this eye clinic, the hospital can provide free, easily accessible eye care services to the local community.

 

Whilst no project work is directly affiliated with the eye clinic, as a volunteer in Sri Lanka you can get a chance to observe the daily processes here. Subsequently, you can get a feel for the positive impact its creation has brought Ambalangoda.

 

YOUR VOLUNTEER ROLE & TYPICAL WORK DAY

Your main role is to learn and experience the Sri Lankan healthcare system, procedures and culture, observing how this may differ to the experience you have at home. In addition, you may encounter different scenarios as a medical volunteer in Sri Lanka, such as dengue fever, snake bites and motorcycle accidents.

 

The medical project takes place for around 3 hours a day from Monday-Friday between 9am-12pm, depending on the current opportunities available. For instance, each medical volunteer in Sri Lanka may have the chance to stay longer if there is a major surgery or labour whilst you are allocated to that ward. The option is available to join the project in the afternoon. However, please note the doctors will only be present in the wards during the morning. The hospitals are 5-15 minutes away by tuk-tuk.

 

Private Hospital – Your time will be allocated across the hospital departments at the private hospital. Our team will do our best to match any specific requirements you have, but this cannot always be guaranteed depending on the circumstances.

 

Your role is purely observational as a medical volunteer in Sri Lanka, so you should not expect any hands-on involvement. Depending on your interests, you will be placed within different departments and you will be attached to an English-speaking member of staff. Please note there may still be a communication barrier and the staff will do their best to translate when they can.

 

As the role is purely observational, we recommend that applicants sign up for no more than 2 weeks as a medical volunteer in Sri Lanka. In our experience, whilst you will gain invaluable medical insight and knowledge at the private hospital, after a while, most people are eager for some hands-on volunteer work in Sri Lanka. Whilst PMGY cannot offer you hands-on work as a medical volunteer in Sri Lanka, we can welcome you on to our community projects teaching English in the Tsunami villages.

 

Our local team will go through the options with you during your in-country orientation. You can join one of these projects in the afternoon and attend the private hospital in the morning – it is completely up to you. Furthermore, if you’d like to join us for longer than 2 weeks, it is absolutely fine for you to sign up for 2 weeks as a medical volunteer in Sri Lanka and then go on to do another project for the remainder of your stay. If this is something you’d like to do then please drop us an email to discuss the idea in more detail pre-departure.

 

Government Base Hospital – You can choose to spend your time across several departments or just a few. Our team will do our best to match any specific requirements you have, but this cannot always be guaranteed depending on the circumstances, We would recommend a mixed timetable in order to experience the different hospital settings.

 

Whilst you will be assigned a member of staff within the department to mentor each medical volunteer in Sri Lanka, it is important to understand that the local staff are extremely busy. Therefore, you should be proactive, ask questions and be assertive in requesting additional guidance should you require it. Please note there may still be a communication barrier and the staff will do their best to translate when they can.

 

Your role as a medical volunteer in Sri Lanka at the government hospital is largely observational. Whilst this cannot be guaranteed, you may be assigned some very basic hands-on involvement such as taking blood pressure and blood sugars etc. This is all undertaken under the supervision of the medical professionals, and such permission is at the sole discretion of the staff.

 

Government Village Hospital – During your time with us on the Sri Lanka volunteer program, volunteers will usually get the chance to support at our village clinic campaign helping the local doctor by checking blood pressure and blood sugar levels of the people of Ambalangoda.

 

OTHER THINGS TO CONSIDER AS A MEDICAL VOLUNTEER IN SRI LANKA

Top PMGY Destination – Sri Lanka is widely considered to be the best PMGY volunteer destination due to the superior local support, value for money and overall experience on offer in Ambalangoda. The local Sri Lankan team really go above-and-beyond to ensure each volunteer has the best possible experience and this is reflected in volunteer feedback. As a result, we believe this is the perfect destination for a first-time traveller who is looking for a little extra support, plenty of organised weekend trips and wants to get involved in some fantastic local initiatives in an exotic location.

 

Project Flexibility – As this volunteer project only runs during the morning period in Sri Lanka, there is an opportunity to get involved in the childcare or teaching projects in the afternoon. We do require a minimum commitment of 1 week on each project and you can make these arrangements once you are in Sri Lanka. There are no additional costs and we would always welcome any additional support across the community-based projects.

 

Hands-On Involvement – Your level of involvement at the medical volunteer projects is dictated by a range of factors. First of all your medical experience, but also the duration of program and willingness to get involved. The medical staff are accountable for you whilst you’re under their supervision. Ultimately, it is completely up to them if you are permitted and want to get involved in hands-on procedures.

 

Previous PMGY medical volunteer in Sri Lanka participants have been given the chance to administer IV injections, dress wounds etc. However, please note we can never guarantee or promote hands-on involvement regardless of medical experience or background.

 

Generally speaking those with little or no medical experience assume a largely observational role. If you are studying a medically related degree, then you should have more opportunity to undertake some more basic hands-on involvement. However, to reiterate we can never guarantee or endorse hands-on experience should you choose to get hands-on. Such a decision ultimately lies with the medical staff.

 

Trained Professionals – Please note this program is not suitable for trained professionals who are looking to practise overseas. This opportunity is only suitable for students or people looking to go into the medical or nursing field and wish to learn about a healthcare system overseas.

 

Unforseen Circumstances – As Sri Lanka is a developing country their healthcare facilities reflect this. Participants on the medical program are advised to note that from time to time unexpected factors outside of PMGY’s control can limit project and schedule availability. This can be commonly associated with the hospital setting of the placement where doctors can strike at late notice or the consultants can be absent from the hospital when expected with no advanced notice. In such situations, PMGY will do their best to arrange alternative volunteer work in Sri Lanka, though this will likely be outside of the hospital setting for that day and might be another form of the community programs we operate.

 

Weekends – Your project work in Sri Lanka runs from Monday-Friday and weekends are free. You are welcome to relax and hang out at the volunteer accommodation but most participants will use this time to travel and explore the country. As a result, you can check out our Sri Lanka Weekend Travel Guide for top tips on how to spend your weekend. We also run two separate weekend trips which you can sign-up to before you depart for Sri Lanka. We offer the Adventure Hill & Country Trip, the Cultural Triangle & Elephants Trip along with the Maldives Chill Out Trip with opportunities running every month.

As a mental health volunteer in Sri Lanka, you can gain psychology work experience and learn about mental health in the developing world. This program is designed for those currently studying in the field of psychology or mental health. Meanwhile, providing an opportunity to gain insight and awareness within a range of settings in the healthcare system. The mental health needs of Sri Lanka have continued to increase in recent decades. However, mental health services have struggled to respond to such developments.

 

BACKGROUND TO THE MENTAL HEALTH PROGRAM

Sri Lanka’s suicide rates are amongst the highest globally, according to the World Health Organisation, and mental health needs in Sri Lanka today are soaring. It is estimated that in tsunami-affected areas 40% of people suffer from common mental disorders and there is a 3% prevalence of severe mental disorders.

 

In more recent times, the country as a whole is moving away from this traditional cultural stigma. This had always been attached to mental health in Sri Lanka, particularly stemming from the Buddhist beliefs of reincarnation. Integrating mental health into the primary care of Sri Lanka’s public health system and private sector still remains challenging. However, more recently there has been encouraging signs that right tracks are being made to do this.

 

Such progressions originated in the late 1970s with the emergence of a Non-Government Organisation – ‘The National Council for Mental Health’. Consequently, Medical Officers of Mental Health (MOMHs) were introduced, with the aspiration of having a MOMH in each of Sri Lanka’s 276 subdistricts – at a ratio of one MOMH per 70,000 population.

 

However, such a ratio led to its own constraints. MOMHs often suffer from excessive workloads, with too many patients to see or not enough valuable time spent with each patient in the clinic. Shortage of essential medicines in both clinics and inpatient units is also a problem. Plus, a lack of community based psychiatric treatment settings.

 

Systematic training programs have been introduced to help support mental health officers. This includes a process for them to then pass on such training they receive downwards to the medical staff in their district. Their training includes multiple discussion sessions and role-plays that facilitate active learning and practising core competencies. For example, they will have assessments about the severity of depression/suicide and explanations of medication side effects to facilitate adherence.

 

In line with this, emerging mental health issues are now being ingrained, accepted and made accessible to the general population as part of Sri Lanka primary healthcare, both in government and private hospitals. For instance, the healthcare system now provides for coping with trauma and stress-related problems and understanding the mental health problems of those physically ill. Rehabilitation for people with prolonged mental illnesses is becoming more important, as well as raising awareness through community mental health education problems. Our mental health & psychology program provides participants with the opportunity to gain a broad overview, understanding and insight into mental health care and needs within a different culture.

 

The Sri Lanka volunteer program is based mainly in the Galle District. This was one of the worst affected regions from the 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami and to this day today has left a lasting impact both physically and mentally on Sri Lankan people.

 

MENTAL HEALTH VOLUNTEER PLACEMENT EXAMPLES

The mental health & psychology program aims to provide you with an opportunity to work within a range of settings in a new environment and culture:

 

Balapitiya Government Base Hospital – As a mental health volunteer in Sri Lanka, you will spend time shadowing and observing mental health doctors in a hospital setting. This will be during consultation periods with in-ward and out-ward patients at government hospital clinics. You may encounter various forms of mental health disorders and conditions.

 

Each mental health volunteer in Sri Lanka will usually spend time across two hospitals where the mental health consultant sets up their out-patient clinics. This is usually the local Balapatiya Government Hospital near Ambalangoda, plus another Galle District Hospital.

 

When in the hospital setting, the doctor will aim to translate and explain as much as possible to participants whilst the consultation with the patient is taking place. They will speak good English so should be able to debrief and receive questions from you accordingly. It is important for participants to be flexible in the environment they are in and appreciate that a doctor’s schedule is busy. Therefore, the doctor may not be able to translate and explain to you each patient consultation.

 

National Institute of Mental Health – In addition, participants will usually get the chance to spend time at the National Institute of Mental Health. This is the largest hospital for mental health in Sri Lanka.

 

Here participants receive a presentation around mental health in Sri Lanka and get a tour of all the in-patient services. For instance, you’ll learn about the psychogeriatric, ECT and isolation units and how they administer therapies, drugs and injections. There is also a range of out-patient services that you will be able to visit as a mental health volunteer in Sri Lanka, such as day rehabilitation centres.

 

Generally speaking, the first line of treatment for mental health patients in services remains to be medication. It is a lot more available and accessible than other therapeutic medications such as creative therapies and meditations. As a consequence, in reality, these alternatives treatments are often not widely received by those with mental health needs.

 

National Council for Mental Health – Part of your placement will be at the National Council for Mental Health. This serves as a “half-way home” treatment centre to integrate those with mental illness back into society. Each mental health volunteer in Sri Lanka will be able to partake and observe their daily schedule of activities or consultations, depending on the available timetable.

 

Located close to Colombo, this is a weekly placement that is one of the highlights of the mental health experience. The NCMH is very much a forward-thinking framework, which is all about rehabilitation for the patients and providing a wide range of occupational therapies. Moreover, the long term goal us for patients at the home to return back into mainstream society without relapsing. The setting is mostly home to adults and has a team of nurses to support the day to day running and support at the halfway home.

