Volunteering in Sri Lanka – interview style – Mandy English November 2015!

What did you do?

With an ambition to explore a new country and travel with a purpose at the same time, I paid to

work voluntarily for 2 weeks, teaching in an IT Centre in Panadura, Sri Lanka run by Projects Abroad,

staying with a host family and other volunteers (http://www.projects-abroad.co.uk/).

Did you need a teaching qualification?

No! You just need to have a good knowledge of Microsoft Office products to be able support the

student’s online learning and troubleshoot/contribute depending on individual skills.

Before going, were you worried about anything?

Yes, loads! The thought of having an upset stomach, the thought of mosquito bites, the thought of

being taken advantage of as a “tourist” and the ability to communicate effectively and deal with

phone technology! I also worried (unnecessarily!) about making a difference in the relatively short

time I was there.

Well, although my stomach remained intact, the mosquitos loved

me. I didn’t feel as if I paid too much for anything – on the

contrary, everything was very cheap. My free local sim card

worked well (loaded with 50 rupees and available in the airport in

a visitors Welcome Pack) and data was easy to buy to create a

WiFi hot spot on my phone (other volunteers helped me with

this!). I charged all my technology every night!

What was the first thing that struck you when you arrived?

The heat! I’d come prepared and carried lightweight

trousers, tee shirt and flip flops in my hand luggage so

had changed in Colombo airport but it still hit me –

temperatures fluctuate around 30 degrees most of the

time in October/November.

The second thing was the rain – frequent bursts but

deliciously warm – I learnt an umbrella is an essential

accessory – for both sun and rain!

Was language a barrier?

Partly but you get by with universal gestures and facial expressions. The only Sinhala l made sure I

learnt was “istuti” for “thank you” as I think it’s one of the most important words in any language.

I always got a big smile when I used it. I was frequently asked where I came from and “England” was

also greeted with a big smile. I got even more respect when I said I was a volunteer. You have to be

careful not to think people are saying no when they shake their head as they’re really saying OK, yes!

Where did you stay?

My first night was in an Airbnb in Colombo (had an extra day before I started at the project to

sightsee). I’d not used Airbnb before and was impressed by the online booking service (although it

takes a while to be “validated” as a user). I liked the personal direct contact and only needed a basic

value room (mine was called a “Tree house log cabin”) in a central location so this worked well.

For most of the rest of my trip, I stayed

with my host family in Panadura, who

have a lovely large house. They live on

the ground floor, while the four twin

bedrooms upstairs accessed via a

mezzanine level provide accommodation

for up to 8 volunteers.

You’re allocated

a bed with a

mosquito net (no

sheets), shared

wardrobe space

and desk. The

two bathrooms

are shared (cold

showers); a

fridge is available

in the corridor if needed and a top loading washing machine (you have to buy your own

powder/toilet roll from the local shop). Clothes are dried on the covered veranda outside and the

housekeeper gets them in for you if it rains! Note! You need earplugs for sleeping as if the monkeys

running on the roof don’t wake you up, the sound of chanting from the temples at 5am will!

What did you think of Colombo?

Noisy but vibrant and colourful; there were horns from tuk

tuks and people shouting across to one another in the

market and the sound of the rain splashing in the road.

I hardly saw any other white people in the Pettah markets or

on the busy streets and people viewed me with a longer look

than just a passing glance. My umbrella was useful in

shielding my face/avoiding eye contact if I didn’t want to

attract attention, so I just got used to it. I was taken in by a

gemstone ruse, but fortunately got away with it (longer story another time).

Over the day and a half I was there I visited the Dutch Period Museum (historical dark wooden

colonial building with an interesting nutmeg tree in the inner courtyard), Colombo Fort (contrasting

old colonial and new modern buildings) and Galle Face Green by the sea (lots of lovers under black

umbrellas on the pier, “fast” food stalls on the quayside, children playing ball). Then Sima Malaka

(temple on South Beira Lake - at the time I visited, it was swamped by a coach load of elderly

American tourists and their cameras), Gangaramaya

Temple (overpowering incense with a strange collection of

vintage cars and plastic boxes to put your shoes in while

you padded around in bare feet – you do get a real sense

of the importance and priority of religion in their lives),

Viharamahadivi Park (more lovers on benches under

umbrellas and free WiFi for Sri Lankans if they keyed in

their ID number) and the National Museum (being

renovated but with no discount for foreign visitors).

