PMGY - Volunteer in Sri Lanka from $270

I have recently returned from the Sri Lanka Real Experience and had an amazing time. The places we visited during the 2 weeks traveling were really interesting and exciting to see and many I would not have thought of going to if I organized the trip myself. For all the places visited the guides we had were really knowledgeable and the whole 2 weeks was well organized and run. The volunteering 2 weeks was the same, the in country coordinators were very helpful and would sort out any problems or queries that I had. They also helped to organize trips away for the weekends when we had time off. Before travelling the UK team was also very helpful and would answer any queries that I had about the trip and they were very quick at responding to any emails that I sent. I chose to travel with Plan My Gap Year after looking at many different companies, and I’m very glad I did! I selected them to travel with them instead of others due to the value for money and the flexibility in the trip; it allowed me to travel and volunteer, but also allowed me to do both teaching and elephant volunteering which I enjoyed. The volunteering was really good the children at the school were really appreciative of us being there and the elephant project was once in a lifetime with being that close to such an amazing creature. I would have no hesitation in travelling with the company again or recommending them to others.

I volunteered in Sri Lanka for two weeks in the beginning of July 2015. I had the best time ever and I wish I could have stayed for so much longer! I volunteered in the government orphanage and absolutely loved getting to know and working with all the amazing children. All the coordinators were so kind and helpful and made everyone feel so welcome. The weekend trip was also so much fun and meant we could see more of the beautiful country! I would recommend PMGY to anyone who wants to volunteer, travel, meet amazing people and have so much fun!

I have just returned to the UK having had the most amazing experience in Sri Lanka with PMGY. During my stay I took part in a medical programme, teaching in the Tsunami school and a few painting projects.
The medical project involved going to a Base Hospital and observing in various departments such as clinics, stores, and various wards including paediatric. Although our placement within the hospital was not hands on , observing was a great opportunity and a good learning experience for myself and my group which consisted of 8 paediatric student nurses and 1 student midwife. We could take a step back and observe everything that was happening, language was a bit of a barrier at times, but the majority of hospital staff tried their best to answer any questions that we had.
Teaching at the Tsunami school was challenging but good fun. The time at the Tsunami school was split between teaching and games. It was really good to get involved in what the children love which was playing cricket! I hadn’t played cricket for years so the children ended up teaching me how to play! All the children were always happy to see us, they always appreciated the time that we spent with them, which made us feel valued.
Painting projects- We painted the inside of the Tsunami school with help from a few of the children who could draw animals a lot better than us! Once we had finished painting the inside of the school it looked a lot better and brighter which has now created a fun environment for the children to learn in. We all felt like we had made a difference, which is what we went to Sri Lanka to do.
We also painted at a turtle hatchery, which is run by a local man whose life was tragically effected by the 2004 Tsunami. This was hard work due to the heat beaming down on us whilst we were painting but once we had finished we were all happy with the end result.
Transport to and from placement could not be faulted. Without fail transport was always on time whether it be Tuk Tuk’s or Ashika’s van. The Tuk Tuk drivers are all really friendly and reliable, if we wanted to stop off at a shop on the way to or from places this was never an issue.
In our spare time we played badminton, went to a hotel pool/ beach and went to Hikkaduwa quite a few times. Hikkaduwa was popular with our group because the beach is stunning, and there are various shops and restaurants. In the evening if we fancied a night out we ended up in Funky De Bar, where we drank cocktails, danced on tables, danced in the sea and on the beach.
Safety was never an issue. From Day 1 Ashika made us aware that our safety was his main priority. We had contact numbers that were available 24/7. We all ensured that we stayed alert and used our common sense when we were out and about. We all felt safe throughout our entire stay in Sri Lanka.
Accomodation: We stayed with Ashika and his family in Ambalangoda. We were made to feel welcome from day 1, by the end of our stay we felt like this was our second home. We all stayed upstairs which is where the volunteer bedrooms are. The rooms consisted of bunk beds, enabling 4/5 people to stay in each room. Although our rooms were upstairs we were welcome to sit downstairs whenever we wanted to. WIFI allowed us to stay in contact with family and friends back home, and kept our phone bills to a minimum whilst we were abroard!
Food- I am missing Tamari’s cooking already! Tamari makes everything that she cooks taste good! The food was a bit of a shock at first because a lot of it was spicy but it didn’t take long for us to get used to it!
Overall our stay was amazing, we are all so grateful to Ashika, Nalaka, Tamari, Ranji, Tharu and Seneli who all welcomed us into their home and made us feel part of their family. I want to say a massive thank you to the family on behalf of my group.
Everything they do is truly amazing, you have given us all experiences and memories that will last us a lifetime! I’m sure some of our group will be returning in the near future!

