Involvement Volunteers International WHY we need you in Sri Lanka
- Around 45% of the popualtion in Sri Lanka live on less than $5 a day.
- Many poor families lack access to quality education, leading to higher levels of unemployment.
- Poverty is seen in in affluent areas as well as in rural areas. 85% of poor families live in rural areas.
- Around 21% of the popualtion in Sri Lanka is malnourished, with 17.3% of children having stunted growth.
- Women are usually not financially independant from their husbands, their main roles being to look after the family, clean and cook.
HOW can you help?
- Help restore precious temples back to glory, in a small village
- Work on other projects such as school and community buildings
- Interact with the local people, whilst contributing to the wellbeing of the community
- Bring along your creativity to brighten up the old buildings
WHAT can you do?
- Cleaning the temple area
- Creating murals on the walls- you can get creative here!
- Laying bricks,titles, gardening, building strutures (all depending on prior experience)
- Basic renovation such as sanding and painting walls
Why Involvement Volunteers International?
- Non Profit Organisation & Charity
- Over 30 Years Expertise Globally
- Low Program Fees - From US$295
- Excellent Safety Record, In-Country 24/7 Support & Emergency Assistance
- 1 Application Fee - Multiple Countries
PROJECT NAME: TEMPLE RESTORATION
LOCATION: KANDY
START DATES: WEEKLY (SAT/SUN ARRIVALS)
ACCOMMODATION: VOLUNTEER HOUSE (SHARED ROOMS)
MIN DURATION: ONE WEEK
MIN AGE: 16+
SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS: Criminal background check required
Overview
There are many temples, schools, and community centres in and around Kandy that require renovation, restoration, and repair work. Our project works to bring many of them back to life. Your volunteer work will include basic renovation, painting and restoration of artwork in and around the temples.
The projects take you deeper into the rural parts of Sri Lanka, for the chance to see the local way of life. Kandy is known as the cultural capital of Sri Lanka and has many important temples. Although many of its palaces and temples were destroyed by invaders in the early 19th century, meaning your help will be greatly valued in restoring the broken ones back to life.
You will be helping the local community in restoring and saving these symbolic and cultural buildings.
You will also be involved in various other construction and restoration projects such as improvement of parks, painting local classrooms and putting up educational posters, making it a much more enjoyable environment for the school kids. You could also help create fun playground activities for the children and take part in enhancing the local town with creative activities and painting.
Location
Kandy, is an amazing destination high up in the hills approx 3 hours drive from Colombo with incredible views, dense forests and a buzzy atmosphere with locals and tourists. Kandy is the last royal capital of Sri Lanka and is famous for it’s culture and temples such as Temple of the Tooth and plenty of others. The city has bustling markets with all kinds of interesting and diverse goods and services from unique handicrafts, exotic foods, arts, music and dance. Kandy has a really cool vibe and is somewhere you can happily explore for an extended period of time.
Project Tasks
- Renovate, restore and paint ancient temples
- Create a nicer environment for the community and future tourists
- To assist with other construction projects in the community and local schools
Food & Accommodation
You will be accommodated in one of our centres which are located 2-4 km away from Kandy centre, and about a 15 min walk to the nearest supermarket and ATM. You’ll share rooms with 4-10 other volunteers of the same gender with a shared toilet per room. A fridge, safety deposit boxes, lockable rooms, hot showers, bed linen and fan are included with volunteers expected to bring their own towel. Laundry facilities are available at a small fee. The centres do not have Wi-Fi but you can buy a local sim card. Most volunteers will purchase a local data plan and connect this to their personal devices.
3 meals per day are provided during weekdays and 2 meals per day on weekends. Safe filtered drinking water is provided along with tea and coffee. You can expect meals with rice, coconut, spices, roti, lots of vegetables & sparing amounts of meat.
*Accommodation may be in our local centre or in close proximity, depending on availability and time of year.
