Volunteer in Rural Community Development in Sri Lanka

I volunteered in Sri Lanka for 2 weeks thinking of doing temple renovations only. When the opportunity to help renovate a preschool in Hanguranketha came around, it sounded too good to pass up. I ended up doing one week of each. Our task was to clean up the preschool and give it a whole new look. From day in day out, we had everyone from the village watching and supporting our work. The ladies of the village provided us with so much food, from second breakfasts to tea time snacks. The kids had to be what made this project so intimate and special. Everyday after school they'd run down to see us and watch us in amusement. We incorporated their little hand prints in the flower drawling on the walls and they loved it and kept asking to do more. Leaving Hanguranketha and the people we met was hard, but you could just see how much they appreciated our work and that was very uplifting. I would recommend this project to anyone who loves hands-on work, it is so rewarding.

I spent 1 of my 3 volunteer weeks in Hanguranketha. The housing, food and local personnel were all excellent. We were a group of 10 people from all over the world. I had the amazing opportunity to teach young monks English for a few hours each morning. It was a great and unique experience. In the afternoon we went to another Buddhist temple where there were about 130 monks, from the age of 7-17. We were able to watch the daily procession of the bringing of food for the monks lunch. We also had the opportunity to eat the same food as the monks, after they were done with their meals. We then spent the afternoon cleaning and painting the outside of one of the buildings where the main classrooms were. It was a wonderful opportunity to observe life at a Buddhist temple.

IVHQ allowed me to take the single most exciting and educational trip I have ever been on. They took care of me from the time I landed in Colombo Airport until it was time for me to depart. I recommend using IVHQ if you are looking to travel and volunteer. Ambalangoda was my favorite location because the Green Lion workers there are so sweet and caring! Also, I recommend hiking in the Knuckles Mountain range!