What was your host family like?

So, so welcoming, really, really lovely people. Lal and Chaniah

Peiris returned to Sri Lanka around the millennium after

spending 5 years in Japan, invested their earnings in a tea

plantation and built a large property in Panadura, a small

township about one hour’s drive south of Colombo on the

west coast of Sri Lanka.

Lal has a manager at the tea plantation and any donations of

clothes from volunteers are gratefully accepted for the women

tea pickers, who are very poor – I was told the women earn the

money, while their husbands often use it to buy alcohol. Chaniah (above right) retired recently as a

manager from the People’s Bank, does yoga, manages the volunteers and is about to be the landlady

for a second Peiris house which has just been posted on Airbnb. They receive an income from

Projects Abroad to accommodate the volunteers. They’re very experienced hosts who have a

relaxed but caring approach – you’re made to feel literally one of the family, which was so nice!

They have two sons, living at home; Erande, aged 29 who’s just about to get married and studied at

the University of Melbourne and Manoj, aged 27

who works at the Hilton Hotel as a chef (often

unsociable hours). Sureka, their housekeeper, lost

her whole family in the tsunami in 2004 and was

taken under the Peiris wing with full board and

lodging (left). Although she doesn’t get holidays,

she’s like a friend of the family and an absolute

favourite with the volunteers as she does all the

cooking and clearing up!

Did you have meals with the family?

No. Mealtimes for volunteers are a set routine – 7.30am, 12.30pm, 7.30pm and not really

negotiable as the family (there were 5 of them) always eat afterwards. Some of the volunteers

thought breakfast was too early as work placements are usually very local and don’t start till 9am

but they suited me! You can opt out of the weekend meals if you are travelling and you are

encouraged to be courteous and let the family know a day in advance.

Although we didn’t eat with the family, they were often around for broken English conversations and

liked to interact with us. The volunteers always eat together with much banter and recount what

they do at their placements and share what it’s like in their different countries. I loved the meal

times as they were very sociable (no phones, TV or interruptions) and you could all learn from each

other’s experiences.

What did you have to eat?

Breakfast was sweet breads or toast (with white bread that you made yourself), jam, fried egg,

margarine and bananas (very short variety and yellow). Tea was offered (black with lots of sugar)

and always cold water, which had been boiled and chilled in litre bottles in the fridge. Great start to

the day.

Lunch was the main meal – usually some kind of rice (red or white with spices), vegetable curry,

curried green beans, chicken or tuna curry, tomato and cucumber with poppadum’s, and yoghurt.

Sometimes ice cream was offered.

Bananas and chilled water were always

available. This meal was a highlight as

you never knew quite what you were

going to get.

Dinner was a light supper affair with

lentil/dahl curry, rice and hopper’s or

roti’s and some salad (tomatoes and

onions). Bread and jam was on the

table if you wanted it and bananas and

chilled water (left). A comforting end

to the day.

One Sunday I bought red bananas back

from Kandy for everyone to try – still short but the sweetest and most expensive variety. We also

tried Milo – Sri Lankan version of hot chocolate and often small pieces of unusual fruit or vegetables

were cut up for us to taste. For my last meal with the volunteers I treated us to a huge chocolate

and coffee cake from the Fab bakery in town as the family only had a small microwave oven for

reheating so we didn’t have any baked food.

Who were the other volunteers?

My fabulous fellow volunteers all

happened to be aged 18 (a French

lady my age was living with another

host family, working on another

project but I did get a chance to

meet her)! Justus (German), was

working on the IT project like me

(and doing soccer training once a

week at a children’s centre) for 2

months (then going to a similar project in Tanzania in 2016) with the long term ambition to be an

engineer. I really appreciated him showing me around!

