Volunteer in Childcare in Kandy, Sri Lanka

At first it was shocking to see so many disabled people in one place, wandering around. The disabilities range from mental, physical or a combination of the two. Not long after being there, I fell in love with the people and the work I was doing. This placement was incredibly rewarding. Just a smile or holding one of their hands makes their day and you can see the smile crawl across their faces. I made a special bond with someone within my first day and almost every day after that, I added a special bond to my group. By the end of my very short 3 weeks, I was trying to make plans on how to smuggle 40% of the orphanage into Canada. The staff at Green Lion (the people who look after you), are fantastic and will do anything to help you. The country is beautiful and most importantly, they need your help and you will leave every day feeling like you made a difference and made someone's day. What else can you ask for? The only thing I can ask for is another trip back! It was amazing!

This was such a great experience! I volunteered in a daycare in the heart of Kandy city. The children are beautiful albeit there are so little toys for them to play with. After a day the teachers quickly warm up to you and give you tea and cake. There is no English spoken and may make it hard at times. The day usually began with building with blocks where English colours and numbers were included, after some drawing or ball games followed by lunch and putting the children to sleep. You will need to be prepared as some young children do not wear nappies so they may go to the toilet anywhere, food may have ants on it and the toilets are never cleaned. However, it was one of the best experiences and I would go back in a heart beat!

Working in the babies orphanage was challenging yet the most rewarding experience I have come across. As soon as you arrive at the orphanage in the morning all the toddlers would be at the gate waving you in and wanting you to play with them straight away. Although it was difficult to communicate with the older children at first because of the language barrier, along the way we began to understand each other through smiles, hi-fiving and playing games with each other which is all they wanted and needed to keep them happy. At the babies orphanage the youngest at the time was just 2 months old and the oldest being around 5, this gave the opportunity to give love and care for different ages. To see how the different ages react to the love and care that they were given is beyond amazing because every child responds to you differently (smiling, blowing kisses, hugging and even calling you their aunty) which allows you to create almost a special kind of bond with each child. The orphanage was about a 45 minute drive from where we were staying and was up high in the hills which gave us amazing views from the playground where we would have our lunch break when the children were sleeping! Sri Lanka is so beautiful and to be in that kind of atmosphere and environment everyday made the experience even more memorable. Would highly recommend this project as it is all about giving the children the love that they deserve after hearing some of their stories!!