Volunteers Village Sri Lanka

Here at Volunteers Village we really express to our volunteers that we are not a business. We are completely non-profit orientated, and any surplus money is injected directly back to the children and the community centre.

The co-ordination of our volunteers is one measured with care and responsibility. The staff within our organisation have experience of volunteers stories which have been unsuccessful for what ever reason. We make sure our volunteers feel comfortable, well guided and most of all, an achievement during our projects.

Our team talks to the children and community regularly to find out the needs of the people directly. Therefore we know what can be done, and what needs to be done- we are not here to waste anybodies time. Firstly we consult the children as to what they want to learn, or what facilities they want/need, then discuss with them how we can change this. Our volunteers should expect to have challenges set by the children in our organisation who are always striving for new and better ways.

• Teaching English, ICT, Sports, Art and Craft, Life Skills.
• Labouring/Construction
• Horticulture Therapy
• Playing with the children
• Teach/help local families understand their child with special needs
• Vocational training e.g. teaching ICT skills whilst gaining a qualification through this
• Teacher training/parent training/ government officer/NGO training/social worker training/youth clubs
• Visiting local children with special needs at their homes to make their lives more bearable and help the families to develop an understanding for these children
• Working in local schools building water supplies and toilet facilities
• Working in poor local schools developing teaching materials and skills
• Set up local libraries, play areas, toilets and water systems
• Help fundraising with local children and other volunteers
• Help children run the 2nd shop and make the materials to sell there
• Teaching children how to cook both western and Sri Lankan foods
• Help prepare food and awareness to hygiene in the Special Needs Children’s Hostel
• Individual projects

We must remind all our volunteers that the Volunteers Village (like a lot of the coastline in Sri Lanka) is in a tsunami-affected area, and therefore help in any area is still greatly demanded and appreciated.

At the Volunteers Village we expect our volunteers to stay for a minimum of 4 weeks. This is because we feel a month allows the volunteer to connect well with the community, allowing the children to create a bond with volunteers, and also so that the volunteer can leave the village with the knowledge they have changed something, or created an impact somehow. We do not have a maximum stay period- we really are a family here.

We expect our volunteers to work for a minimum of 20 hours per week. The village is open 7 days a week for children to visit; therefore there is also the opportunity to work with children on the weekend. On the weekends there is more time to play with the children, and allows volunteers to practice more specific activities which they otherwise may not have time for.

Any kind of hard working volunteer is welcome! We are a non-discriminatory, non religious, gender or age orientated organisation. We expect commitment to our projects, and with this we have always created an environment where our volunteers bring new ideas, suggestions and energy to the village. We want our volunteers to leave us with complete satisfaction and knowledge they have gained the absolute most from this experience, both individually and as a team.

All of our volunteers should have a Criminal Record check in proof on arrival to the Volunteers Village. We cannot accept any volunteers who do not possess this document, which must be current and up-to-date on arrival. We must be strict with this document otherwise our reputation and the children’s safety could be at risk.

The programme costs $500 per month.
This does not increase or decrease according to your duration. Our reason for this is because we have made the project as cheap as possible in the first place and cannot afford to cut any more costs. We are completely non-profit orientated.

Within this $500 you will receive: accommodation, three meals per day and free volunteering

The money given from you to the organization is not for volunteering. This money covers your accommodation (7 days a week) and your food (3 meals per day). We have calculated the fairest amount to cover our overheads- the simple fact being if there are no volunteers we cannot run the Volunteers Village. Any money we have left from donations and volunteers will be injected directly back into the children and the community. This is our promise to you.

When applying to volunteer for us we ask for 50% of the total cost if the duration is 1 month. The remaining 50% should be paid upon arrival. For volunteers who are hoping to stay for more than one month please contact us to discuss payment. Email: info@childrenshope.lk

1. Online with credit card or Paypal account

2. Offline with credit card
If you prefer to pay with credit card offline, although our online system insures safety, we can call you and ask for the credit card information. The information we need for the transaction includes the complete name of the card holder, type of credit card, number of the card, expiration date, billing address, and telephone number.

3. Bank Transfer
Depending on the type of bank account, you can complete a transfer online or by telephone. Once the transfer is complete, please confirm via email to info@childrenshope.lk
Send us a e-mail for more details about Bank Transfer

4. Cheque or money order
If you would like to send a cheque or money order through the post here is our address:
Volunteers Village, Hadediwatta, Galle Road, Habaraduwa, Galle, Sri Lanka.

However, we do ask you to consider the postage time from your country which could take up to 6 weeks.

We can arrange for an airport pick up for you. This will be an additional cost however, and takes 5 hours (daytime). An alternative could be the local transport; buses and trains are frequent to Galle which is only a tuk-tuk ride away. This is a much cheaper way of travel- however we understand the feeling after a long plane journey landing in a foreign land. For train and bus times please contact us for more information.

We cannot provide an answer for this question. We ask that every volunteer seeks medical advice before traveling to Sri Lanka as we cannot be held responsible for giving incorrect advice. We are sorry for this lack of information.

Every volunteer should have travel insurance before working with our organisation. We require a copy of this on arrival. This is to cover both you and ourselves in as an organisation.

Fund raise
We are always very grateful if any of our volunteers would like to fund raise to help our project, but we do realise that not everyone is able to do this. Any amount anyone raises is greatly appreciated, but not expected.
It is a good idea to discuss this with us prior to starting so that you are clear about how your money will be spent. You have the option to choose how we spend your donation. So if you want to be specific, that's fine. Contact us what the option are and we can guide you what the best options would be, and feel free to suggest anything yourself. You should expect to see progress towards this if completion is not possible at the time. At the time of completion you should expect photos of what you have paid for. Please request this from Suboda.

Donate
You can simply make a donation to the project through paypal or bank transfer.
LINK TO DONATION PAGE.

100% of donations will be spent on providing equipment and developing the project for the children. Every donor receives an itemised list of how their money was spent, with photographs

Giving equipment
We understand it is difficult (and expensive) to send items through the post. It seems a better idea to buy these tools whilst in Sri Lanka, not only to cut costs but to help local employment.

• New or second hand computers/laptops with charger
• New or second hand digital cameras with charger
• New or second hand mobile phones with charger
• Reading books in English
• Toys for Blind children (specific to special needs children)
• Brail books in English for the blind children
• Any equipment to enable the volunteer to enhance their own performance

Age: All participants need to be at least 18 years old at the time of arrival.

Language: Volunteers are not expected to speak the local language, however if you are interested in learning sign language, we recommend you download our ‘Basic Sign Class’ before arrival.