 

Each volunteer in Sri Lanka will get a chance to interact with those based at the home, so you can ask them questions and learn about their experiences. In addition, you can provide hands-on support with occupational therapy, such as creative arts and learning, as well as structured daily exercise classes to encourage positive wellbeing.

 

Participants will also get the chance to have one on one time with the director at the NCMH. You can ask questions and learn more from the experts around mental health in Sri Lanka, as well as the stigmas attached.

 

Community Setting – Participants will spend time at the heart of community projects, providing care and attention for mentally disabled children in a government school or NGO.

 

Each mental health volunteer in Sri Lanka will be expected to be dynamic and creative when preparing engaging activities and games. For instance, arts, crafts, drawing and painting. These can be used as a fun mechanism to help support creative therapy amongst children who have mental health disabilities. The children may range from small groups of around 5-10 to groups of up to around 30-40 children.

 

Participants are advised to note that around the holiday times of April, August and December availability at the community placement setting may be limited or unavailable.

 

Lectures, Seminars & Workshops – You will also get the opportunity to take part in a series of workshops relating to mental health in Sri Lanka.

 

Firstly, you will learn about Ayurveda, which is an ancient medicine system rooted in the Indian subcontinent. Ayurveda consists of concepts and practices that promote the use of herbal compounds, special diets, and other unique natural health practices. The seminar will explain a different dynamic and perspective onto how patients are treated with regard to mental health and the traditional Sri Lankan medical system.

 

Every mental health volunteer in Sri Lanka will also be welcome to a lecture from a Buddhist monk. Here you will explore how Buddhists and Sri Lankan people are dealing with mental health problems. In addition, you may learn how core values, practices and beliefs are helping with this, such as meditation.

 

On an ad hoc basis, you may also be invited to attend additional mental health events and workshops. It is usually quite rare that these opportunities become available, but if they do our local team are on hand to provide such opportunities for you.

 

We are able to support students who would like to join our mental health & psychology program as part of an elective or university placement. Please contact a member of our team to discuss this in detail.

 

YOUR VOLUNTEER ROLE & TYPICAL WORK DAY

Your main role as a mental health volunteer in Sri Lanka is to learn and experience their mental health system, procedures and culture. Subsequently, you will be observing how this may differ to the experience you have at home. The project timetable will vary each day, including a range of activities and placement settings, combining consultation observations, lectures, meditations and local community project work.

 

At the start of your mental health experience, every volunteer in Sri Lanka will receive a workbook. This can be completed each day as you go through your psychology project journey. There will be questions to test your knowledge on each different section of the mental health experience, encouraging proactive learning and engagement across your placement.

 

Placement Timetable – As a mental health volunteer in Sri Lanka, your schedule and timings will vary each day. Usually, you will be at your placement for 2-5 hours per day from Monday-Friday, ranging between 8am-6pm. Depending on the placement, you may travel by tuk-tuk or private car. Journey times will range from 5 minutes to the local schools and hospitals to possibly an hour for the institutions in Colombo.

It is advised to note that the mental health & psychology program is always changing and this is just a sample schedule. Therefore, it is likely to run differently when you volunteer in Sri Lanka.

 

The schedule usually includes one placement per day. Participants may be split into teams for an equal chance to experience and participate in a range of volunteer work in Sri Lanka. In particular, this is relevant when there are higher numbers.

 

The day by day breakdowns here are examples of typical morning and afternoon activities:

 

Monday – Galle District Hospital & Lectures & Seminars
Tuesday – Community Setting & Galle District Hospital
Wednesday – National Council for Mental Health & Community Setting
Thursday – National Institute of Mental Health & Galle District Hospital
Friday – Community Setting & Galle District Hospital

 

As Sri Lanka is a developing country their psychiatric facilities reflect this. Participants on the mental health & psychology program are advised to note that the project and schedule availability may be limited from time to time. This is due to unexpected factors outside of PMGY’s control. For instance, it is commonly associated with the hospital setting of the placement where doctors can strike at late notice. In addition, the consultants can be absent from the hospital when expected with no advanced notice.

 

In such situations, PMGY will do their best to arrange alternative project work for each mental health volunteer in Sri Lanka. However, this will likely be outside of the hospital setting for that day and maybe at another form of community program we operate.

 

OTHER THINGS TO CONSIDER AS A MENTAL HEALTH VOLUNTEER IN SRI LANKA

Top PMGY Destination – Sri Lanka is widely considered to be the best PMGY volunteer destination due to the superior local support, value for money and overall experience on offer in Ambalangoda. The local Sri Lankan team really go above-and-beyond to ensure each volunteer has the best possible experience and this is reflected in volunteer feedback. As a result, we believe this is the perfect destination for a first-time traveller who is looking for a little extra support, plenty of organised weekend trips and wants to get involved in some fantastic local initiatives in an exotic location.

 

University Students Only – Please note the mental health & psychology program in Sri Lanka is only available to those already studying a psychology/mental health-related degree at university and is not be available to those with no exposure or studying at levels beneath this (e.g. A-Levels). The project is available to graduates, but as this is a learning and insight experience graduates may not find this suitable to what they would be looking for from the placement.

 

Project Duration – We recommend four weeks on the program to gain experience and get a broad insight into your mental health placements. This should allow you to experience most of the placement settings described above within the mental health & psychology program.

 

Hands-On Involvement – As a mental health volunteer in Sri Lanka, your level of involvement at the project is dictated by a range of factors. First of all your medical experience (if any), duration of your program and willingness to get involved. The medical staff are accountable for you whilst you’re under their supervision, so it is completely up to them if you are permitted and want to get involved in hands-on procedures.

 

Generally speaking those with little or no medical experience assume a largely observational role. If you are studying a mental health-related degree, then you may have more opportunity to undertake some more basic hands-on involvement. However, to reiterate we can never guarantee or endorse hands-on experience should you choose to get hands-on, as the decision ultimately lies with the medical staff and their patients.

 

Trained Professionals – Please note this program is not suitable for trained professionals who are looking to practise overseas. This opportunity is only suitable for students looking to go into the mental health or psychology field and wish to learn about a healthcare system overseas.

 

Weekends – Your project work in Sri Lanka runs from Monday-Friday and weekends are free. You are welcome to relax and hang out at the volunteer accommodation but most participants will use this time to travel and explore the country. As a result, you can check out our Sri Lanka Weekend Travel Guide for top tips on how to spend your weekend. We also run two separate weekend trips which you can sign-up to before you depart for Sri Lanka. We offer the Adventure Hill & Country Trip, the Cultural Triangle & Elephants Trip along with the Maldives Chill Out Trip with opportunities running every month.

You can join our Sri Lanka renovation volunteers to make a positive impact in the local community of Ambalangoda. This is a great opportunity to help out whilst immersing yourself in the local culture. From Buddhist temples, government hospitals and primary schools, you can assist the local community with renovation in a number of different settings.

 

BACKGROUND TO THE RENOVATION PROGRAM

Our Sri Lanka renovation volunteers can be based at a wide range of community facilities in and around Ambalangoda. You could be helping out at schools, government hospitals, children’s homes or Buddhist temples. These institutions often struggle to find the funding and manpower to undertake important development work.

 

Even for government schools and hospitals, most of the allocated budget it stretched for the basic necessities. Resources such as books, medication and health supplies are often understocked, as well as being understaffed. As a result, renovation work is a very low priority and often overlooked in these establishments.

 

Meanwhile, Buddhism is the most practised religion in Sri Lanka, with over 70% of the population following this ancient philosophy. With a deep history preserved by Sinhalese kings, this religion retains its importance to the country, promoting Buddhist education and learning to this day. In each town and village, there is a Buddhist temple for followers to worship Lord Buddha and learn about his teachings. These temples require a lot of maintenance and upkeep from the local community.

 

Therefore, our Sri Lanka renovation volunteers offer a helping hand whilst also learning about their fascinating culture. With your help, we can continue to support Ambalangoda’s community projects and you can do your bit to leave a lasting impression!

 

Volunteers don’t need to have any previous construction or renovation experience, just bags of energy and the willingness to help. Your Sri Lanka volunteer program will mainly be during the morning, so you will have the opportunity to teach English and support in our afternoon childcare program if you wish.

 

VOLUNTEER PLACEMENT EXAMPLES

Balapitiya Primary School – At one of the village schools within Ambalangoda, the Sri Lanka renovation volunteers have created a new playground area for the children. This included renovating an entire area of abandoned land. After clearing the debris and weeds, they assisted with digging the base and creating the infrastructure for the new playground. This included replacing the broken, rusty equipment for new swings, slides and climbing frame.

 

The volunteers made the playground fun, safe and exciting, with colourful paintings and enough space for all the children to play. Next to the playground, a vegetable patch was planted to teach the students about the different plants and how to take care of them. This brought an educational and sustainable aspect to the new area. The children and staff have loved their new addition to the school, bringing a brighter and safer playtime to their day!

 

The Sri Lanka renovation volunteers have also helped re-plastering and re-painting the old, crumbling classrooms in the school. As a result, the students have a better environment to work and study. The volunteers have relieved this task from the staff and teachers, who can now focus their time and limited budget on teaching and essential resources for the school.

 

Balapitiya Hospital Eye Clinic – Through our medical program and Sri Lanka renovation volunteers, the team have funded a new community eye clinic within the local government hospital.

 

Previously, people in the community would have to travel long journeys outside of Ambalangoda to receive free eye treatment and eye tests. Through building this eye clinic, the hospital can now provide free, easily accessible eye care services to the local community.

 

Buddhist Temples – Our Sri Lanka renovation volunteers regularly support three Buddhist temples in the local area with much-needed renovation and maintenance work. You may be helping to construct offering tables, where worshippers will offer flowers, incense or oil lamps to Lord Buddha. This acts as a symbol of their gratitude, virtue and inspiration, deepening one’s commitment to the philosophy of Buddhism.

 

It is of the deepest importance to Buddhists to keep the temple areas clean and respected, with constant upkeep and maintenance. When you volunteer in Sri Lanka, you will notice that you must remove your shoes when you enter the temple area, even outside. In addition, Buddhists will also always ensure that they are freshly bathed to enter the temples, often wearing white. These are signs of respect and tradition for their beliefs and the monks who reside there.

 

Sri Lanka renovation volunteers have helped to redecorate an entire temple within a small local village, in preparation for a special full moon celebration. The local community were extremely grateful for their contribution, which they also believe brings merit to your “karma”.

 

During their volunteer work in Sri Lanka, the renovation volunteers were able to see everyday life in the temple. In particular, the intriguing life of a Buddhist monk. The monks will often share their stories and philosophies with you, as well as introducing you to the exotic fruits they grow in the temple gardens!

 

Sun Rise Preschool & Day Care Centre – Our renovation volunteers have also helped to create the preschool at our childcare project. This day centre now provides a fun and educational space for the younger children who don’t have access to school to learn at the children’s home.

 

The volunteers have provided much-needed help to the local community and working parents, who otherwise would not be able to afford quality care for their young children. Subsequently, this allows parents to work and earn an income, generally in local cinnamon or garment factories, in order to provide for their families.

 

Our PMGY Sri Lanka renovation volunteers supported local builders with the main construction, as well as digging pits for the plumbing. After that, they painted all the classroom walls with inspiring artwork, bright colours and educational alphabets to aid their learning. This preschool is now in full swing, with thanks to the help of our renovation and childcare volunteers.