On the 20th of April, I arrived in Sri Lanka and was picked up by the assigned driver, Douglas. The communication between the local coordinator/ host was extremely good as he gave me an update as to when Douglas would arrive. The drive was about 3 hours depending on the traffic to the volunteer house, beautiful seaside city. The whole family I stayed with were all genuinely nice people and the volunteers were so welcoming, I definitely felt like I was able to join in very quickly with everyone. The food was always freshly prepared and it's generally of the local variety, personally I liked it very much and always went up for seconds, however I can only speak for myself.
I came to Sri Lanka for 2 weeks and thought originally that I was only going to be stuck with the medical programme, this was not the case and almost every day, I was able to choose the different things I would like to do. I still went to observe at the local hospital every morning, but swapped the afternoons around, from teaching the nurses English to helping out at orphanage and there are still more choices.
My time at the local hospital (Karapitiya hospital) was extremely beneficial, I was situated in the ETU (emergency treatment unit) and was also able to see diseases like dengue fever that are only prevalent in tropical regions such as Sri Lanka.
During the weekend I was there, I went to Yala National Park with 9 others and it was amazing. We got to see 2 leopards, an elephant and tons of other animals, it was definitely worth it.
I enjoyed every moment in Sri Lanka and hoped that I could have stayed longer, I am so glad I went with PMGY because I don't know if anyone else could have organised the same thing. If you are thinking whether you should choose this instead of another, really don’t, because I have looked on the internet and this is by far the most affordable and you definitely get your money’s worth.

I spent two weeks in Sri Lanka during November and had a fantastic trip! Mine was a teaching placement. I taught in several places: The Tsunami Project and in two different Buddhist temples. In my first week, I taught young adult monks. They wanted to improve their speaking so we focused on conversational English. It was great because they taught me so much about their daily lives and about Buddhism in general and I told them about my life in England. In the second week, I went to another temple and taught small children training to be monks. Their age ranged from 6 to 14 years. They were shy at first but opened up a lot and were very enthusiastic to learn English. The Chief Monk will sometimes come and sit in class to observe them and was highly impressed by their progress in such short space of time! In each of the teaching placements, there was a relaxed atmosphere and the coordinators were there for you if you struggled to communicate to students so you were never left alone. I absolutely loved teaching all the kids and young adults. As a Volunteer, you really feel you have achieved something positive.
The Volunteer House where I stayed was basic, clean and a great place to get to know other Volunteers staying there, who had the same enthusiasm and goals as you did.
Apart from the volunteering projects, there was plenty of time to travel around Sri Lanka and Ashika, the main Coordinator and others were extremely helpful in organising trips for us. Nothing was too much trouble!
We had meals cooked for us twice a day, absolutely delicious. You can also find western food as well. All transport to and from the volunteering projects were sorted and costs covered so you never had to worry about how to get around.
Ashika, our main Coordinator was absolutely fantastic! There aren't enough words to describe what a wonderful guy he is! During my stay, he was extremely helpful. He was extremely sensitive to my needs and even at times when I didn't express my feelings, he could sense how I felt and always went the extra mile to help me. You only had to tell him once what you wanted or needed and it would be done. I once had a painful elbow and he immediately arranged an appointment to see the local and well respected doctor called Doctor 'Oneshot' (he is nicknamed Oneshot because he treats his patients so well that they don't need to see him a second time!) and I was taken well care of. Ashika is a true hero to his community and has a clear vision of how he wants to help his people and his community. He is well known and respected by the local people and whenever I or the other volunteers mentioned his name, people would immediately smile and help us. I really wish we had more people like him in this world!
This was my second volunteering trip with Plan My Gap Year (the first being the year before in Vietnam which was also a great experience). As a single female close to the age of 40, I highly recommend this company as they are trustworthy and keep in touch while you are out there doing your projects. I will definitely book with them again!

