Sri Lanka Volunteer Programs from $27/day | Most Affordable & Trusted

I absolutely loved the time I spent in Sri Lanka. It is a great country with great people. Working on the sea turtle project was an amazing experience and felt impactful. The team at IVHQ were very supportive and helpful as was the green lion team! I would highly suggest this program for anyone who’s willing to work hard and wants to make an impact. Sri Lanka is a beautiful country but tends to fly under the radar for a lot of tourists so it is a great place to visit if you want something a little more off the beaten path while still being very safe and lovely.

I loved every minute of the experience, the accommodations were good, food was delicious and the staff was amazing!
Helping in the construction site felt unreal, and I would do it again!
We were living in Kandy in the volunteering camp, the Green Lion, Sri Lanka.
The weekend is free for all volunteers to travel and explore, so thats what we did. We took a 2 hour drive to Sigiya for to see wonderful temples. We also hiked up the lion rock for sunrise and went on an elephant safari. Meeting so many locals and tourists so was really enlightening.

I had an amazing time taking part in the turtle conservation project in Sri Lanka. Although in my first week there were times when we had completed the tasks quickly so had some idle time with not a lot to do, during my second week I was the only volunteer, which meant I had much more involvement with the turtles and got to spend more time with them. I also got to release hatchlings into the sea, which was the most incredible experience and one I will never forget. It is a very relaxed project but also meaningful and rewarding - definitely something I would recommend!
My hosts were lovely and took amazing care of me, and although being the only volunteer for my second week meant the social scene was not quite what I had expected, I did feel this allowed me to have more interaction with the locals and by the end of my time there felt very welcome and very much part of the local community, which was particularly comforting as I was there during a lot of political and economic uncertainty.

I loved volunteering on the childcare programme in Sri Lanka in April/May 2022. Volunteering in a preschool felt very rewarding as I was able to watch the children learn and develop their English skills while interacting with both teachers and volunteers. When I wasn’t volunteering, there was always lots of things to get involved in and the local team were always happy to help organise trips to do in your free time. One of my favourite activities was feeding and washing elephants at a sanctuary.

Really good being in contact with these wonderful animals .Very varied activities, cleaning beach , collecting seaweed , mending fences , cleaning tanks , scrubbing algae of Turtles and feeding them .
Due to constant power cuts in Sri Lanka it was difficult to get momentum and a structured day . We encountered quite a bit of idle time .
Accommodation was close by and was excellent. Very good facilities and well maintained. Food was excellent with lots of variety. Good location for visiting other parts of Sri Lanka eg Weligama, Galle and Colombo.
We had a week in Kandy prior to going to Ambalangoda, which gave us a terrific insight to Sri Lanka culture.
Overall a brilliant experience.

I loved my time spent with the children of Bali, they are so full of life, so sweet and fun. It was a pleasure to have met and taught such amazing children. Back at the volunteer house, the staff there treat you like family, they are so kind and considerate. The meals they provide you with are delicious and they are also welcoming you to a conversation or help you out. The other volunteers are also all very kind, you get wide a range of ages and backgrounds but everyone is friends with each other.

Over the Christmas holidays, I was fortunate enough to travel to Kandy, Sri Lanka on my second volunteer aboard program with IVHQ. During my first two-weeks I completed a volunteer placement teaching English and in my last week I did the trekking week add-on which was completely organised and facilitated by the local team. Although the trekking week was full of outdoor activities, beautiful hikes and waterfalls I found the volunteering was the highlight of my experience. I thoroughly enjoyed Teaching English to the local children – it was both a challenging and rewarding experience which taught me a lot about myself and what I am capable of. The local team were very accommodating, and we were given many options and were not just limited to the program we had initially signed up for. Within the teaching program, there were two options available for which we could chose to participate in one or both – a morning session teaching English to Monks and an afternoon session teaching English to the village kids. There was a scheduled lunch break between each session.

I chose to participate in both programs and thoroughly enjoyed the variety of teaching two very different groups. This allowed me to spend more time with my fellow volunteers and helped enrich my experience. I was intimated at first as I had no previous teaching experience but the local team, my fellow volunteers and the children were all very supportive. Although I was the teacher, I learnt a lot from my students – they taught me to be creative with my teaching methods and how we could create a fun and educational environment with little resources. It was refreshing to be in the absence of computers and to rely on talking, drawing, and playing and creating games from sticks, stones and bottle caps found on the ground. My favourite memory was on my last day of teaching I gave one of my students some ribbon from my Christmas wrapping (she loved to tie her hair in ribbons for school). I will never forget the joy on her face and how she hugged me after receiving this gift. It was something so small yet it brought so much happiness. Volunteering here has taught me that I should never underestimate myself, especially my own ability to make a difference no matter how small or simple my actions may seem.

They say travel is the only thing you can buy that makes you richer and, in this case, it could not be more true. If you have any doubt in your mind about volunteering aboard, erase it and take the leap. You’ll make lifelong friends, create lasting memories and most importantly enrich your own knowledge and life experience.

Where to begin! I volunteered for 2 weeks at a Turtle Conservation Project in Sri Lanka. This was my first time traveling abroad and I couldn't have picked a more perfect place. This country has SO much to offer! Beautiful nature, city, food, animals, history, culture, and so much more. The whole experience was wonderful, but it was the people and culture that made the experience special. The Green Lion staff were some of the greatest people I've ever met! So kind, supportive, and full of humor! I cannot wait to go back one day!