 

Polwatta Village Hospital – At this local village hospital, the Sri Lanka renovation volunteers have helped to spruce up the aged hospital wards. As you can imagine, funding is low and will be directed towards medicines and equipment for the hospital, which has very basic facilities and limited resources.

 

Each renovation volunteer in Sri Lanka helped to scrub, clean and brighten the wards, creating a more pleasant environment for the patients and staff. As a result, the newly painted walls and clean areas boosted the hospital atmosphere. The in-patient wards are very basic and cramped. Therefore people from all over the hospital were intrigued and thankful for the international volunteers who gave their time to improve the living and working conditions in this village hospital.

 

YOUR ROLE & TYPICAL VOLUNTEER DAY

Our PMGY Sri Lanka renovation volunteers are usually placed at local establishments that have expressed a great need for volunteers and request help in renovation or restoration work. Your project runs from Monday-Friday, usually starting from 9am-12pm. Your placement will probably be a 5-10 minute tuk-tuk journey away, depending on the current project and location.

 

Each renovation volunteer in Sri Lanka will spend their mornings helping out with the required tasks for your designated project. For example, you may be busy mixing paint, digging holes, assisting builders, scrubbing walls, moving blocks, decorating a room, whatever is required for your local community. In the afternoons, you’ll have the chance to help out at one of our community volunteer projects teaching English in Sri Lanka.

 

A coordinator will be at hand to help you with your tasks. Make the most of your placement location too. For instance, learn about the Buddhist culture from the monks living at the temple, teach the children English songs during your breaks at the school, or learn more about the Sri Lankan healthcare system at the hospital.

 

All Sri Lanka renovation volunteers are welcome to join us as an individual or a larger group. If you sign up as an individual then we are only able to organise renovation work for you. This usually involves stripping walls, plastering, painting and light building activities. However, bigger construction and renovation projects can be arranged for group applications of 6 or more people.

 

In short, the size of the project is really dependent on the duration that volunteers stay as well as the number of volunteers on the renovation and community project at the time. The need in the community is our main focus. This is a great project for those looking to get a bit more hands-on. By the end of your time with us, you’ll be able to see exactly what you’ve contributed towards. Your placement is likely to be outside, make sure to bring plenty of suncream, a water bottle, and old clothes too!

 

Working outside with your fellow volunteers in the gorgeous sunshine whilst making a tangible impact on the local community – sounds pretty good, doesn’t it?

 

OTHER THINGS TO CONSIDER VOLUNTEERING IN SRI LANKA

Top PMGY Destination – Sri Lanka is widely considered to be the best PMGY volunteer destination due to the superior local support, value for money and overall experience on offer in Ambalangoda. The local Sri Lankan team really go above-and-beyond to ensure each volunteer has the best possible experience and this is reflected in volunteer feedback. As a result, we believe this is the perfect destination for a first-time traveller who is looking for a little extra support, plenty of organised weekend trips and wants to get involved in some fantastic local initiatives in an exotic location.

 

Project Flexibility – As this volunteer project only runs during the morning period in Sri Lanka, there is an opportunity to get involved in the childcare or teaching projects in the afternoon. We do require a minimum commitment of 1 week on each project and you can make these arrangements once you are in Sri Lanka. There is no additional costs and we would always welcome any additional support across the community programs.

 

Project Donation – All participants in this project will need to make a donation whilst they volunteer in Sri Lanka, which goes towards the costs for materials and skilled labour that are required to support the initiative. The donation each volunteer on the program must contribute is 50 GBP per person or the local currency equivalent. Our local team will collect this from you during the orientation and you may assist them in purchasing the relevant materials for the project work. Remaining donations will go towards larger renovation projects that our project supports.

 

Weekends – Your project work in Sri Lanka runs from Monday-Friday and weekends are free. You are welcome to relax and hang out at the volunteer accommodation but most participants will use this time to travel and explore the country. As a result, you can check out our Sri Lanka Weekend Travel Guide for top tips on how to spend your weekend. We also run two separate weekend trips which you can sign-up to before you depart for Sri Lanka. We offer the Adventure Hill & Country Trip, the Cultural Triangle & Elephants Trip along with the Maldives Chill Out Trip with opportunities running every month.

You can protect and rehabilitate sea turtles whilst also helping at community development projects as a Sri Lanka turtle conservation volunteer. Many species of turtles are under threat and at risk of becoming endangered, hence there is a great need for wildlife conservation efforts. Raise awareness of plastic pollution, care for injured and disable turtles and release freshly hatched babies back into the wild, safe from natural risks and local poachers.

 

BACKGROUND TO THE TURTLE CONSERVATION PROGRAM

In Sri Lanka, there are five species of turtles that are commonly encountered. These are the Green Turtle, Hawksbill, Loggerhead, Olive Ridley and Leatherback. The Green turtle is the most common turtle species and will likely be the one you come across the most if you volunteer in Sri Lanka. The Loggerhead turtle is the rarest and thus hardest to spot in Sri Lanka. They are more commonly found on the East Coast of America.

 

The Hawksbill (renowned for its beautiful shell), Olive Ridley (smallest of the sea turtles) and Leatherback (largest of the 5 species) are harder to spot for different reasons. Sadly they are critically endangered and sit on the brink of extinction. This is mainly because they have been heavily hunted and fell victim to other human activity as well.

 

For instance, fishing is one of the major industries in Ambalangoda. The location of the volunteer work in Sri Lanka is very close to the local fisheries port. Sea turtles are often found in fishing nets and many have lost limbs, becoming disabled and are no longer able to survive in the wild. Many of these disabled turtles are found by local fishermen who bring them to the project site for rehabilitation and care.

 

Most importantly, each environmental choice we make every day as a human has an impact upon all marine life. Millions of microplastics, straws and bottles are found in the sea and beaches across the globe. Plastic pollution is becoming a huge problem worldwide and our Sri Lanka turtle conservation volunteers aim to fight the battle against this environmental catastrophe.

 

Volunteering with turtles in Sri Lanka on our wildlife conservation program is an incredible opportunity to do your bit to care for these incredible creatures, whilst spending time in a country that will amaze you on so many levels.

 

TURTLE CONSERVATION VOLUNTEER PLACEMENT EXAMPLES

Ambalangoda Turtle Conservation Sanctuary – Each Sri Lanka turtle conservation volunteer will be based at a turtle sanctuary in Ambalangoda. Here, the Sri Lanka volunteer program aims to provide daily care and rehabilitation for the disabled turtles. They have a long term goal to release the healthy turtles back to the wild, as well as protecting turtle eggs that have been stolen by local poachers.

 

Beginning from the orientation, volunteers will learn a great deal about turtle conservation. For instance, how to nest eggs, identify different kinds of turtles, how eggs hatch, how to treat turtles, the differences between the species, how to send turtles back into the sea and so much more. In short, this is a project where you will learn a lot and be able to make a tangible difference with your time.

 

Beach Cleans – As female turtles will only lay their eggs on beaches that are safe environments to them, it is crucial the area is maintained in order to encourage them to nest. Consequently, every Sri Lanka turtle conservation volunteer will get involved in cleaning the local beaches for litter and dangerous debris.

 

Climate change, waste and plastic pollution is increasing at an alarming rate across the world and we want to continue raising awareness and promote conservation through our wildlife volunteer program.

 

Turtle Hatchery & Baby Turtle Release – Volunteers will help to nest, monitor and care for turtle eggs that have been brought to the turtle hatchery. Usually, these are removed from an unsafe area where they may be at risk from human activity. This often includes outside tourist hotels but also if they can be stolen by local poachers.

 

Across Asia, there is an ancient myth that eating turtle eggs and meat will increase your life span. As a result, turtle eggs are sold illegally on the black market. The hatchery provides a safe environment for the turtles to be nested and monitored for conservation. They follow the National Wildlife Department guidelines and release the babies back into the wild with the help each Sri Lanka turtle conservation volunteer.

 

Community Conservation Awareness – You can lead sea turtle conservation sessions at the community village school projects, as part of the English teaching program. Increase awareness in the next generation by educating them about the issues and solutions surrounding turtle conservation and plastic pollution.

 

YOUR VOLUNTEER ROLE & TYPICAL WORK DAY

Every PMGY Sri Lanka turtle conservation volunteer will spend their days next to the beach caring for the sea turtles that have been rescued and are now living in the project site. Your project will run from Monday-Friday between 9am-12pm. You will get your project usually by tuk-tuk, which takes about 10 minutes. Your typical duties as a volunteer in Sri Lanka will include:

 

• Preparing fresh food and assisting feeding on a daily basis
• Cleaning within the project premises and nearby beach area
• Taking care of the nesting area
• Cleaning and refilling the turtle tanks
• Assisting with medication
• Cleaning the turtles’ shells
• Counting and burying turtle eggs safely
• Designing education boards around the sanctuary
• Painting and drawing for information and animal welfare education
• Releasing hatched baby turtles into the sea

 

Each Sri Lanka turtle conservation volunteer will join with the local staff at the project to get to grips with the daily tasks and what is expected of them. This will include tasks as part of a team as well as individual roles. In addition, our local team regularly arrange a day for the volunteers to engage in a mass beach clean across the Ambalangoda area.

 

You can do your bit to help tackle the global issue of plastic pollution by cleaning the beaches where many turtles lay eggs in the south. Although this may be one of the more mundane aspects of the program, its importance cannot be underestimated. The volunteer’s efforts are recognised positively by the Wildlife Department. It is not uncommon that after one beach clean we have collected up to 20 bags of litter!

 

As a Sri Lanka turtle conservation volunteer, may also wish to get involved with community awareness education. The purpose of these sessions is to educate young Sri Lankans in the local communities about the importance of protecting these endangered species.

 

From factual presentations on sea turtles to information on what the community can do to aid conservation, we aim to introduce the concept of conservation on a community level and so bring about long term change. Please note these sessions run on an ad hoc basis. If it is something you are interested in then please speak with our local team, who can help to make the appropriate arrangements.

 

OTHER THINGS TO CONSIDER VOLUNTEERING WITH TURTLES IN SRI LANKA

Project Flexibility – As this volunteer project only runs during the morning period in Sri Lanka, there is an opportunity to get involved in the childcare or teaching projects in the afternoon. We do require a minimum commitment of 1 week on each project and you can make these arrangements once you are in Sri Lanka. There are no additional costs and we would always welcome any additional support across the community-based projects.

 

Weekends – Your project work in Sri Lanka runs from Monday-Friday and weekends are free. You are welcome to relax and hang out at the volunteer accommodation but most participants will use this time to travel and explore the country. As a result, you can check out our Sri Lanka Weekend Travel Guide for top tips on how to spend your weekend. We also run two separate weekend trips which you can sign-up to before you depart for Sri Lanka. We offer the Adventure Hill & Country Trip, the Cultural Triangle & Elephants Trip along with the Maldives Chill Out Trip with opportunities running every month.

As a childcare volunteer in India, you will brighten the days of young ones, making an important contribution to their lives. As a volunteer with children in India, you will act as role models to underprivileged individuals. Our volunteers coordinate fun activities and assist with tasks such as homework, to make a positive impact on local Indian communities. Above all as a volunteer with children in India, you will be assisting with the general childcare and daily activities at the volunteer placement.

