PMGY - Volunteer in Sri Lanka from $270

I thought that 2-3 weeks may be a little short for volunteering, I decided to do a 4 weeks teaching programme , but its still not enough. My experience here is absolutely amazing, the supervisors were really nice, and I got to know a lot of new people from different country. And most importantly, I got to learn the culture in this place and actually bond with the local people.
Participating in this program is probably one of the best decision I've ever made.

I par took in to the under 18's volunteer and adventure trip in Sri Lanka and have to say its one of the best experiences of my life everything about the trip was amazing from the staff to volunteering to the actual traveling part itself. The staff are extremely helpful and truly amazing people. The volunteering is so rewardful and the way this trip is set up let's you experience a bit of all the projects, goals are set for each team to achieve in their project and complete by the end of your time on the project allowing you to see just how much you've achieved. Then there is the traveling part which is just incredible the amount you get for your money still amazes me you go to some outstanding places and see amazing things. I fall in with Sri Lanka thanks to pmgy and can't wait to go back

As a mother of a 17 year old daughter, I was unsure and very worried about letting my daughter jet off half way across the world without me there. However, now she has returned home I must admit I had no need to worry at all. Colby and her team were amazing all the way through the experience, from the planning stage, to the keeping them safe whilst in Sri Lanka. She was on hand to answer both my worries and my daughters questions, no matter how trivial they were. The team over in Sri Lanka were also amazing. My daughter has food allergies, they met her needs, my daughter lost her phone, the elephant man returned it to her the next day after a passer by had found it, she also went off on her own with her new friends for the weekend to the beach, the team recommended safe accomodation for them. I let a very young 17 year old (her birthday was just a month before the trip) go off on her first adventure without me and I can honestly say, she left as a child and returned a very mature young lady who spoke very highly of all in the team. She spends many evenings with us sharing her experiences and memories. She had a life changing experience which she loved and made many new friends from the trip. Thank you Colby and team for keeping her safe, for answering my trivial questions and for giving my daughter a once in a life time oportunity. She had the best time ever and will definitely be returning. Keep up the good work!

Thank you to all the PMGY team both within Sri Lanka and England for making the last 4 weeks an unforgettable experience and allowing me to make friends for life!

I don't even know where to start, being greeted every day with a smiley friendly face when you came down for breakfast meant each day started positively!
Emma and Colby were very approachable, friendly and bubbly Western contacts and felt like they did above and beyond what was expected of them. Whenever we had a query they would answer or find the answer straight away.
All the local coordinators were also very approachable and smiley despite any language barrier. I felt like they always wanted to make sure you were having a great time and again, would do above and beyond what was needed! I asked Nalaka on the spot about the pillow cases Auntie made and without having to remind him he had put in my request and brought them to the new house which I was not expecting, so thanks again!
When we approached Ashika on two occasions about planning solo travelling he was extremely helpful and helped book all of it for us - even paying for a spare train ticket to Ella in case we missed the first train (which we massively appreciated despite not needing to use it fortunately)!
This also applies to all the other staff that work to make the experience a success - the positive friendly tuk tuk drivers, auntie and all the sisters and the workers at madu ganga villa!

Furthermore, I thought it was great to have the opportunity to get involved with elephant day passes, turtle release and monk meditation - I felt this really added to my overall experience on the trip and whilst it's possible I think it's a great idea! This is also true for the flood relief day which we were allowed to be involved with, it was great to see where our money was going and was lovely to see how passionate the coordinators are about giving back to the local community as well - I had an unforgettable day!

I was lucky enough to stay in both London House and River House and felt the accommodation at both was perfect for this style of trip - it meant it was easy to get to know people, was clean and comfortable! One recommendation would be to provide a sheet for the mattress and a sheet for over the top of you when sleeping or warning people pre departure that it may be useful to bring a sleeping bag liner or equivalent.

My volunteer "shadowing" project at Balapitiya Base Hospital was much better than it had been sold to me pre-departure. Manoj made sure things went smoothly from the beginning and checked up on us regularly. Being able to spend a few days on different specialties was very beneficial and meant I got exposure to lots of different areas. Despite only being a "shadowing" placement I found that if you were proactive and asked questions and seemed interested many doctors would teach and allow you to examine patients. It was a very good placement for seeing a variety of conditions which don't present in the UK and learn how to manage them and also seeing some common UK presentations and being able to compare the difference in management. It was also lovely to come home from a morning of placement and feel like all the coordinators were interested in what you had seen or got up to that day! On a side note, a tip for future volunteers would be to take toilet paper as none of the toilets have toilet paper and not all have "bum guns".

