Our Sri Lanka family volunteering program is about escaping the norm and designed so you can experience this incredible country as participants rather than simply guests or tourists. For most families, volunteering while on holiday gives you an opportunity to ‘give something back’ or to put one’s skills to good use in an environment or community where they are needed. They are also about introducing children to a completely different world, giving them a chance to learn about wildlife and the environment, and some encouragement to break the moulds of consumer and indeed digitally driven life.
Many families also want to spend quality time together contributing to a genuine conservation project, sharing that feeling of achievement when they have spent a night ensuring that all the baby turtles that hatched that night made their way safely to sea for instance.
Our Sri Lanka family program is the perfect blend of projects combining community development through education and and conservation work with sea turtles.
As a country Sri Lanka is extremely underrated, however the culture and natural heritage here is so rich, making the trip inspiring from beginning to end. And Sri Lankan culture celebrates family, so the welcome is beyond humbling. And, if you have cricket bat and ball for free time, beyond fun.
Our family program in Sri Lanka is suitable to all age groups. Based in around Galle around the South West coast of Sri Lanka this family program offers clean and comfortable accommodation. The projects you can do include sea turtles conservation work and community work such as teaching English. Both program can combined and there is flexibility in start dates.
Sri Lanka is a very child friendly location for you to engage in further travel before or after the program. You can visit Yala National Park for an animal safari or take the children to the many beaches or spend time exploring tea and coffee plantations in Kandy and Nuwara Ela. The options are endless and we highly recommend you spend an extra few days discovering this amazing country.
Family Volunteer Gallery
What is involved
Our family program in Sri Lanka will give you the opportunity to engage in different meaningful and rewarding projects helping local communities and also local conservation efforts to save sea turtles that are coming to nest on the shores of Sri Lanka. You do not necessarily have to be involved in everything and you will get an opportunity to choose what you want to be involved in.
Teaching : Our education program helps young children in local schools who are struggling with English and allows you to engage in art, playtime, singing, and any educational activities and games. You will work with age groups from 3 to 8 years old and support local Sri Lankan teachers in their daily work.
Turtles : The aim of the sea turtle project is to conserve the local nesting sites in the area and to increase turtle populations by raising and releasing baby turtles. One of the most important ways this is achieved is through the development and maintenance of hatcheries, where turtle eggs are relocated to hatch safely, away from predators before being released into the sea at night-time. The weaker turtle babies are held back from release for a ‘head-starting’ process, so that they are given the best chance of survival. You will be able to get involved with a variety of tasks, caring for turtles that live at the centre, maintaining the project area and the beach, cleaning the hatcheries, feeding the turtles and releasing them back into the wild. Kids of all age groups absolutely love this!
Some details
| 2022 | 2022 | 2022 | 2022 | 2023 | 2023 |
| January | April | July | October | January | April |
| 9, 16, 23, 30 | 17,24 | 3, 10, 17, 24 | 16, 23 | 8, 15, 22, 29 | 9, 23 |
| February | May | August | November | February | May |
| 6, 13, 20, 27 | 8, 22,29 | 7, 14, 21, 28 | 6, 23, 20, 27 | 5, 12, 19, 26 | 7, 14, 21, 28 |
| March | June | September | December | March | June |
| 6, 13, 20 | 5, 12, 19, 26 | 4, 11, 18, 25 | 4, 11, 18 | 5 , 12, 19, 26 | 4, 11, 18, 25 |
You will stay in the beautiful Galle district of Southern Sri Lanka. You will be staying in a volunteer house with a dining area, front lawn and dining facilities. The house is located in a laid-back peaceful village surrounded by lush greenery and tropical beauty. It is only 15 minutes from historic Galle Fort and Unwatuna beach. The house is adjoined to our Program Managers house so you can get support and help anytime you require. You will get freshly cooked Sri Lankan meals everyday. Wifi is available and you can use tuktuks to get around town.
In the evenings there is plenty to do- we can help to organise cooking class or you can walk around the Galle Fort Area or go down to the wonderful beaches.
What your first week looks like
Arrival day
Weekdays
Weekend
Weekend activities
Ahangama Beach
Iconic Train Rides
Yala National Park
Galle Fort
Testimonial Videos
Choose an Inspiring Volunteering Destination
Cambodia will allow you to explore the heart of Southeast Asia, a nation replete with lush natural landscapes from dense forests to rice paddy fields, bustling cities, and the majestic architectural remnants of the great Khmer empire dotting every bit of the country.
The charming city of Phnom Penh is the capital and also serves as our base of volunteer operations. Volunteering Journeys Cambodia volunteer abroad projects include Teaching English, Working with NGO’s, helping Special Needs individuals, and Medical & Nursing Internships. Whether you are a gap year student, career breaker or a family or a mature volunteer, you can apply to any of our volunteer in Cambodia projects.
Connect!
Our newsletter
Stay updated with the latest news on what we are upto. Promise we won’t spam your inbox!
Our brochure
To get an overview of all our destinations and programs you can download our latest brochure