Standard
Projects
- Cultural Orientation Week
- Kindergarten Teaching
- *Ancient Temple Restoration
- Special Needs & Communitybr>
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1 Week - $395
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2 Weeks - $455
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3 Weeks - $595
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1 Month - $785
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2 Months - $1745
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3 Months - $2590
- Private rooms in Kandy cost additional $500 p/week
What's Included
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Accommodation
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Meals
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Airport Pickup
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Local Transportation
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1 Day Orientation
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24/7 In-Country Support
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Project Materials & Equipment
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Pre-departure Expert Advice
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Preperation Tools & Checklists
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Certificate of Completion
- Application fee is one off per person (unlimited placements)
- Click Here to convert the below prices to your local currency
- Discounts may apply if travelling in a pair or group!
- All credit card /international fees included in below pricing! 🙂
Testimonials...
FAQ
For anyone who likes to get stuck in and get their hands dirty, then yes, this projects for you. This would be good for people who enjoy working outside and who like to be creative and work as a team.
- Accommodation
- 3 meals p/day weekdays / 2 meals p/day weekends
- Arrival airport transfer (Sat/Sun arrivals)
- Filtered drinking water, coffee & tea
- 1 day orientation
- Daily transportation to project
- In country 24/7 support & emergency assistance
- Fundraising support
- University course credits (where applicable)
- Certificate of Completion
- Airfares
- Travel Insurance
- Tours, Souvenirs & spending money
On your first Monday, you will join our orientation day, to get acquainted with your new surroundings, as well as local culture. Your project continues as usual from Tuesday onwards.
Schedule
- Welcome meeting, introduction to Sri Lanka and the various projects, general/ house rules, code of conduct and organising important documents
- Sinhalese Language Lesson
- Cultural Lesson- learn more about the do’s and don’ts
- Kandy City Tour
Programs begin every Monday, and volunteers are required to arrive the day prior, for orientation before the project. Your accommodation on the Sunday is included in the program fees.
A free airport pickup is included when arriving to Bandaranayake International Airport (CMB). You must arrive between the hours 05:00 to 21:00 on Sunday.
If you arrive outside the pickup times, you can book a private transfer for an extra fee.
If you want to book any extra nights before or after your program, you can do this for an extra fee.
Alternatively, if arriving early you could wait at the arrival’s terminal for the pickup time, book accommodation at the airport and meet us during the pickup times or make your own way to the project (we will advise on how to do this).
From the airport to the Kandy accommodation, it takes around 3-4 hours by road and to the Ambalangoda accommodation, around 3 hours.
Monday to Friday
- Cleaning the surroundings of temple sites
- Painting buildings and old temples
- Creating mural work if available
- Painting any artwork the temple may request
The work usually starts at 8.30 am and finishes around 2.30 pm.
*Schedule possible to change due to the project and community needs at the time. Volunteer flexibility and adaptability is important to a positive volunteering experience.
Here are a few things you can do in Sri Lanka!
Royal Botanical Gardens
The Botanic Gardens are situated around 5. km to the West of Kandy. Once being only for the Kandyan royalty, they are now open to the public to wander around at their leisure. There’s 60 hectares of beautiful garden to explore, where you will see a huge Javan fig tree, pretty orchids and even monkeys!
Knuckles mountain range
This stunning mountain range is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and hosts many walking trails. You will find small villages, beautiful waterfalls, numerous native wildlife and rice fields. This is the perfect place for people who love the outdoors and adventurous hiking trails.
Sigiriya (Lion Rock)
Another UNESCO World Heritage site, this ancient rock is situated around 91km North from Kandy and is very popular with tourists, who can climb up to the top for some seriously stunning views. Along the way you will see antient rock carvings and paintings on the walls of this sacred rock. It will take roughly just over an hour to climb up.
Yala National Park
Located on the South coast of Sri Lanka, this stunning park hosts one of the highest leopard densities in the world. Not only that, you can also spot elephants, monkeys, birds, buffalo and more. There are numerous tours in Yala, from day tours to over several days of safari.
Adam’s Peak
Around 91km South of Kandy you can climb to the top of this sacred sight, just as the locals do for pilgrimage. It’s a bit of a trek up in the dark but totally worth it to see the sun coming up over the clouds, mountains and lush forest. You will be greeted by stunning views to reward your efforts!