I only did one weekend trip to the Maldives which was extremely good value for money - it was great to have tips from Colby beforehand giving suggestions of possible activities whilst still having the flexibility to choose what we wanted to do. The trip is definitely under sold by the description - specifically the accommodation which was much nicer than expected! In regard to the other hill top and cultural weekend trips, we decided pre arrival not to opt for these and travel to the sites included separately to save money (as many of these trips with other volunteer companies can be done much cheaper on your own), however, having spoken to other volunteers about the trips they sounded like great value for money and having paid for the activities ourselves realised they are not that much more expensive - it might be useful when advertising these trips to include reviews from previous volunteers or an overview of the breakdown of costs for the trips to entice more people.

I will definitely be recommending PMGY in Sri Lanka to friends and people in the future and will hopefully come back to Sri Lanka in the future!
Thanks again team! ☺️

After spending 6 weeks in Ambalangoda, Sri lanka I must start by saying thank you to PMGY for making that possible. I spent my time mostly teaching english at a buddhist temple and at an after school class. The smiles on those children's faces are in my heart forever. The projects are so well organised with local coordinators that speak english to make sure everything runs smoothly ( and it does !!). I was lucky to go to the turtle project and elephant project as well. In Sri Lanka during my time there were two wonderful women in the office ( Emma & Colby) who truly looked after me like family. Whiteout forget about Phillip who spent time explaining all of the different aspects to the trip before i booked it and made me fall in love with Sri Lanka before I even got there. My sri lankan family is real and I will love them forever. Ashika will welcome you into his home as family, such a big hearted person I hope you get the chance to meet him. And also, sri lankan people are the kindest people I have ever met, the cultural shock is to be embraced as it will change your life, well it did change mine. I could go on for pages and pages saying how amazing plan my gap year Sri Lanka truly is, but i will resume it to : life changing, a family and friends for life. From the bottom of my heart thank you to plan my gap year ( UK + Sri lanka Office ) for doing what you do.

ps : everyone should go to Sri Lanka and take me in their suitcase as I miss it everyday. I will be back! I 1000% recommend it.

Travelling alone for the first time, I was very sceptic of what was in store for me. Upon arrival the PMGY team had been nothing but supportive towards me, even down to the little things like Ashika sitting up with me at 1.30am trying to connect my wifi whilst i sat their having a break down. Its these little things that make you believe that the team really do care about how you are doing in the program.

My program was the Elephant Experience, this could not have been anymore ideal for me if it tried. I really enjoyed the work we were doing and even know it was not the most ideal situation we what we could to make the best out of a bad situation. At the end of the day it was so rewarding to know the work we had done was appreciated so much.

The team a PMGY are incredible. They have this amazing ability to feel like your best friend even after the second day of you meeting them. This was very comforting to know they could be there whenever we needed to talk. The work that happens behind the scenes is truly amazing, the amount of times I would come down fr a drink and Emma would still be working away a 10pm. It is really obvious that they really do love the job they have, and its nice for us to see that.

To everyone that was apart of my little adventure, thank you. I would highly recommend this to anyone who hasn't travelled alone before, or even if you have. This experience was once in a life time!

Came to Sri Lanka expecting to have a good time and got my expectations completely blown out the water. The month I've spent here has probably been one of the best times I've had so far. Can't think of a single bad thing to say about any of the coordinators, they're some of the hardest working, helpful people I've ever met. Them and the rest of the volunteers create such a welcoming chilled out atmosphere.

Helping out with the turtle project has been such a fun experience made even better with sunny's banter. Definitely going to miss getting my arms smacked up by the grumpy loggerheads and hawksbills, and coming back stinking of rotting fish. Overall, I'd recommend this project to anyone looking for a unique and memorable experience.

When we first signed up, a month seemed like it would be a long time away from home. After the first couple of days that was quickly changed, the time flew by. Meeting all the coordinators and all the other volunteers helped make things even easier as everyone is so friendly. The turtle project was really fun as well. The staff running it join in on the jokes and make the stuff that would normally be boring (like cleaning the tanks) fun and easier. Getting to feed the turtles and pick them up was a unique experience too. Emma and Steph made moving accommodation smooth despite multiple problems with a room. Even with all the pressure on them they were able to stay happy and motivated. Overall, it was really good.