 

BACKGROUND TO THE CHILDCARE PROGRAM

Similar to other developing countries, across India, hundreds of thousands of children find themselves with insufficient levels of care. Over 5% of all children in India are without any form of support from a parent or guardian – approximately 20 million of India’s population. Not all of these children have physically lost both of their parents. However, many of them are sadly abandoned, with poverty a leading factor of this. Across India, many parents simply do not have the income or resources to provide care for their children. Consequently, many of these children find themselves in the undeveloped childcare system with nowhere else to turn. Typically, this system lacks the funding, resources and manpower to take proper care of these children.

 

Volunteers with children in India with PMGY work to support children centres in the Faridabad community. Not only do volunteers provide a friendly face to brighten up a child’s day, but they work hard to support and lead activities, making days at the centres fun and productive. Volunteers with children in India are required to have masses of energy, enthusiasm and creativity to ensure that contributions to the project can be as successful as possible. Volunteering with children is a highly rewarding experience and one that people from all backgrounds can get involved in.

 

Each day as a volunteer with children in India is different and you will get out of the project what you put in. It is a good idea to join the project well prepared with lots of ideas of activities so that you can get stuck in as soon as possible. As a childcare volunteer in India, you have the opportunity to think and act creatively. As a consequence, they make a positive impact on the lives of young ones within the local community.

 

CHILDCARE VOLUNTEER PLACEMENT EXAMPLES

Alice In Wonderland – PMGY fund and support a children’s home for 7-10 children aged from 6 to 17 years old. The home is located next to the main Volunteer House, so the children receive regular support from our volunteers. There is a house father who manages the home on a day-to-day basis. However, volunteers play an important role in looking after the children in their free time. This ranges from helping them with their homework to playing games. The local team frequently arrange activities for the children to engage in, from kickboxing to yoga. Childcare volunteers on this program in India will accompany the children. Not only do volunteers provide encouragement to the children, but they provide a helping hand as they develop new skills.

 

Lakshya Kadam – Set up in 2004, Lakshya Kadam is a youth home. The home is operated by once run-away street children, working with children rescued from Delhi Railway Station. Although PMGY does not directly run this home, our childcare volunteers make regular visits. Our international volunteers both support and complement the services mediated by the local staff.

 

Lakshya Kadam is a self-funded project in India. The home employs local people from the community to make handmade crafts from newspaper and fabric bags. The income generated through this allows the children to have an education, with all children, enrolled at a local Convent School. The overall aim is to give the children the best opportunities in life. This helps prevent them from becoming involved in negative activities, such as drugs or theft.

 

Volunteers with children in India will go to project in the late afternoon. Here, during this volunteer work in India, you will help the children with their homework. As a children volunteer in India, you will also have the chance to lead activities, play games and dance!

 

YOUR VOLUNTEER ROLE & TYPICAL CHILDCARE DAY

As a childcare volunteer in India, you will coordinate activities and provide care, attention and support for underprivileged children. As the children attend school in the morning, your help is needed in the afternoon. There, the volunteer project runs in the afternoons for between 2-3 hours, Monday to Friday. Typical hours at the volunteer program are between 3-6pm. However, this may vary depending on the needs of the project at the time.

 

The role of a childcare volunteer in India can vary. Some days, you may work hard to assist the children with homework or a school project. Other days, you may be responsible for arranging activities, providing the children with some relief after a busy day at school! Childcare volunteers in India must, therefore, be proactive in their role. This means that they must identify the needs of the children each day and coordinate activities accordingly. With any challenge will come reward, meaning that volunteers in India can expect to find their time both rewarding and fun!

 

As a volunteer overseas with children in India, you are welcome to join one of our morning projects for additional volunteer work. Alternatively, a childcare volunteer in India is welcome to use their mornings to lesson plan or explore Delhi and surrounding areas.

 

PMGY’s India volunteer program has its own private transport network that will transfer you to and from the projects every day. You will travel to and from the project by either tuk-tuk or minivan. This service is included in your Program Fee.

 

OTHER THINGS TO CONSIDER WORKING WITH CHILDREN IN INDIA

Alternative Opportunities – On the India childcare project, participant roles mainly involve the organisation and coordination of activities with the children. For individuals looking for a more challenging experience, PMGY recommend joining one of our other childcare volunteer programs. PMGY recommend our volunteer in Cambodia childcare program offers participants with a more defined and structured role.

 

Project Flexibility – For the majority of the year, childcare volunteers in India will only be able to participate in the late afternoons. This will be after the children have returned from school and had an opportunity to rest. We, therefore, encourage participants to become involved in other PMGY India volunteering experiences during the mornings, such as the teaching English program. This is a great opportunity to spend your mornings doing something really productive and impactful before heading to support at the children’s homes in the afternoons. These arrangements can be discussed in-country.

 

Please note that there may be instances where this opportunity is not possible, or volunteer project options are limited. This could otherwise lead to overcrowding at the project and thus limited project work opportunity. Therefore, such flexibility is not always possible. Priority will always be given to those signed up to that specific community-based programs originally.

 

Resources – On the childcare project in India, resources can be very limited. Volunteers are recommended to bring materials to the project each day to maximise their productivity and day to day involvement. It is therefore important for childcare volunteers in India to prepare well in advance to get the most out of their childcare volunteering experience in India.

 

Weekends – Your project work in India runs from Monday-Friday and weekends are free. You are welcome to relax and hang out at the volunteer accommodation but most participants will use this time to travel and explore the country. As a result, you can check out our India Weekend Travel Guide for top tips on how to spend your weekend. We also run two separate weekend trips which you can sign-up to before you depart for India. We offer the Dharamshala Trip along with the Golden Triangle Trip.

As an India disabled children volunteer, you will help care for children with special needs. As a volunteer with disabled children in India, you will assist local staff in essential education and support sessions. On this volunteer community work, you will brighten the days of young ones, making a vital and important contribution to their lives.

 

BACKGROUND TO THE DISABLED PROGRAM

Traditionally, people with disabilities in India have had vastly reduced opportunities in life. Many attitudes towards disability have been influenced by the concept of Karma. Unfortunately, it is frequently perceived that disability is a punishment for actions in their past life. In recent years, India’s Government has changed policies and laws which now enable young people with disabilities to receive an education. However, conflicting goals and a lack of clarity still affect disabled young people’s experiences and outcomes of education.

 

People with disabilities face many barriers within and outside the Indian school system. Lack of awareness and limited access to resources has left many disabled people in India without the care many desperately need. According to the India office of the World Bank, Indian children with disabilities are 5.5 times more likely to not be enrolled at school compared to abled-children. Those who do attend school rarely progress beyond the primary school level. Currently, 52% of adults with disabilities are illiterate, compared to 35% amongst the general Indian population. In India, 74% of people with physical impairments are unemployed.

 

Our volunteers with disabled children in India work hard to provide support for centres across Faridabad. Volunteers in India on this program support local staff to complement and further enhance opportunities of children with special needs. The role of a volunteer with disabled children in India is varied and rewarding. Whilst also challenging, volunteering on this project offers volunteers the chance to showcase their skills to support others in need.

 

VOLUNTEER PLACEMENT EXAMPLE

KRC for Special Children – This centre was founded some years ago by a physiotherapist. The project aims to provide children with disabilities the care and attention they deserve. The overall goal is to provide children with the skills and rehabilitation for the greatest chance of independence. Staff at the centre have worked with local people and children with conditions that include Down Syndrome and Infantile hemiplegia.

 

There are local staff at the volunteer project, but most of the additional support is provided by PMGY volunteer with disabled children in India participants. Daily activities often include storytelling, physical exercise, basic life skill lessons, singing songs and games. You may even get involved in some English language teaching. It is hoped that through these activities, the children will also interact with each other. This, in turn, helps to promote social skills that the children may not otherwise have the opportunity to develop extensively. Volunteers with relevant experience may be able to assist with physiotherapy and speech therapy sessions. Such interaction will be under the guidance of the local staff. Volunteers will usually take along toys and educational aids each day to the community centre project.

 

When participants arrive on the volunteer program, they take over the room with their energy, stimulating and supporting children. The project is very hands-on. Volunteers will have important roles in teaching English and feeding, as well as assisting in activities that focus on motor skills.

 

Although the project can be challenging, feedback from participants suggests the project is one of the most rewarding volunteer opportunities. The bonds international volunteers build with the children at the project are very unique and special to each participant. As funding and volunteer support increases, we can continue to maximise our support to communities and the centre.

 

YOUR VOLUNTEER ROLE & TYPICAL VOLUNTEER DAY

Working with special needs children in India, you will provide valuable daily hands-on care and attention for children who need it most. Typically, there will be no strict itinerary or activities that must occur on a day-to-day basis. Volunteers with disabled children in India can expect to get involved in a range of different roles during their time. This means that a volunteer with disabled children in India must be proactive in their role.

 

As a volunteer with disabled children in India, a large amount of patience, energy and enthusiasm is required. Each day will be different, and a strict structure cannot be expected. With each day will come with different activities, challenges and perhaps even a different set of students! As a volunteer with disabled children in India, tasks may include teaching basic English, introducing activities to promote fine motor skills, and assistance with both meal and assembly times.

 

In general, volunteer work in India is Monday to Friday. You will usually spend 3-4 hours at the India volunteer program each day, usually, from 9am-12:30pm. If not within walking distance, you with travel to and from the project by either tuk-tuk or minivan. The cost of this is included in your Program Fee.

 

OTHER THINGS TO CONSIDER VOLUNTEERING IN INDIA

Your Approach & Project Structure – Please note that this project relies on the proactivity of PMGY volunteers. Each individual child offers a unique set of characteristics and behaviours. It is, therefore, an important task for a participant to explore these and tailor tasks and activities towards these.

 

Although our local team/staff will be at hand at the project, you will not always be working as a group. During your time on the project, most of your time will be spent working with children individually or in small groups.

 

The structure across the classes can be limited. As mentioned, this is because of the varying needs across the children. Together, this naturally can be very challenging. However, this is found to equally be one of our most rewarding volunteering opportunities in India.

 

Naturally, this project can be quite challenging to structure and plan for. Volunteers are encouraged to be good time managers, adaptable, resilient, creative and able to maintain a positive attitude. This is because many of the children and young adults lack the ability to speak or communicate functionally. Additionally, individuals may find it difficult to follow instructions. This means that interaction and engagement for volunteers can require a lot of patience, time and effort. Language barriers can add an additional hurdle into the mix. Regardless of this, as you persevere, you will begin to see what a truly inspirational experience you are a part of. Although not always visually recognised, your efforts will be met with appreciation and warmth by all staff, local coordinators and children. Any small differences you can make, even just the care and attention you can give will go a very long way.

 

Project Flexibility – There may be an opportunity as a volunteer in India to get involved with other India volunteer programs. However, there may be instances where this would lead to overcrowding on these volunteering experiences, and thus limited project work opportunity. Therefore, such flexibility on a volunteer trip to India is not always possible. Priority will always be given to those signed up to that specific program in India.

 

Weekends – Your project work in India runs from Monday-Friday and weekends are free. You are welcome to relax and hang out at the volunteer accommodation but most participants will use this time to travel and explore the country. As a result, you can check out our India Weekend Travel Guide for top tips on how to spend your weekend. We also run two separate weekend trips which you can sign-up to before you depart for India. We offer the Dharamshala Trip along with the Golden Triangle Trip.

As a volunteer teaching English in India, you will encourage students to develop skills, helping to achieve future goals. Conversing with fluent, native English speakers greatly improves student’s language skills, essential for future employment. This project provides the perfect opportunity for India English teaching volunteers to put leadership skills into practice and make a profound positive impact within poor communities in India.