Hortons Plains National Park
You can trek through this beautiful national park to ‘World’s End’, a 9.5km round loop trail, taking around 3 hours. This is a pretty easy walk, but you will be greeted with amazing views out over the countryside and above the clouds! It’s best to visit here early (before 10am) as the clouds can roll in after that and block the incredible views.
Udawatta Kele Reserve
Situated near the Kandy lake, this nature reserve is complete with monkeys and birds- fantastic for wildlife and nature lovers. Here you will find wooded forests, over 400 species of plants and 70 bird species. You can trek through the forest for a relaxing break away from the city.
Tea Plantations
Kandy and Nuwara Eliya are both popular places to visit a tea plantation, for a refreshing taste of some of Sri Lanka’s best fresh tea! Not only do they produce great tea, the landscape is stunningly green, with endless hills rolling off into the distance.
- A valid CRB check is required for this program.
- Volunteers with body tattoos need to cover them and those with visible piercings (rings/studs/etc) need to take them out while at the project.
- Volunteers below the age of 18 should have parental consent.
- Volunteers above the age of 65 should have medical clearance.
For information on holidays and any programs affected, please see the following link: LK – Holidays – All Programs
With a population of 20 million, the democratic socialist republic of Sri Lanka, formally known as Ceylon is a tear drop shaped island off the south eastern coast of India. Steeped in over 2000 years of history, the culture is unique to Sri Lanka and known for it’s export of tea, holistic medicines, cinnamon and gemstones including a unique blend of music, dance and visual arts.
Colinised by the British, Dutch and Portugese, there is a multi-culturalism with distinct Sri Lankan flair that feels similar to India, only a whole lot more chilled out! Sri Lanka, better known as the “nation of smiling people” is predominently buddhist (approx 80%) with some Hindu, Muslim and Christianity.
Sri Lanka has eight UNESCO World Heritage sites and given it’s size it’s easy to experience them all in a short period of time. From the world’s oldest living tree in Anuradhapura, to the colonial architecture of Colombo, to the white sandy beaches and crystal clear waters, to lush natural forest, picturesque cities, thousand year old temples, and ancient civilation ruins there are really so many reasons to visit this amazing land.
Sri lanka has a tropical climate with distinctive wet and dry seasons. Temperatures vary and it can get much cooler in the mountains than it can on the beach.
On average temperatures in Sri Lanka vary from 28- 32 degrees, but in the mountain regions this can go to as low as 16 degrees.
From mid-April to September the Southwest moonsoon rains come, affecting the West, Southwest coastline and the Hill Country. On the East coast, the monsoon rains start from November to March but are not quite as severe.
December to March are the best months to visit the West or South coastline and the Hill Country. For the East coast or the North, the best time to visit is from April to September.
Sri Lanka and known for it’s export of tea, holistic medicines, cinnamon and gemstones including a unique blend of music, dance and visual arts.
Colinised by the British, Dutch and Portugese, there is a multi-culturalism with distinct Sri Lankan flair that feels similar to India, only a whole lot more chilled out! Sri Lanka is predominently buddhist (approx 80%) with some Hindu, Muslim and Christianity.
There are many festivals in Sri Lanka. Here are the dates for some of them!
- January: Duruthu
Celebrates the Buddha’s first visit to Sri Lanka. During Duruthu, thousands of people attend colorful parades, which consist of three processions on the nights before the full moon. The processions consist of fireball performers, drummers, dances, decorated elephants and the most important – a gigantic tusker treading a white carpet. - April 13th or 14th: Avurudda (New Year)
Avurudda celebrates the Sinhalese New Year in Sri Lanka. According to Sinhalese astrology, the new year begins when the sun changes from Meena Rashi (Pisces) to Mesha Rashi (Aries). - June: Poson Festival
Poson Festival takes place on the full moon day of June and celebrates the arrival of Buddhism, which occurred when Arahat Mahinda, the son of the emperor of India, converted King Devanampiyatissa to Buddhism. - October or November: Diwali (Festival of Lights)
Diwali is an ancient Hindu festival that signifies the victory of light over darkness, knowledge over ignorance, hope over despair, and good over evil. It is celebrated with millions of lights shining over houses, temples, and buildings.
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