An Unforgettable Experience!

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!