 

BACKGROUND TO THE TEACHING PROGRAM

India has made some rapid economic advancement in recent years. Despite this, around 28% of the Indian population lives below the poverty line. The disparity of wealth in India is plain to see. It can be shocking to witness the extreme differences in living conditions. However, unfortunately, the slums are a regrettable fact of life in India.

 

Indian culture places a major emphasis on education, but unfortunately, the education system in India is still a work in progress. For one thing, class sizes go far beyond suitable capacities. Additionally, schools are highly understaffed. PMGY, therefore, supports two schools located within Faridabad’s largest slum community. Our team provides free education, school supplies and uniforms to local children. This aims to encourage parents to let their children go to school. Without this, they may be forced to wander the streets, begging and collecting rubbish to earn money.

 

The children at the schools range from 3-16. The schools we support are located within the slum areas, making facilities are extremely basic with cramped conditions. However, you will find the spirit of the children and their passion to learn a real joy to behold. English teacher volunteers provide invaluable support to the limited local staff. In particular, the presence of a fluent English speaker brings a major boost to the children’s educational development.

 

When there are a higher number of volunteers teaching English in India, we may also be able to support more slum communities or disadvantaged areas with English classes. Consequently, as a volunteer organisation, this helps us to further community development.

 

TEACHING VOLUNTEER PLACEMENT EXAMPLES

Eco Slum School – Based in the heart of Faridabad’s largest local slum community, this is our main English language teaching volunteer project. The children are aged between 3-15, although the average age is between 7-10. The school was set up by our team in 2010. The aim is to provide children from underprivileged backgrounds the opportunity to receive free basic primary education.

 

Volunteers are encouraged to teach English in India, as well as some Maths. However, volunteers teaching English in India are welcome to discuss other ideas with their project coordinator. In addition to teaching, volunteers are expected to carry out the assembly daily, which consist largely of nursery rhymes and dancing. The majority of volunteers teaching English in India will spend their time working with this school. However, this cannot always be guaranteed.

 

Eco-School is also the hub for several other initiatives within the slum community. Here, our local team have also set up medical clinics and a woman empowerment program, with the aim to increase opportunities and the provision of health care within the community. Volunteers teaching English in India may have the opportunity to engage in or learn about these projects during their time on the India volunteer program.

 

Nehru School – The Nehru School is a high school, based in a neighbouring local community to that of the Eco-School. Unlike the Eco Slum School, students here are required to pay a fee to receive an education. Several students who have previously attended the Eco-School have received sponsorship to attend here. In 2019 alone, 15 children have been sponsored to receive education at Nehru School. This funding has largely been generated by volunteers.

 

This is an additional project which some teaching volunteers choose to support, and here lessons can be operated more formally. The children are a little older here and usually aged between 10-12 years of age. Volunteers are actively encouraged to lead lessons and teach more advanced English and Maths to the students. There may also be the opportunity for volunteers to get involved in other areas such as assemblies, sports and drawing/painting.

 

YOUR VOLUNTEER ROLE & TYPICAL TEACHING DAY

As a volunteer overseas teaching in India, you will teach English and Maths lessons to one or more classes in an underprivileged school. India English teaching volunteers are also welcome to lead other subjects such as Science and Geography.

 

If you’ve never taught before then there is no need to worry! To be successful in teaching English in India, you just need to be energetic, creative, patient and proactive. Should volunteers require it, our local coordinators can guide you as to how to prepare lessons and what to teach. However, volunteers are required to be proactive in establishing the levels and educational needs of the class.

 

The volunteer project runs in the mornings for between 3-4 hours, Monday to Friday. Typical hours at the volunteer program are between 9am-12:30pm. However, this may vary depending on the needs of the school at the time. We highly recommend that volunteers use time outside of the project to prepare lessons in advance. If you are new to teaching, your confidence will grow massively once you have taught a couple of classes! Additionally, the more time spent planning, the easier classes will be to run.

 

You will usually spend your first few days working with children alongside a local teacher or another volunteer. After this, due to staff shortages, it is appreciated if volunteers can lead their own classes. If you are uncomfortable teaching independently, we will do our best to ensure you work alongside a local teacher or peer.

 

PMGY’s India volunteer program has its own private transport network that will transfer you to and from the projects every day. You will travel to and from the project by either tuk-tuk or minivan. This service is included in your Program Fee.

 

OTHER THINGS TO CONSIDER TEACHING IN INDIA

Experience – For the English teaching program, teaching experience is not essential as the mere presence of a native English speaker is invaluable. As long as you are creative, determined and resourceful you can have a constructive impact on the development of the children’s education.

 

TEFL Course – We encourage volunteers to prepare as much as possible for their teaching program overseas. You can make the most out of your time by completing our convenient, inexpensive and international accredited 60 hour Online TEFL Course. The cost of this course is only 120 USD.

 

Resources – On the teach English in India project, resources can be very limited. Volunteers are recommended to bring materials to the project each day to maximise their productivity and day to day involvement. It is therefore important for volunteers to prepare well in advance to get the most out of their teaching English project experience.

 

Project Flexibility – There may be an opportunity as a volunteer in India to get involved with other India volunteer programs. However, there may be instances where this would lead to overcrowding on these volunteering experiences, and thus limited project work opportunity. Therefore, such flexibility on a volunteer trip to India is not always possible. Priority will always be given to those signed up to that specific program in India.

 

Weekends – Your project work in India runs from Monday-Friday and weekends are free. You are welcome to relax and hang out at the volunteer accommodation but most participants will use this time to travel and explore the country. As a result, you can check out our India Weekend Travel Guide for top tips on how to spend your weekend. We also run two separate weekend trips which you can sign-up to before you depart for India. We offer the Dharamshala Trip along with the Golden Triangle Trip.

As a medical volunteer in India with PMGY, you will have a fantastic opportunity to gain first-hand experience and insight into Indian health care. Medical volunteers in India work with highly trained local staff. This gives individuals exposure and tuition that you are unlikely to obtain in your own country. If you are thinking of studying or even pursuing a career in healthcare, joining PMGY’s India medical programs will offer you essential first-hand experience that will assist in your career development.

 

BACKGROUND TO THE MEDICAL PROGRAM

Despite advances in India’s healthcare system, the majority of the population still experience poor health. This is largely due to a lack of awareness of health issues. Additionally, many Indians simply cannot afford regular, if any, medical treatment. The projects we support therefore offer free, or highly subsidised, healthcare to local people from slum and rural communities.

 

Our main project for India medical volunteers focuses on supporting medical camps within slum communities. In these areas, there is a prominent lack of health education and access to medical help. To contribute to improving this, we have established our own primary healthcare clinic, running all year round in the heart of the core slum community we support. Additionally, our team establish pop-up clinics across some of the local area’s poorest communities. This helps to ensure our team and international volunteers are able to make the biggest impact possible.

 

As a medical volunteer in India, you will have the opportunity to experience a variety of different medical facilities. This can range from shadowing in surgeries to sitting in on GP consultations. We offer medical placements for people of all backgrounds. Therefore if you’re a school leaver looking for work experience to boost your university application we can accommodate you. Alternatively, if you’re a nursing/medical student organising an overseas elective placement, we also have you covered.

 

MEDICAL VOLUNTEER PLACEMENT EXAMPLES

Eco-School Slum Clinic – The healthcare clinics we run really are the core of the medical volunteer project in India. Our main clinic is based in our Eco Slum School. The centre acts as the main point of health access for the local community. This is particularly important since individuals here may not otherwise have access to any other form of healthcare. Our medical staff can see anywhere from 40-100 patients daily. There are two clinics where doctors undergo consultancies – one general and one gynaecology. There is also a lab.

 

The gynaecology clinic is a newer development, with hopes of further expansion in the future. This clinic provides women from the local community with education about female health. We have also developed our own lab at the program. Here, the lab technician carries a variety of health checks. This often includes testing urine glucose levels, blood type and for pregnancy. Since the clinics are located within the slum school, medical volunteers in India will also have the opportunity to engage with the local children. Individuals can even try teaching English!

 

Whilst it cannot be guaranteed, medical volunteers in India may be assigned some very basic hands-on involvement. This may include taking blood pressure, blood sugars and dressing minor wounds. This is all undertaken under the supervision of the staff you will be attached to during your time. The local staff are extremely welcoming and very keen for volunteers to learn. Although the patient interactions will be in Hindi, the doctors speak English and will explain everything to you in English.

 

Slum Outreach Health Campaigns – PMGY periodically run free medical camps across other poor communities in Faridabad. The slums we work in at any point in time are dictated by the communities that have the greatest need. Additionally, during the summer months, we receive higher numbers of participants. This often allows us to run these outreach campaigns as an extension of the Eco-School Slum Clinic operation. These campaigns are designed to offer primary healthcare and medical check-ups to members of local slum communities.

 

We hire a local doctor to lead the campaigns and supervise volunteers. Our team also supply the relevant medical supplies and equipment needed. An interpreter is also recruited to help PMGY India medical volunteers overcome the language barrier when interacting with patients.

 

We welcome medical volunteers of all backgrounds to join this initiative. Participants often have the chance to learn basic skills. This might include taking blood pressures, checking blood sugars and assisting doctors in seeing the patients. You will also get the chance to see and learn about interesting clinical signs and syndromes typically found in slum communities. Volunteers receive ongoing training and mentoring from the local doctor, enabling each participant to get as involved as possible. The range of health conditions encountered in the slums is vast. Although many patients only have simple problems, there are many that would benefit immensely from specialist input.

 

Shadowing in a Hospital Setting – We have a number of hospitals within our network. Generally speaking, volunteers will have the opportunity to shadow within hospital departments. Here, individuals may be able to carry out basic health checks on patients during doctor’s rounds. Common departments volunteers in India will be placed within include: ultrasound, paediatrics, ophthalmology, non-urgent care and theatre.

 

Medical volunteers in India can also witness surgeries. However, these are on an ad-hoc basis. You will, therefore, be notified a day in advance or even on the day, once the surgeries have been confirmed. Naturally, we cannot guarantee those specific surgeries will take place. In any case, it can be a real eye-opening experience to see the difference between hospitals in India compared to those at home.

 

GP Clinic – Here, participants have the opportunity to work alongside a local doctor. Medical volunteers will assist in carrying out basic health checks on members of the local community in a bustling street market. Usually, the doctor sees up to 100 patients daily. The clinic can run in both morning and late evening time, usually around 2-3 hours each session. This may allow for basic hands-on involvement if volunteers choose to undertake such an opportunity.

 

YOUR VOLUNTEER ROLE & TYPICAL WORK DAY

As a volunteer in India, most participants in the medical program will have the chance to experience a number of different facilities. On a volunteer trip to India, our main placement base will be within the health campaign programs that we operate in the slum communities. India medical volunteers can expect to work 3-5 hours in the morning. This will usually be from 9:30am-1pm. Surgeries may be available for observation at any time of the day. Afternoons may be used to engage in hospital placements, the India childcare program or explore Delhi.

 

It is advised, where possible, that volunteers spend a minimum of three days on a specific placement. Doing this allows relationships with the staff to be made, often leading to increased exposure and responsibility. However, this will ultimately be dependent on the level/qualifications of volunteers.

 

PMGY’s India volunteer program has its own private transport network that will transfer you to and from the projects every day. You will travel to and from the project by either tuk-tuk or minivan. This service is included in your Program Fee.
 