Herman (from Hong Kong, studying in Adelaide, Australia), was

working with a local children’s centre, also for 2 months (and spending

one day a week working at a challenging special needs school) and

wants to return to Hong Kong to be a social worker. Maddie (from

southern California) was working in the base Hospital shadowing

doctors with the ambition to be one.

Noa from Holland (in my first week) was working at the Ayurvedic

hospital which mainly offers natural treatments with massage, herbs

and doesn’t provide anaesthetic for some minor surgical procedures.

She found shadowing doctors quite harrowing at times so is rethinking

her possible medical career! Her Mum came out at the end of her

placement to travel around with her for a further week before returning home (above).

Charlie, from Yorkshire, worked with Herman in the Children’s Centre, doesn’t really know what she

wants to do long term and Anika (in my second week and my room mate!), from Germany, also

worked at the base hospital with the definite ambition to work in medicine as both her parents do –

she said she’s seen the good sides and bad sides of the job but believes it’s a great job to do!

Where was your IT placement located and what did you do?

The Panadura IT Centre is 10 minutes’ walk from the Peiris

house on the other side of town. Projects Abroad rent the

first floor for the Centre from the family living below and

provide IT training free of charge to students. Funds for all of

Projects Abroad work come solely from volunteer placement

fees. The IT Centre manager, Nadeesha, organises the

students training and supports the volunteers.

In an open plan area, there are six computers with space for a

further six when finances allow and some smaller rooms for a

new library initiative, a room with a sink acting as a kitchen

(I bought them a kettle as a leaving present as they didn’t have one!) and a room which was used as

a nursing room for Nadeesha’s 3 month old baby who she brings to work.

Hours of work were Monday – Friday, 9am -12noon and

2-4pm, although a couple of mornings I got there early and

opened up as Nadeesha took computers for repair.While I

was there I finished setting up a website for the Panadura IT

Centre and linked to a new Facebook page which Justus

created. I wrote a curriculum for how to set up a free

website and taught primary and secondary students

(depending on their level of English) how to follow it! I gave

several group and individual training sessions with much

enjoyment and rewarding thanks from the students.

For example, one student wanted to sell pencil drawings he’d done

from photos of his friends and needed a website to upload his

images, one girl wanted to start a fashion blog and an alumnus of the

Centre, Warnaka, wanted to set up a website to promote his travel

tour business (right). I taught students how to manipulate images

and set up simple structures, with the priority being on what they

wanted to communicate via their website (good English practice) over how to create it (the easy bit)!

Sometimes our work was interrupted as the loud monsoon thunderstorms meant everything had to

be turned off to protect the computers and it became overcast and too dark to see properly.

I also reported problems

with hardware and

maintenance issues such as

leaks in the ceiling and lack

of lighting to the main

Projects Abroad Office in

Colombo. Both issues are

still ongoing!

Did you do any work before you went?

Yes! I researched the IT syllabi (Microsoft Office) and then discovered the centre didn’t have its own

website or Facebook page so decided my project would be to set them up. They had an old one

from a previous location which was no longer used.

I discussed using a “build your own website for free”

online service with our Owen’s IT technician to see if

he thought it was suitable (SimpleSite) and I was

heading in the right direction. He agreed as he had

several friends who’d set up websites using similar free

hosting services (for limited functionality but good

enough for what I wanted). I liaised with Nadeesha,

the Panadura IT Centre manager (right in white) on

Facebook to create a skeleton site before I went so we

could have something to work on.

I also read the extremely comprehensive country guide on the Projects Abroad website, including all

information about culture shock and spoke several times to my Projects Abroad co-ordinator – I can

really recommend them in terms of professionalism and the dedicated people who work there.

Do you feel you made a difference?

Yes! Even though my placement was only for 2 weeks and I was told not to expect to make much of

an impact, it was definitely worth it - the research I did before I went certainly helped. Students and

the IT Centre manager were so appreciative of my support and it was extremely rewarding!

Did you work full time?

Yes, except on Poya day (National holiday)! These occur once a

month at full moon when practicing Sinhalese visit their temple

to mark occasions in Buddha’s life. Public transport still runs,

but most shops and businesses are closed.

