Volunteering Journeys is not a charity or NGO but a business run for commercial purposes. There is nothing wrong with this, but volunteers should have a clear understanding about the organisation before committing. The owners capitalise on their volunteers’ desire to make a difference in order to generate profit.
What is not mentioned in the glossy marketing materials is the cost-cutting on the ground. We paid well-over £3,000 for our two weeks and received:
- One small room containing three bunk beds. After one week I expressed disappointment and they moved us to a small two bedroom apartment with no air conditioning or furniture (other than three beds).
- The meals are very basic. Last night we were given only bread with papaya (again).
- During our stay the accommodation regularly ran out of toilet paper/soap/milk.
These wouldn’t be a problem if the business was clear in it’s marketing brochures that it was providing low budget facilities. For around £250/day that was not my expectation.
Nor would this be a problem if we were making a valid contribution to the local community. That was, after all, our primary motivation.
However the volunteering programmes are poorly designed and structured. The result is that we were left frustrated, demotivated and cynical about volunteering organisations. I’m genuinely concerned this experience will put my children off from volunteering in the future.
The turtle hatchery was over-subscribed with volunteers from a range of different sources. This is a good situation for the turtles, but meant we had little meaningful contribution to make. In the end we stopped going because it seemed a waste of our time.
The English teaching “programmes” were similarly meaningless. There is no structured programme but a series of ad hoc intrusions into schools. We were not given any information on the children’s English ability or previous experience or teaching materials. This prevented any preparation or effective lesson planning. We were left unsupported in the classrooms from the outset.
It is particularly concerning (and possibly illegal?) that we were left unsupervised with young children despite NOT being asked to present our Police Record Check (which fortunately both my wife and I have).
Fellow volunteers on the medical “programme” reported a similarly unrewarding experience (although I didn’t witness first-hand). They were not allowed to get involved in activities in the medical facilities and so unable to make a contribution.
I would NOT recommend this business to organise your volunteering experience in Sri Lanka.
Response from provider
Your review is unfair and largely untrue. Allow us to address each of your accusations one by one:<br/><br/>Firstly, we have never claimed to be an NGO or charity and nowhere is that mentioned in any of our marketing materials. If you have proof to the contrary, please share here – otherwise please refrain from spreading false information. We are a social enterprise who need to make money in order to support our communities, pay our staff and run our operations week in and week out, and it’s all done for a good cause which we are proud of. If you had taken the time to actually interact with the communities, you would know how revered we are here for all that we do for them. <br/><br/>Second, you were a family of 6 that stayed for 2 full weeks. When you do the math, it works out to less than GBP35 per person per day, which covers accommodation, 3 meals a day, airport transfer, local transportation, 24x7 emergency support, orientation and training, staff support, etc. It also helps us cover additional expenses such as rent for a big villa and 14-seater van, staff costs for 10 people, utilities, taxes, marketing expenses, etc. as well as the donations/fees we pay to our community (schools, hospitals, animal shelters, etc.). Surely GBP35 per day doesn’t sound like a rip-off now, does it? <br/><br/>Regarding accommodation, yes the rooms in the villa are basic yet comfortable with bunk beds – exactly as advertised (the video of our volunteer house is on our website for everyone to see). We gave you all an air-conditioned room (most volunteers don’t get that) and you had no issue with it for the first week – in fact, you personally conveyed that to us when asked. It was only when you heard the other family was moving to the guest house, you came to us asking to be moved, which we obliged. The move to the non-air-conditioned apartment was entirely your decision – you had both choices available.<br/><br/>Regarding food, we are simply dumbfounded by your misrepresentation. Every meal is freshly cooked and lunch and dinner options include a combination of rice/pasta with local curry or daal (sometime roti/paratha with chickpeas and/or vegetables). Every meal includes fresh fruit and salad, along with unlimited tea and coffee all day. We even provided chicken curry on a couple of occasions when your wife requested even though we generally provide fresh vegetarian food. We have CCTV footage of every meal served during your two weeks here to disprove your statement.<br/><br/>Regarding the projects, it’s not our fault the turtle hatchery was overcrowded during your time there. We don’t own the hatchery and they are free to work with other volunteer organisations as well. Our other volunteers still found a way to contribute meaningfully whether it was cleaning tanks, feeding turtles, making new educational/conservation-based signage boards for the hatchery and beach cleaning, which you all chose not to participate in (with the exception of beach cleaning). <br/><br/>As for the teaching project, we’ve been working with the first school we sent you to for a long time and enjoy a great relationship with them. During this time we have sent over 100 volunteers there with great results, donated extensive supplies (books, desks, clothes, stationery, etc.) to them, conducted special projects like painting classrooms, etc. These are not “ad hoc intrusions” but a strong long-term relationship with the community we serve. You wrongly claim you were unsupported at the projects when our staff accompanied you on practically every session. You have to understand most of our volunteers (many of who are actual teachers or aspiring to be one) come for longer durations and are more serious with lesson planning and preparation, so therefore their impact on the children’s development tends to be greater than, say, families with lots of young kids, such as yours. We are mindful of that when doing allocations so we can contribute in a more meaningful way. We even offered your family the kindergarten class as a third project thinking it would be easier for your young kids, with but you decided to stop going there after just one session. How are we expected to run a sustainable program when you don’t listen to our guidance and do whatever you feel like? You hardly ever reached out to our staff for help and support, which was disappointing – in the end, you get what you give. <br/><br/>Lastly, you conveniently fail to mention all the things we did for you, which were over and beyond what you signed up for. These include:<br/>• Free guided bike ride tour for your family across paddy fields<br/>• Organized a birthday cake celebration for your oldest child<br/>• Cooked a couple of special non-veg (chicken) meals for your family<br/>• Organised a second primary school on short notice as the first one had exams during the second week and also a special session with the first one during exam week against protocol<br/>• Pretty much adhered to any and all your requests you made without much appreciation in return<br/>Hopefully this sets the record straight. If you do decide to volunteer again, we would urge you to do so in the right spirit keeping in mind the broader goals of the community and organisation that you are a guest of. Good luck!
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