OTHER THINGS TO CONSIDER AS A MEDICAL VOLUNTEER IN INDIA

Top PMGY Medical Program – The medical volunteer work in India is rated as our top overseas medical program across all PMGY destinations. This is due to the exposure our participants get and the range of projects involved. The program is not only for general medicine and nursing students but also for all those with health-related interests. This opportunity is available to school leavers and those who have never studied medicine before. This is the ultimate experience to make a positive impact within poor communities, regardless of your experience.

 

Hands-On Involvement – Your level of involvement at the medical volunteer projects is dictated by a range of factors. First of all your medical experience, but also the duration of program and willingness to get involved. The medical staff are accountable for you whilst you’re under their supervision. Ultimately, it is completely up to them if you are permitted and want to get involved in hands-on procedures.

 

Previous PMGY medical volunteer in India participants have been given the chance to administer IV injections, dress wounds etc. However, please note we can never guarantee or promote hands-on involvement regardless of medical experience or background.

 

Generally speaking those with little or no medical experience assume a largely observational role. If you are studying a medically related degree, then you should have more opportunity to undertake some more basic hands-on involvement. However, to reiterate we can never guarantee or endorse hands-on experience should you choose to get hands-on. Such a decision ultimately lies with the medical staff.

 

Trained Professionals – Please note this program is not suitable for trained professionals who are looking to practise overseas. This opportunity is only suitable for school leavers & medical students looking to go into the medical or nursing field and wish to learn about a healthcare system overseas.

 

Project Flexibility – There may be an opportunity as a volunteer in India to get involved with other India volunteer programs. However, there may be instances where this would lead to overcrowding on these volunteering experiences, and thus limited project work opportunity. Therefore, such flexibility on a volunteer trip to India is not always possible. Priority will always be given to those signed up to that specific program in India.

 

Weekends – Your project work in India runs from Monday-Friday and weekends are free. You are welcome to relax and hang out at the volunteer accommodation but most participants will use this time to travel and explore the country. As a result, you can check out our India Weekend Travel Guide for top tips on how to spend your weekend. We also run two separate weekend trips which you can sign-up to before you depart for India. We offer the Dharamshala Trip along with the Golden Triangle Trip.

Want to share your time, energy and enthusiasm with children across the world? As a childcare volunteer in Bali, you can make a positive impact in the local community of Tabanan. From supporting daily care, organising crafts and creative activities, to teaching English through songs and music. You’ll have the opportunity to volunteer with children in Bali between 1-8 years old, giving them an amazing head start before they begin formal schooling.

 

BACKGROUND TO THE CHILDCARE PROGRAM

In Bali, it can be difficult to afford a high standard of care or education for their children, particularly for families in the relentless farming and fishing industries. Therefore as a childcare volunteer in Bali, you can support struggling families and childcare centres. By complementing the work of local staff members we can ensure that these children receive the attention and support that they deserve.

 

Increased tourism in Bali has meant that local people who are able to converse in English with foreigners have far more prospects than those that can’t. As a result, education at this level will allow them to improve their future and that of their families.

 

It has been suggested that pre-school years are the most important years of a child’s life and an ideal time for learning a foreign language. Above all, this makes time with international volunteers invaluable. Subsequently, as a childcare volunteer in Bali, you can focus on educating the children with very basic English skills. For example speaking and vocabulary, such as colours, shapes and animals.

 

CHILDCARE VOLUNTEER PLACEMENT EXAMPLES

Lotus Childcare – Lotus Childcare Centre was founded in 1996 by a Catholic church. Each day, the centre can receive up to 62 children and the care provided here is free of charge. With only 8 local staff members, the ratio of 1 adult to 8 children can sometimes be a handful to manage alone! Consequently, as a childcare volunteer in Bali, you can provide invaluable assistance to the quality of care that the facility can offer.

 

Children attending this centre range from the ages of 6 months to 8 years. In the morning, the facility cares for children up to the age of 4. During this time, your volunteer work in Bali will involve helping to run basic English lessons for the toddlers, in preparation for starting school in the future.

 

In the afternoon, children aged 5-8 visit the centre after school whilst their parents remain at work. Meanwhile, volunteers will usually lend a helping hand with the youngest of the children, aiding the staff with bath-time, and entertainment. There is however the opportunity on your Bali volunteer program to spend time with the older children, especially those who may need some additional help with their studies.

 

Bumblebee Childcare – Bumblebee Childcare Centre was also founded by a Catholic Church, hosting up to 80 children per day. Ages range from as young as 3 months to 7 years. In the morning, volunteers will run basic English classes for the children who are due to begin primary school within the next year or two.

 

After that, the remainder of our volunteer’s work in Bali will often be spent with the younger children aged 1-3 years. Volunteers will usually lend a hand during mealtimes, to encourage the fussy eaters and clean up the messy ones! In addition, assistance is also often required during bath times. However, help is appreciated in all aspects of the centre. As a result, each childcare volunteer in Bali may be asked to spend time with the older children, or even assist staff members in daily chores.

 

YOUR VOLUNTEER ROLE & TYPICAL CHILDCARE DAY

As a childcare volunteer in Bali, your main role will be sharing your time, enthusiasm and skills to help encourage and care for these children. By exposing them to the English language you are providing them with an early opportunity for social interaction and educational development.

 

You will be volunteering from Monday-Thursday, usually starting around 9am-12pm, with the afternoon session from 2pm-4pm. You will be transported to the project via minivan, which takes about 10 minutes.

 

The childcare program is a hugely rewarding experience and very enjoyable. As a volunteer in Bali, you are encouraged to structure the day to ensure you get the balance right between keeping it fun with play activities, whilst keeping it controlled and routined with some basic learning activities.

 

Above all, lesson planning is essential. Get creative with different enrichment activities to foster positive social development. You can use songs, music, puzzles, interactive props and educational resources to get the kids engaged. Local coordinators will be on hand to support you at the project as well.

 

Balinese children are an absolute joy to teach and work with, their enthusiasm for learning is guaranteed to make you smile! Working with this age group is not as structured as teaching older children. In other words, their language can be improved simply through play and interaction. As a result, just a few words or phrases will stand them in good stead for learning English in the future. If you volunteer with children in Bali, you’ll need to prepare activities for this accordingly.

 

We generally find that the more volunteers prepare for their day then the more they and the children get from the whole experience. Depending on the number of childcare volunteers in Bali at the time, the children will be divided into smaller class sizes. In addition, you will have local coordinators/teachers at the project to assist.

 

The most important thing is that you engage the children, get them excited about coming to kindergarten and learning new things. Your role is not limited to just teaching and volunteers are actively encouraged to get involved in other areas such as arts & crafts, physical education and helping local staff in their day-to-day role. What activities you choose when you volunteer in Bali is completely up to you.

 

You can find resources and inspiration at the office and there may be some materials and props available at the childcare centres. The local team also run weekly lesson planning sessions, providing volunteers with a fantastic opportunity to both share and discuss ideas, as well as plan for the upcoming week.

 

PMGY’s volunteer work in Bali focuses on making learning a fun and enjoyable experience so be creative, there are so many ways to educate these children in a way that will make a huge impact. Our childcare program is an empowering and rewarding one to really make a difference to those less fortunate. Balinese people are warm and friendly, you can expect the children you teach to welcome you into their community with open arms. They will be excited to get to know you!

 

As a childcare volunteer in Bali, you should have a genuine passion for working with children. Working with such friendly and excitable children can get overwhelming so it is important to be happy and completely immerse yourself in this once in a lifetime experience!

 

With the heat and high temperatures that exist when you volunteer with children in Bali, shorter sessions split throughout the day are seen as beneficial all round and allows for volunteer energy levels to remain high with positive intensity in each morning and afternoon session. Volunteers are encouraged to use the lunch break in between to relax, refresh or plan future activities to maximise time at the project.

 

OTHER THINGS TO CONSIDER WORKING WITH CHILDREN IN BALI

Resources – On the childcare project in Bali, resources can be very limited. Volunteers are recommended to bring materials to the project each day to maximise their productivity and day to day involvement. It is therefore important for volunteers to prepare well in advance to get the most out of their childcare volunteering experience in Bali.

 

Weekends – Your project work in Bali runs from Monday-Thursday and weekends are free (Friday-Sunday). You are welcome to relax and hang out at the volunteer accommodation but most participants will use this time to travel and explore the country. As a result, you can check out our Bali Weekend Travel Guide for top tips on how to spend your weekend. We also run two separate weekend trips which you can sign-up to before you depart for Bali. We offer the Gili Paradise Island Trip along with the Ubud Trip with opportunities running every month.

Volunteer teaching English in Bali to encourage students by developing skills and achieving their future goals. Conversing with fluent, native speakers greatly improves student’s English language skills, a tool essential for future employment. The ability to speak English has become essential as a language to learn for Balinese people to move forward in life. As a result, it enables them to have direct contact with tourists, enhancing the country’s recognition and visibility on a global stage.

 

BACKGROUND TO THE TEACHING PROGRAM

English is a key component in both the formal and informal industries that exist in Bali, as well as the communication mediums that underpin them. This ranges from the schools, offices and banks to the shops and restaurants that make up much of the booming tourist industry in Indonesia today. Bali is a destination that has become not only a hub for tourists from across the globe, with its beautiful scenery and traditional authenticity, but is also recognised as an ideal location to hold international conferences and seminars.

 

PMGY’s English teaching program gives volunteers the chance to really make a difference by opening up possibilities of developing English for local children in Tabanan. The explosion of tourism in Bali means the need to speak English has never been greater. Though English is taught in school by a local Balinese teacher, the opportunity to converse with a native, fluent English speaker is invaluable.

 

Balinese people are warm and friendly. You can expect the local community, the staff you work with and the children you teach to welcome you into their community with open arms. They will be excited to speak with you and hear all about your life! Your volunteer work in Bali can benefit your future prospects as much as it does the people you teach. You will come away with skills that are easily transferred into the workplace, such as leadership, time management and organisational skills.

 

TEACHING VOLUNTEER PLACEMENT EXAMPLES

Your schedule will be mixed when you volunteer to teach English in Bali. You’ll spend your time across the different projects where we provide free English lessons in Tabanan, with the main placement being at the Akasa Foundation. Moreover, the PMGY Bali volunteer program runs additional English teaching projects across the year. As a consequence, we can help to maximise the positive impact you have throughout the local community when you volunteer in Bali. These run on an ad-hoc basis and your timetable may be varied throughout the week. Here are some examples of where you could be teaching:

 

Akasa Foundation Program – Akasa Foundation is a Community Learning Centre, founded by Ketut in 2011. Until recent years, Ketut ran this within her family home. However, the centre now has a permanent location only a 5 minute walk from the Volunteer House. Having lived within the Tabanan community her whole life, Ketut had noticed a lack of opportunity for children from less well-off families to thrive within the educational system. Consequently, this drove her to set up the Foundation and to seek the help of international volunteers. As a volunteer teaching English in Bali, you can support the quality and diversity of the knowledge that could be shared with these children. First of all, a major goal of the centre is to provide basic education to preschoolers from low-income backgrounds, in preparation for primary education. Another goal is to offer additional learning for students already attending school.