There was a Poya day the first week I arrived and I took the

opportunity to visit the Blue Water hotel, just a 15 minute bus

ride away (as recommended by other volunteers). For just

2,750 rupees – around £13– you could use all the facilities, take

exercise classes, have a full buffet lunch and afternoon tea AND

have free use of the WiFi. This was most important as I wanted to carry on designing the Panadura

IT Centre website during the day. You could also have your photo taken with a visiting elephant…

Projects Abroad also arrange half day community projects every few weeks for all the local

volunteers to work together and meet each other. I was able to join a morning group to paint the

inside walls of a special needs nursery so the staff could paint

brightly coloured murals

for the children. It was

hard work in the heat, and

you had to keep brushing

off the red ants, but it

looked fresh and clean

when we’d finished.

What did you do during the week after work?

We explored Panadura (“we” being whichever of the volunteers wanted to meet up)! The local

beach was great for a long walk (with thousands of tiny crabs), we went swimming in a nearby hotel

(which had huge bats flying over it so you felt like you were in Jurassic Park) and we shopped in the

market and visited the two main temples – Buddhist (white turreted) and Hindu (more colourful).

It got dark about 6pm so often a trip to the local Mango Mango Indian restaurant was on the agenda

as it offered free WiFi (which struggled at the end of their monthly subscription much to our

annoyance) for the price of a fresh fruit smoothie! After dinner most nights we all played a range of

card games (including Uno, Skip-Bo) and Banangrams, which provided the best bonding time – we

had such laughs, competitive banter and random chats (as there was no free WiFi in the house…).

Were there any customs that were very different to the UK?

Yes, they eat with their right hand and after going to the toilet, clean with their left!!! In cafes and

restaurants there is usually a sink to wash your hands after eating. At the Peiris house, we could

choose to eat with our fingers or use western

utensils (see sink left). There’s a technique for

eating with your hand which is to mix up your

curry and rice, scoop in your fingers and then use

your thumb to push the food into your mouth

from your

fingertips. You

do get used to it!

Nearly all toilets

are provided with

an adjacent

separate hose for

you to use which they say is more hygienic than toilet paper.

I always carried tissues! The other practical issue for women is that

tampons are impossible to find outside of the capital, Colombo. You

need to be well stocked in case! I understand India is similar in this regard.

It’s also considered rude to wear shoes in the

house so you always take them off outside. In our

volunteer house, we all had separate shoes for

inside too as it kept our feet clean. Generally

everyone wears flip flop style shoes due to the

weather – my thin sandals totally rotted by the

second week due to the rain!

The dress code is different too – women do wear

western style skirts and tops/blouses but you’d feel

uncomfortable in strappy tops with bare shoulders.

It’s respectful to wear a white shirt when visiting a

temple and women wear sari’s a lot too. Buddhist monks only wear orange! Chaniah Peiris skilfully

showed me how to wear a sari I’d bought for £1 in the Pettah market in Colombo, which I then

donated to her husband’s tea pickers when I left. I think you definitely need a brown stomach to

carry off the look if you wear a cropped top underneath!!!

Were you able to travel at the weekends?

Yes! I arranged to go to Kandy (world Unesco heritage site

and old capital) for the first weekend with a fantastic driver

(Hansaka, left), recommended by Projects Abroad.

I worked out before I went that Sri Lanka is a huge country

and to travel to any of the key sights from the coast can

take hours, so I knew I wouldn’t see everything in one trip!

I chose Kandy as I mainly wanted to see a tea plantation

and learn about some of their history and religion – it took

4.5 hours to drive from Panadura, leaving at 7am on the

Saturday morning (I negotiated an early breakfast) and I returned at 7pm on the Sunday in time for

dinner and to catch up with the other volunteers!

What did you do on your Kandy trip?

We passed rice paddy fields and rubber plantations, stopped at a tea plantation to see the tea

bushes and tea pickers, I visited the Royal Botanical Gardens, a Buddhism temple on the hill above

Kandy for great views, watched some Kandyian dancing, had an ayurvetic massage, walked round

the Temple of the Sacred Tooth and learnt about the origins of Buddhism. Stopped at a Batik

factory, a Spice garden and tea processing plant with tastings on the way home!!!

