Meaningful Community Volunteering

When looking for a volunteer experience I wanted to find an opportunity that was meaningful, very much linked and integrated in the community and with the chance to get to know local people and culture in a way beyond the usual travel experience. Tea Leaf Trust looked great on paper and from the first moment chatting with the founders and the volunteer coordinator to the three-week experience in Maskeliya, I was not disappointed.

I am a teacher so I was looking forward to sharing some of my skills but I think the school does very well with matching skills to the programme and welcomes a diverse range of people.

At school there was support, inspiration and friends to be found at every turn. The local staff are very welcoming and inspiring people. Sharing moments with them in classes, over lunch and even in social times was a real highlight. Working with the students there, with their drive to make the best of the education they were receiving and develop not only themselves but the community, was also an incredible experience.

We stayed with a local family which really added to the experience as we would spend evenings sitting round the dinner table eating the best food I tasted in Sri Lanka and chatting with the family.

All round the experience was fantastic and I really hope to go back in the future to this amazing country, town and school.