 

Junior High School Summer Program – The PMGY Bali volunteer program offers Junior High School students, the opportunity to participate in a 12 week program during summer. These sessions are hosted 4 times a day to accommodate as many students as possible, aged between 13-15 years. Volunteers in Bali work together with the students through a 12 week structured course to fully prepare the students for senior high school. This course is designed by Akasa Foundation, thus volunteers are provided with a set itinerary and curriculum. However, when you teach English in Bali you are also welcome to introduce additional subjects. The course is mainly focused on improving the students’ conversation and grammar skills, as well as giving them a confidence boost and head start before they are off to senior high school. Subsequently, each student that completes the course gets a certificate at the end of the 12 week course to reward them for their hard work and dedication.

 

Senior High School After-School Program – As a volunteer teaching English in Bali, you can often team up with a local Senior High School. Above all, this gives volunteers a chance to interact with older and more advanced English students. Once a week, the high school hosts a free after school English club and as a PMGY volunteer in Bali you are invited to help students with their pronunciation and conversation skills. The students are typically aged between 16-17 years old. Most of the English that these students have learned comes from textbooks, with little opportunity to practice English in day to day conservation. As a result, this is a unique opportunity for students to interact with other English speakers. This is particularly important since Tabanan remains a traditional town, meaning inhabitants don’t often encounter English speakers in their daily lives. This project is open for volunteers to create their own activities and subjects, as there is no set curriculum.

 

Summer Village Program – From around late May to early July, during the school summer holidays, participants may be required to teach English in local farming villages. Lessons are hosted within community halls or schools. Volunteers will spend one morning per week in each of these locations. Consequently, this means volunteers will need to prepare lessons and activities accordingly. Most importantly, be ready to learn lots of names and faces in your time on the teaching program. The schools are located within a 20-30 minute drive away from the Volunteer House.

 

YOUR VOLUNTEER ROLE & TYPICAL TEACHING DAY

Your main role as a volunteer teaching English in Bali will be sharing your time, knowledge and skills to the local communities. Moreover, by boosting their confidence in spoken and conversational English you can help to maximise their potential. The projects run from Monday-Thursday, with class times varying from 8am-4pm. Your timings will be based on your individual schedule. You may have a 5 minute walk to your placement, or for further distances like the Summer Village Program, you will be transported by minivan.

 

When teaching English in Indonesia you may be leading the class alone, working in pairs, or part of a small group. Volunteers are usually scheduled to teach two or three classes per day. These factors depend on the current project need, availability and volunteer numbers. Timetables tend to be split between two of the placement locations for each volunteer across the week. The Akasa Foundation program tends to be the main teaching project.

 

The Akasa Foundation runs 3 classes: Kindergarten (3-4 years) and Beginners (5-7 years) classes are usually in the morning and Advanced (8-14 years) classes in the afternoon. Depending on the number of volunteers at one time, each volunteer in Bali may be required to teach each class.

 

It has been suggested that pre-school years are the most important years of a child’s life and an ideal time for learning a foreign language. This makes these Kindergarten classes invaluable, with a focus on educating the children with very basic English vocabulary, such as colours, shapes and animals. As a volunteer teaching English in Bali, you are required to be creative and very patient, although a local teacher will act as a guide. The difficulty of the content is taken up a level within the Beginner’s class, focusing on similar topics to Kindergarten, but introducing the basic concept of sentence formation.

 

PMGY’s advanced community classes aim to make the learning of English an enjoyable experience, especially after the children have had a long day at school already! Get creative and teach English through songs, art and sport. You will usually work with another volunteer and teach as a team.

 

We expect there to be at least 60-100 children across these classes at this program each day, aged from 3 to lower teens. We generally find that the more volunteers prepare for their day then the more they and the children get from the whole experience. Depending on the number of volunteers at the time, will depend on how we segment the group into smaller class sizes if applicable. We will have local coordinators/teachers at the project to assist.

 

In all cases, Balinese children are eager to learn, this thirst for knowledge can sometimes turn into extreme excitement so it is important to be able to control the class to maintain focus. This is an empowering and rewarding project which really makes a difference to those less fortunate in providing free English education to the children of Tabanan. Inspire through your methods and give these children the confidence to converse with tourists. This, in turn, will improve their future and that of their families.

 

The presence of an English speaker really benefits the children’s pronunciation and can also help empower local teachers who may be looking for additional assistance with their own education. As a volunteer teaching English in Bali, we encourage you to make lessons as engaging and interactive as possible by being creative and proactive in your preparation.

 
Use fun educational games like interactive word searches or Hangman, or a bit of class competition in Hot Seat or team quizzes. Games, songs, art, sport and music are all great tools. The presence of volunteers gives the children an insight into different cultures; a global perspective they greatly benefit from. Use your creativity and knowledge to help these eager young minds reach their true potential.

 

What you teach when you volunteer in Bali is completely up to you, though there may be a topic or curriculum materials that you can follow if you need some inspiration and guidance, from a general syllabus or past volunteer examples. We have a library of resources on-site for volunteers to use and the children are provided with exercise books and learning books to help facilitate their learning. The local team also run weekly lesson planning sessions, providing volunteers with a fantastic opportunity to both share and discuss ideas, as well as plan for the upcoming week.

 

With the heat and high temperatures that exist during your Bali volunteer program, shorter sessions split throughout the day are seen as beneficial all round. In addition, this allows for volunteer energy levels to remain high with positive intensity in each morning and afternoon session. As a volunteer teaching English in Bali, you are encouraged to use the lunch break in between to relax, refresh or plan future activities to maximise time at the project.

 

OTHER THINGS TO CONSIDER TEACHING CHILDREN IN BALI

Experience – For the English Teaching program, teaching experience is not essential as the mere presence of a native English speaker is invaluable. As long as you are creative, determined and resourceful you can have a constructive impact on the development of the children’s education.

 

TEFL Course – We encourage volunteers to prepare as much as possible for their teaching program overseas. You can make the most out of your time by completing our convenient, inexpensive and international accredited 60 hour Online TEFL Course. The cost of this course is only 120 USD.

 

Resources – On the teach English in Bali project, resources can be very limited. Volunteers are recommended to bring materials to the project each day to maximise their productivity and day to day involvement. It is therefore important for volunteers to prepare well in advance to get the most out of their teaching English project experience.

 

Weekends – Your project work in Bali runs from Monday-Thursday and weekends are free (Friday-Sunday). You are welcome to relax and hang out at the volunteer accommodation but most participants will use this time to travel and explore the country. As a result, you can check out our Bali Weekend Travel Guide for top tips on how to spend your weekend. We also run two separate weekend trips which you can sign-up to before you depart for Bali. We offer the Gili Paradise Island Trip along with the Ubud Trip with opportunities running every month.

Every PMGY medical volunteer in Bali is offered a fantastic opportunity to gain experience and insight into the Indonesian healthcare system. This program allows you to learn from local staff in a hospital setting, get involved in community projects, as well as experiencing more traditional medical practices involving herbal remedies, cultural beliefs, meditation and holistic healing.

 

BACKGROUND TO THE MEDICAL PROGRAM

The healthcare of Indonesia must be prefaced by the physical layout of the country, consisting of more than 17,000 islands, which house 260 million people. This makes it the fourth most populous country in the world and the 14th largest country by landmass. The population offers a wide diversity of cultural, social and economic backgrounds.

 

Indonesia’s previous healthcare system consisted of mostly private care for the wealthy or for those in severe poverty, leaving the majority to fall in between without proper medical provisions. Subsequently, in 2016 Indonesia adopted a national healthcare system, which has now called for new methods of care. Previously, citizens were left for so long without any ability to have affordable medical assistance.

 

Bali is the home of PMGY in Indonesia. This land is one that still revolves very much around culture and religion. Even though healthcare has developed tremendously over the last decade, Balinese people are still deeply rooted in their customs and religious beliefs; especially regarding health. As a result, joining as a medical volunteer in Bali will open your eyes to the traditional beliefs of healing along with the evolving care of Western medicine within this region.

 

Our Bali medical program is a learning experience for healthcare, nursing and medical students looking to pursue a career in medicine. Working in a hospital as a volunteer in Bali is a great opportunity to get close up clinical exposure and learn about healthcare systems in developing countries. In addition, as a medical volunteer in Bali, you will witness a variety of cases. This offers a fantastic contrast to what you might find in your local hospital.

 

MEDICAL VOLUNTEER PLACEMENT EXAMPLES

The Bali volunteer program is based mainly at a government hospital. In addition, there are opportunities to learn about more traditional beliefs and practices in Indonesia on the medical program, as well as community outreach projects.

 

Tabanan General Hospital – Bali medical volunteers will be placed at Rumah Sakit Umum Tabanan, which is a local government hospital situated in the middle of Bali. This facility consults nearly 500 patients each day, providing a range of opportunities for volunteers that join this medical experience program. For example, the departments at this hospital include: Paediatrics, Pre and Post-surgery, High Care Unit, Maternity, Intensive Cardio Care Unit and Intensive Care Unit.

 

Please be aware that while you are on this Bali volunteer program you will be placed in a specific department for a set duration of time and/or on a specific rota. The departments you are placed within will be arranged either to cater to your interests or decided by the hospital at the time, dependent on what and who is available. Across your time on the medical program, you will have the opportunity to spend time across a large number of the departments that the hospital is home to. You will receive your timetable from the local team during your orientation period.

 

In addition, participants on the medical program may have the opportunity to get involved in some of our community outreach programs on an ad-hoc basis. There may also be a chance to learn more about herbal remedies and traditional treatments. Some of these examples include:

 

Holistic Healer – The local team will be able to arrange a seminar with a local healer. This will better explain how culture plays a key role in the care of each patient and how medical professionals apply care to cater to these beliefs. The seminar will be lead by a guru, focusing on meditation and holistic healing. The guru will explain how everything is connected in the body, natural healing practices and the benefits of this over more modern medicine.

 

Local Birth Clinic – Participants who volunteer in Bali will usually get the chance to visit a holistic birth clinic in Ubud. You can learn about how their beliefs, concepts and daily activities may differ from Western medicine. During your visit, you can observe how the midwives use different techniques and holistic methods for babies and mothers, including monitoring health. If you’re lucky you may be able to experience the miracle of birth!

 

Elderly Community Projects – There may also be the opportunity for a medical volunteer in Bali to provide help at local elderly community projects, working in elderly homes and village campaigns. Across Indonesia, it’s very common for members of the older generation to live with their oldest child, making elderly homes quite rare in Bali. Unfortunately, it is only those who have no family at all or are unable to afford a home, who end up in an elderly care facility. Furthermore, these elderly homes receive no input or support from other services and organisations. This makes the contribution of supporting local elderly communities invaluable from a volunteer in Bali. Other elder members of the local community will join for regular health checks at the village campaigns too, set up in community houses.

 

Depending on how many participants are able to help on the Bali volunteer program, there might be up to 50 elderly members attending. As a medical volunteer in Bali, you may get the chance to monitor cholesterol levels, blood pressure, glucose levels, respiratory rate and body temperature. This is also a great way to interact with the elderly and help with their social interaction in general to improve their overall well-being.

 

Charity for Stroke Victims – On an ad-hoc basis, PMGY Bali medical participants could have the opportunity to work alongside a local charity for stroke victims. The patients that this charity work with unfortunately cannot afford rehabilitation services through specialised therapists and centres. Additionally, these patients live in rural areas and have no access to physiotherapy and check-ups. Therefore, the charity offers basic services, free of charge, that focus on stimulating their rehabilitation process.