What did you learn in the Buddhist temples?

I learnt (very simply) that when Buddha was born as a Prince,

he took seven steps on lotus flowers to understanding and

later gained enlightenment under the Bodhi Tree. This

happened in India 500-600BC. His life was spent teaching -

when he died, his left tooth from the funeral pyre was given

to Sri Lanka and kept in a golden jewelled casket, which now

resides in the Temple of the Sacred Tooth in Kandy.

Buddhists have five precepts (or morals) to live by, including

do not kill, do not steal, do not lie, abstain from sexual

misconduct and sensual overindulgence and do not consume

alcohol or other drugs (as intoxicants cloud the mind).

I did have a discussion with my guide, Hansaka, about self-

defence in light of a mosquito landing on you and he said that

he felt bad every time he killed one.

Temples are domes or stupas where Buddhists visit to pray, to meditate and make offerings of

flowers, fruit, incense and candles. There is always a Bodhi Tree in the temple, around which

Buddhists walk and pray, either 3 or 7 times and then make an offering of pure water to the tree via

a font. Bowls are available next to sinks near the trees and taps are covered with muslin to ensure

the water is filtered and as pure as possible. They walk around the tree carrying the bowls.

What was interesting and invaluable about the weekend travels was the ability to be able to

question my guide, Hansaka, with any questions about the country and its culture. For example,

they have recently elected a new president and I asked him for his opinion. He said that the old

president promoted members of his family and they spent a lot of money on events such as jet

skiing on Kandy Lake and car races around the town which the local people hated. Now they have a

new president, those events have stopped. Also the new president has introduced policies like

being able to harvest three crops of rice a year, instead of two, to make more money.

What did you do on your second weekend?

I only had one night and day as it was the end of my trip so chose to take a train by myself down the

coast to Galle in the South (getting there just in time to watch the sunset and walk the ramparts of

the old walls)! I took tips from my fellow volunteers about how to travel, where to stay and what to

see. Just a note on the train – the doors are quite high above the platform so you really have to

heave yourself up using the handles on the outside of the train to get in (avoiding the people

standing in the doorways)! Even

tricky for two strapping 20 year

olds from Cornwall carrying

huge rucksacks – I bumped into

them on the platform and got

chatting – it was their first day in

Sri Lanka and they’d caught the

wrong train out of Colombo so

had to change at Panadura.

The journey itself was really

interesting! Despite the train

being packed (no first class, only

2 and 3), musicians and food sellers still managed to wend their way through the carriages. Two

young Sri Lankan lads befriended me (they were curious about a woman old enough to be their

mother travelling on her own!) and the hour and a half’s journey passed quickly. They loved

travelling by the open door – you had to watch out when passing a platform and make sure you put

your feet up though…

In the evening I stayed in a small

guesthouse and happened to share a

meal with a lovely lady from

Luxembourg who was the wife of one

of the band members of Katrina and

the Waves – small world – one of our

Owenians parents is Katrina’s coach!

The following morning, I had breakfast

at a trendy hippy café with some more lovely

travellers from Reading! The guesthouse tuk tuk

took me to Jungle Beach for some chilling with

the locals and I just had time to browse Galle

shops and sights in the afternoon before getting

back on the train to Panadura.

I enjoyed the return trip as I sat in the open

doorway of the empty second class carriage and

watched the world according to Sri Lanka go by.

Would you

like to return

to Sri Lanka?

Yes,

definitely.

I’d like to see

the friends I

made, see more of their beautiful country and take my husband

to share the experience. I’d also recommend Hansaka as a guide!

I’ll always remember Sri Lanka in six senses – the bright colours,

the cacophony of noise, the strong incense, and the spicy food,

the soft feel of the rain and huge warmth of their people. #go.

Recommended Reading: Lonely Planet Sri Lanka and Running in the Family by Michael Ondaatje

(kindly suggested to me by Old Owenian, Paul Filmer, at Visitation this July – thank you again)!

Some other photos from my trip!