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After the tsunami hit in 2004, people flooded to volunteer in Sri Lanka from all corners of the globe, but recently numbers have reduced dramatically. The scars of natural disasters always last longer than the headlines and volunteering in Sri Lanka is still one of the best ways to help heal them.
By volunteering in Sri Lanka, you will not only be making a positive contribution, but by spending time in local communities, youll gain a more authentic and deeper understanding of the country and its people.
Volunteer in Sri Lanka is a great way to help local projects and spend time with the people, wildlife and natural environments that make this the best island of its size in the world. Anyone with a desire to volunteer in Sri Lanka can choose from Ecoteers two volunteer projects below. Volunteer at a medicinal plant centre or teach English at a local orphanage.
Cost - GBP50-100 per week
This is a rare opportunity to volunteer to do a variety of different work with the poor in this area where the lives of the people were devastated by the Tsunami and become part of the local community, gaining insight into day to day Buddhism. Volunteers do not, however, have to participate in religious activities. The Volunteer Sri Lanka Project is a small, personal, multi faceted project which was started after the devastating Tsunami in 2004 by Janaka De Silva, the General Manager of a local hotel and a dedicated philanthropist. He spends his spare time helping poor Sri Lankan families living on the outskirts of Galle town. The project is totally non profit making. Any money left when the volunteers have been fed & accommodated, is ploughed straight into buying equipment, books & building works for the project.
Cost - GBP20-50 per week
We are a grassroot NGO involved in conservation of fast disappearing native plant species and documentation of indigenous knowledge or ethno botanical values associated with native plants. We possess a wonderful arboretum with rare medicinal and wild fruit plants with plenty of valuable traditional knowledge and all volunteers are placed in our arboretum in eco friendly architecture. Our main objective is to propagate these rare plants amongst Sunday schools in rural church parishes and Buddhist monasteries with hands on experience.
At lower levels temperatures remain high throughout the year and the high humidity and warm nights may feel uncomfortable to the visitor who has not yet become acclimatized. On the coast, however, the heat is modified by afternoon sea breezes so that it is rarely dangerous.
In the interior highlands temperatures are significantly reduced by altitude with the result that the climate is delightful for most of the year; rarely too hot by day and rarely so chilly as to be uncomfortable at night; frost is a very rare occurrence here.
Most of the country has an abundant or moderate rainfall that is well distributed throughout the year. The southwestern coast and mountain slopes are the wettest regions and here rainfall is greatest during the periods April to June and October to November.
The northeastern side of the island, particularly the lowlands, is much drier, with little rain between February and September. The main rainy season here is between October and January when the northeast monsoon blows onshore.
This area is often called the 'dry zone' but the term is a relative one. The southwest monsoon brings rather more rain to the southwestern side of the island between May and September but its arrival does not mark the same abrupt transition between a hot, dry season and a warm, wet season such as occurs in much of the Indian subcontinent.
Daily sunshine amounts vary from six to eight hours over much of the country, being least during the rainiest seasons, when cloudy disturbed weather may last for spells of two or three days. In many parts of the country much rainfall comes in afternoon showers accompanied by thunder.
Tourist Visa rules & regulations for visiting Sri Lanka are simple. Tourists can visit the country with minimum formalities. Nationals of most countries can obtain the visas on arrival for 30 days. If one wants to extend the tourist visa, one can contact the Department of Immigration and Emigration.
All the countries falling in the SAARC region are exempt from visa these countries are Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
Vincent, 2007
After Sri Lanka I went to India, Kerala, and I had no idea where I would land, both the area and the people were totally unknown. But the bigger the surprise when I ...
Vincent, Volunteer
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