 

Our international volunteers work together with the charity’s physiotherapist to help with treatment, activity and massage therapy of one local patient in particular. Volunteers might also get the chance to perform basic health checks on the patient by checking and recording vital signs such as blood pressure, temperature and respiratory rates. Please note that this opportunity is usually available less frequently.

 

Please note that the main focus of PMGY Bali’s medical program continues to be at the General Hospital in Tabanan and these additional projects are subject to availability and the volunteer’s previous experience.

 

YOUR VOLUNTEER ROLE & TYPICAL WORK DAY

As a medical volunteer in Bali, your main role will be observing the different departments at the General Hospital in Tabanan, learning about and experiencing the Indonesian healthcare system, procedures and culture.

 

The medical project takes place from Monday-Thursday. Your schedule and transport will depend on the current opportunities available when you volunteer in Bali. For instance, the hospital placement generally runs from 7.30-10am, which is a 5 minute minivan ride. The birth clinic is visited in the afternoon for 2-3 hours, which is 45 minutes away by private car. The community projects run from 2-4pm, which are 5 minutes away by minivan.

 

As you are expanding your knowledge of the medical field, please note that those you are interacting with may also be interested in communicating with you to build their confidence and spoken English language skills. As Tabanan is a very traditional area of Bali, you will find the local staff are not as confident or accomplished in conversing in English as perhaps other people are across Bali.

 

The hospital itself will not provide information or training to volunteers, therefore participants will have to be dynamic and creative when interacting with the staff when asking questions, so use your free time to learn through the junior doctors. Showcase which departments you want to prioritise your time with and be proactive in learning about the general day to day goings-on at the hospital.

 

The local staff at the hospital will also be intrigued in understanding the care provided in your healthcare education system, so be encouraged to communicate around this where possible. While the Balinese people are welcoming you into their place of work please be open to their beliefs and culture as they will be open to yours.

 

In addition, the hospital staff often welcome PMGY medical volunteers to participate in any weekly staff meetings as and when they occur. Examples of things discussed in these meetings include talking about the logistics of the hospital and care-plans for individual departments.

 

The community outreach programs can offer opportunities for participants to perform basic hands-on tasks, such as taking vital signs, including blood pressure, pulse, temperatures and respiratory rates. The other elements to your placement can teach you more about how Indonesian culture and beliefs shape medicine, including holistic healing, herbal remedies and more traditional treatments to compare and contrast to your experience in the hospital.

 

As the role is purely observational and feedback has suggested the project can be quite stagnant at times due to a language barrier, we recommend that applicants sign up for no more than 2 weeks on the Bali volunteer program. In our experience, whilst you will gain medical insight and knowledge at the hospital, after a while, most people are eager for greater exposure and engagement, which this project can be limited in providing. In such situations, volunteers may be able to split or extend their time working with children across our community community childcare and English teaching programs in local schools.

 

OTHER THINGS TO CONSIDER AS A MEDICAL VOLUNTEER IN BALI

Alternative Opportunities – For volunteers who are looking for maximum exposure, opportunities or perhaps a more interactive nature to the program, we would strongly advise considering an alternate medical placement than the volunteer work in Bali. Volunteer work in India is generally seen as our strongest medical program due to the exposure our participants get and the range of projects involved. Ghana and Tanzania volunteer programs are also popular where participants can get involved in a number of high impact projects.

 

Univeristy Students Only – Volunteers are advised to note that the hospital will not permit applicants who are not studying medicine, healthcare sciences or nursing at university. Unfortunately, there are no exceptions to this rule.

 

Hands-On Involvement – Your level of involvement at the medical volunteer projects is dictated by a range of factors. First of all your medical experience, but also the duration of program and willingness to get involved. The medical staff are accountable for you whilst you’re under their supervision. Ultimately, it is completely up to them if you are permitted and want to get involved in hands-on procedures.

 

Previous PMGY medical volunteer in Bali participants have been given the chance to administer IV injections, dress wounds etc. However, please note we can never guarantee or promote hands-on involvement regardless of medical experience or background.

 

Generally speaking those with little or no medical experience assume a largely observational role. If you are studying a medically related degree, then you should have more opportunity to undertake some more basic hands-on involvement. However, to reiterate we can never guarantee or endorse hands-on experience should you choose to get hands-on. Such a decision ultimately lies with the medical staff.

 

Trained Professionals – Please note this program is not suitable for trained professionals who are looking to practise overseas. This opportunity is only suitable for medical students looking to go into the medical or nursing field and wish to learn about a healthcare system overseas.

 

Weekends – Your project work in Bali runs from Monday-Thursday and weekends are free (Friday-Sunday). You are welcome to relax and hang out at the volunteer accommodation but most participants will use this time to travel and explore the country. As a result, you can check out our Bali Weekend Travel Guide for top tips on how to spend your weekend. We also run two separate weekend trips which you can sign-up to before you depart for Bali. We offer the Gili Paradise Island Trip along with the Ubud Trip with opportunities running every month.

Bali wildlife rescue volunteers help to care for a variety of different species of animals, who may be endangered, poached or displaced from their natural habitat. Help with rehabilitation, enrichment and improving the wellbeing of each animal at the wildlife rescue centre. Get involved in additional opportunities to focus on environmental sustainability, plastic pollution and increasing awareness in the local communities.

 

BACKGROUND TO THE WILDLIFE PROGRAM

Indonesia is home to hundreds of different species of animals, many of which find themselves dispersed by deforestation whilst the country expands it’s exporting of goods like palm oil and rubber. As a result, there are now seven centres in the whole of the country that rehabilitate and release endangered animals into their native habitat in the wild. PMGY Bali wildlife rescue volunteers will gain great insight and opportunity to join in on the care of these animals at the wildlife rescue centre.

 

Within the centre, you will find a range of animals that were victims of poachers and traffickers. The primates and birds looked after have usually been rescued from markets, private homes and businesses where they were kept as pets or for entertainment purposes. This is a huge problem in Indonesia, displacing wild animals from their natural habitats and separating them from their families. Most importantly, these animals need extra care, attention and enrichment in order to improve their wellbeing and daily lives.

 

As a volunteer in Bali you can give endangered animals daily support and enrich their lives. On the wildlife volunteer program, you can also get involved in additional opportunities to support the wildlife and environment in Bali. For instance tackling environmental issues via mangrove restoration.

 

WILDLIFE VOLUNTEER PLACEMENT EXAMPLES

Wildlife Rescue Centre – Our Bali wildlife rescue volunteers can get involved in work across a number of different projects. The wildlife rescue centre will be your main placement, caring for the displaced, injured and rescued animals who currently reside there. The focus here is on the daily care, wellbeing and rehabilitation of many different species, with the goal to release them back into the wild if they are healthy and equipped with the necessary skills to survive.

 

There are currently over 40 endangered primates and bird species living at the centre. For example, you may see Javan Lutung, Southern Pig-Tailed Macaque, Grey-Headed Fish Eagle, Southern Cassowary, Palm Cockatoo and more. The Program Fee involved helps provide upkeep and care for these beautiful creatures.

 

In addition to the wildlife rescue centre, your volunteer in Bali experience may involve several of our other wildlife and conservation projects:

 

Beach Cleans – Did you know a plastic straw takes one minute to manufacture, will be used for ten, before being disregarded and taking hundreds of years to decompose? Millions of plastic straws are found on the beaches of Bali every year and they are just one of the many items that are littered and washed ashore on this island and across national parks every single day.

 

Plastic pollution is becoming a huge problem worldwide and our Bali wildlife rescue volunteers aim to fight the battle against this environmental catastrophe. Our team promotes this by hosting regular beach cleans with our international volunteers and the local community. Every day, our volunteers visit local beaches to collect disregarded items, before correctly disposing and recycling these. In addition, we also work with local people to create an even bigger impact, by educating them about environmental conservation and recycling. Above all, education and awareness is a crucial factor in encouraging a sustainable lifestyle to tackle this global issue.

 

Mangrove Conservation – Bali wildlife rescue volunteers also sometimes work with local villages to restore existing mangroves, which have been affected by climate change and littering. Our conservation volunteers work directly with the villages to help them plant mangrove plants and educate the villagers about restoring ecosystems and environmental conservation. As a result, the knowledge will pass on from generation to generation. This is another important way to raise awareness and support sustainable development across the world during your Bali volunteer program.

 

YOUR VOLUNTEER ROLE & TYPICAL WORK DAY

As a wildlife volunteer in Bali, your main project will be based at the wildlife rescue centre, which is 5 minutes away by minivan. The daily shifts run from 8-10.30am and 2-4pm. While on the project you will work alongside the animal keeper and other staff members who have years of experience interacting with animals.

 

The beach cleans are about 20 minutes away by minivan, usually from 8-10am or 3-5pm. If your volunteer work in Bali includes the mangrove restoration, you will be transported by private car as it’s about an hour away, normally between 7-11.30am.

 

In general, Bali wildlife rescue volunteers are expected to work for around 3-5 hours per day from Monday-Thursday. The activities you will get involved in during your time on the volunteer in Bali projects include:

 

Feeding – These animals are fed based on the species and time of year. For instance, the crocodiles are fed two times a week with things like chicken or duck, while monkeys are fed daily with fruits. You will be able to cut and prepare meals based on the species you are working with and learn about the types of food that are best.

 

Enrichment – Many of these animals are endangered and have come from the loss of their native habitat or poor treatment in the black market. Their displacement often leaves these animals irritable and at times depressed, causing them to have poor eating habits or behaviour. Your time interacting with them and coaching them on things such as eating, foraging, play or social interaction with other animals is imperative. Over time these animals may just learn to trust you and in turn, you could find one of those pretty Parakeets on your forearm.

 

Enclosure Cleaning – These enclosures are made for each animal based on the feedback of the veterinarian during the first assessment. You may find the enclosures to be small, but some animals who are irritable find it more comfortable to be in smaller spaces. Over time the enclosures will be expanded and eventually they will be released back into the wild. The crocodiles tend to need the brush cleared back to keep them from being confined to one area, so an example of this upkeep would be cutting the brush back, while the staff keep the crocodile occupied. In the bird enclosures, the branches and chains may need to be replaced and cleaned as they begin to rot. If you are comfortable they will let you clean and make repairs in the enclosure with these beauties flying all around you!

 

Maintenance – The rescue centre is a great place, but with limited funding it could do with some tender loving care. Volunteers will be asked to help with creating a better atmosphere for the animals by clearing up the grounds. While you are doing a bit of upkeep this can include fixing the hinges on enclosure doors, relining the fencing, adding new gating on the enclosure, repairing the habitats or cleaning the grounds of rubbish and weeds.

 

OTHER THINGS TO CONSIDER VOLUNTEERING WITH WILDLIFE IN BALI

Individual Project Availability – The European summer months (June-August) is our peak time for volunteer work in Bali. As a consequence, volunteers may be allocated to alternative placements (outside the project examples above) during their time on the program in this period.

 

Weekends – Your project work in Bali runs from Monday-Thursday and weekends are free (Friday-Sunday). You are welcome to relax and hang out at the volunteer accommodation but most participants will use this time to travel and explore the country. As a result, you can check out our Bali Weekend Travel Guide for top tips on how to spend your weekend. We also run two separate weekend trips which you can sign-up to before you depart for Bali. We offer the Gili Paradise Island Trip along with the Ubud Trip with opportunities running every month.