Experience:
Organisation:
Name: Emily
Hometown: St Albans
Destination: Sri Lanka
Project type: Teaching English
Organisation: Travellers Worldwide
What were your impressions of your destination?
Absolutely beautiful. The country is gorgeous, white beaches and lucious jungles and lively national parks full of animals. The people are over-friendly on some occasions, but always eager to please and constantly wanting to talk and help you out. The pollution in Colombo is quite a lot to take, and the traffic is always dangerous but after a while you learn how to cross the road without fearing for your life! All in all it's an amazing country with fantastic people and I would go back in a second if i could afford it! :)
Was the work interesting and challenging?
The teaching project was quite unorganised, in that we never had the same class twice, so you couldn't plan a series of lessons and see how the kids were progressing, which was very irritating, but that's up to the schools which class they put you in. We taught in about 6 different institutions, from an adult education centre to an orphanage, and the pupils had a very varied level of skill. The adult education centre was different in that we taught there regularly on the same days so we got to know our class, they were all lovely and sent me letters and presents when I left! That class was the most rewarding as you could see their skills developing over the months. But in general, the school system in Sri Lanka is generally very crowded and unorganised. All the classes are in one massive room, so you have a few hundred children to try and drown out when you're teaching. But a big chorus of Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes is very effective!
What was your accommodation like? Did you feel comfortable and welcome at all times?
I lived in a big house with about 15 other volunteers, several rooms had 6 or 7 beds, some with two or three. It was very basic, a metal bed frame with a thin mattress and a mozzie net, and the bathrooms were just as basic, but it was totally expected and we didn't need a lot more to be honest. We had a few live-in local staff who cooked our meals for us and helped us out by booking tuk-tuks and things like that. With so many people around there was always someone to talk to, so many nights spent watching rubbish films or sitting on the balcony playing cards and reading. Some of my best memories :)
Were you happy with the organisation and the staff that were responsible for you during your stay?
When I was there the organisation of the actual teaching was quite frustrating, as it didn't feel like we were actually teaching them a lot. But when you get to know the children you realise that just being there and talking to them is more important anyway. The organisation was generally really helpful, we had a visit from one of the English organisers while we were there, and our in-country organisers were fabulous and really made sure we were happy. I went out a few days after the Indian Ocean Tsunami and a lot of us did extra volunteer work, fund-raising and distributing aid, and the Travellers organisers helped us out with sorting out some extra volunteer work and getting in touch with charities for us to help with, which was really great.
Do you feel that you got value for money on the project?
Definitely. Money can't buy an experience like it.
Would you recommend the project to others?
Yes