The best thing about PMGY In Sri Lanka was how relaxed and felxible it was! I thought i had just signed up for the turtle project but one morning i took part in the elephant project and most afternoons i helped at the school. I wanted to make the most of my stay and PMGY Sri Lanka helped me to do this!

The turtle project was my favourite experience. The work was really hands on and practical and unlike some volunteer projects you really feel like you are helping and making a difference! You can easily spend a whole day there cleaning tanks, talking to the turtles and medicating and feeding them. The local coodinator Saniru does a great job!

The food is also amazing. Its mostly all Sri Lankan style dishes and lots of curries. But its incredible. Just go for it and try everything its part of the experience! Its all cooked by the local lady who comes to cook 3 times a day for all the volunteers. She is so lovely to talk to and works so hard! I wish i could cook like her! (Go out for food if you want a dish from closer to home, pizza, pasta ect... although i enjoyed the homemade curries more!)

The local coordinators are so helpful (im glad PMGY support local employment) they are great to chat to and are always around to help with anything! Especially booking hotels for travelling at the weekends or booking tuk tuks (because they can obviously speak the local language which helps a lot) but also having Josh the english coodinator is very nice too! They all work so hard to help make sure you have the best time)

You live very closely with everyone in a very comfortable volunteer house (again better than i thought it would be)
Any problems will get sorted out so quickly so tell them as soon as there is one. Even in my short 2 week stay i have made friends i will never forget.

Minimum stay should be 3 weeks for the best experience. You will not want to go home! Thankyou!!!

Sri Lanka was without a doubt one of the best decisions I have ever made. I am 23 and have a full time job as well as a volunteer role in England and I needed something different.
I travelled to Sri Lanka for three weeks on my own not really knowing what to expect and I had the trip of a life time! I made some amazing friends and memories and I'm sitting here typing this wishing I could go back right now!
I worked on the elephant project which was so interesting - I came from waking up and walking my dog at home to waking up and walking a cheeky elephant every day!
Apart from working with raja the elephant, we had trips to temples, a boat trip where I held a monkey and a baby crocodile and refused to put my feet in with a LOT of fish, I had the chance to go to the turtle sanctuary and release turtles on the beach at night with everyone. Attempt to beat someone who thinks he is a champion at badminton (and fail miserably), swim in the sea for hours on end and relax on the beautiful sandy beaches (it's a paradise).
The weekends gave us the opportunity to go out and explore the amazing country and culture in groups. My first weekend saw 10 girls singing very loudly in a minivan on a trip to Kandy with woodcarving, sari wearing, tea factory visits, dance show, elephant riding and temple visits and my second weekend a trip to Marissa for whale watching and Yala for a safari and even a trip to Colombo in between.
A review can't even describe the amazing memories I have made. Advice to anyone considering going would be GO you won't regret it, I wish I had stayed for longer and got to do a hell of a lot more things.
Plan my gap year are a fabulous company to travel with and offer amazing experiences, the choices of projects and friendly atmosphere makes it the perfect trip to anyone travelling on their own or with friends from anywhere in the world no matter what age or range of travel experience.

On arrival in Sri Lanka I found out that my baggage has been lost in transit and was very stressed as a result! But thankfully the in-country coordinater Ashika was there to greet me and sort everything out for me (I had my bag brought to me within 2 days) and I was immediately reassured that I was in great hands.
From then on, everything was wonderful. From Ashika's family who we stayed with to the other volunteers, to the food to the amazing kids at the Tsunami project where I taught English. Not to mention the beautiful beaches, temples and safari parks I was given the opportunity to explore!

I would honestly recommend this project to anyone, especially if you love learning about new cultures, religions and people. Although Ambalangoda is a small town, it is so cheap and easy to get to bigger places around and being in a small town really makes you feel like your in 'real' Sri Lanka. At the same time there's plenty of other English speaking volunteers to go for a drink with and loads of extracurricular activities get organised for example we had a great England VS Sri Lanka Cricket match!

Also, I had no teaching experience whatsoever and absolutely LOVED teaching the kids at the Tsunami project, they were so full of life and welcoming. It really was an unforgettable experience spending 4 weeks teaching them. I didn't want to leave Sri Lanka and really look forward to going back some day soon.

Plan My Gap Year are a fantastic organisation who unlike other companies, make sure the money you are paying to volunteer is used wisely and always ensure that you feel useful, safe and at ease. Go Sri Lanka!! :)