Life-changing volunteer program in Sri Lanka
Fun, rewarding, safe and affordable volunteering opportunities in Sri Lanka
Volunteer with Culture & Nature Holiday 1 month
4 weeks volunteering and holidaying
Say hello to nature and say goodbye to the city stress!
As Voluntourism becomes the popular way to travel, more and more people are using the term to describe their experiences abroad. “Voluntourism” is the act of combining travel with volunteering to become immersed in a new culture and give back to the community. Help us expand the voluntourism community and spread the word about how to travel with purpose!
What does the word “travel” mean to you? Your toes in the sand? Riding an elephant in India? Camping with friends in the Grand Canyon? Everyone’s dream vacation may be different, but our reasons for taking one are usually similar. We want a change of scenery, to break from our daily lives and see something we’ve never seen before.
And some travelers add another element to vacationing — helping others. It’s called voluntourism, a combination of volunteering and tourism. It’s also known as volunteer travel or a volunteer vacation.
Voluntourism is a growing industry that attracts all sorts of people. Everyone from retired baby boomers to college spring breakers are interested in mixing travel with good deeds, and there are voluntourism opportunities available for just about any preference or interest. Here in Sri Lanka Voluntourism we organize the volunteer work with very remote tea plantation children.The volunteer will be accommodated in the lodge for four weeks (www.facebook.com/mistymountainlodgeohiya). For Saturday and Sunday the volunteer can visit places like Haputele, Ella, Horton’s Plains, Worlds End, Bambarakanda Water Falls, Udawalawa National park, Nuwaraeliya, Kandy etc
Sri Lanka is a beautiful country with many wonderful volunteer projects available for volunteers interested in exploring this island in South Asia. Sri Lanka is the teardrop off the tip of Southern India. This tropical island is famed for its palm-fringed beaches, tea plantations and Rain forests.
Sri Lanka’s population is multi-religious and multi-ethnic, and its cultural heritage is equally as rich and diverse. Its countryside is lovely and teeming with varied and exotic wildlife species. There are more than ten national parks in Sri Lanka, and the Sinharaja Rainforest is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
From stepping off the plane you know you’re in Sri Lanka. The Sri Lankan people are amazingly welcoming and are always full of smiles. Even in the remote villages you get an instant warm welcome from everyone. The costal regions have some of the most breathtaking beaches in the world and the tourist trade is beginning to return now that peace has been established.
Sri Lanka has a number of world heritage sites with fantastically preserved ruins, pagodas and temples. The interior also has some incredible views as you wind through the lush green hill-country. There fantastic trains ride into the hills from Colombo to Kandy and on towards Ella – who knew so many shades of green existed!
There is so much wildlife from tiny geckos and praying mantids to huge monitor lizards, purple faced langur monkeys and wild elephants… There is something new to see round every bend in the road.
A real highlight of Sri Lanka is the fantastic food. With so much variety and fresh produce, it is just a truly wonderful culinary experience.
Volunteer in School and Child Care Centers in
Ohiya, Udawariya tea Plantation
Poverty in rural Sri Lankan tea plantations forces children not to go to school. Volunteering can help supporting child welfare to brighten lives of disadvantaged children.
Ohiya is a rural highest village located in Badulla District of Uva Province, Sri Lanka. It is much closer to the Horton Plains National Park. The picturesque Colombo -Badulla Railyway runs through Ohiya. It is one of the most scenic places in Sri Lanka. On a clear day the view from Dondra Watch at Udawariya Estate extends up to the southern coast of Sri Lanka.
The peaks of Kirigalpoththa (2,389 metres, 7,838 ft), Thotupola Kanda (2,357 metres, 7,733 ft), the second and the third highest mountains of Sri Lanka, are situated at 10 Km from Ohiya. Horton Plains National Park and World’s End are also located 10 KM away from Ohiya. Bambarakanda waterfall is highest waterfall of Sri Lanka and is situated 10 KM from Ohiya
OHIYA UDAWARIYA Tea Plantation
By the Horton’s Planes
Udawariya tea plantation is a very isolated and very remote village next to world famous Horton’s Plains and World’s End. It has a beautiful panoramic view and cold climate. There is almost no transportation available to the tea village. Only one bus goes to Haputele in the morning and back to the tea plantation in the evening. From the bus people have to walk long distances to their homes. It is also possible to take the train from Haputele to Ohiya. From the station you take a Tuk Tuk which takes you near the village and then you walk through the path. People from Udawariya work mainly in the tea plantation but also maintain vegetable gardens with products such as leeks, carrots and potatoes. Cool weather allows them to have enough products for local consumption.
Udawariya tea plantation is divided into 6 Divisions: Ohiya, Udawariya, Liyborn, West Haputele, Genehiriya and Yalathena in West Haputele. Ohiya and Udawariya have three schools which children under 10 years old attend. After year 5, they have to move to Haputele or somewhere else because they do not have transport facilities to attend other schools. Many kids don’t go to school after grade 5. Some who have some family relations in other regions stay with them and go to schools outside Ohiya. Extreme poverty of the tea plantation workers means not all families can afford to send their children’s out site of the region. Ohiya School:-
Udawariya School:-
West Haputele School:-
These placements are great for volunteers with experience or interest in working with young children. Volunteers working at Schools and care centers help with basic education and organize games and sports activities for the children. Simply helping a four year old learn the alphabet or learn their colors can be a rewarding experience.
A Day Plucking Tea with th e Tea Ladies
Your in the Misty Mountain Lodge in tea plantation Experience a day as a Real Tea Plucker in Sri Lanka! Would you like to know more in depth about tea leaf and to be able to distinguish which one has a better quality and which one isn’t? Then this is your chance to get to learn that and much more. Live a day together with the tea plucking ladies of the village
As the first step for the manufacturing of quality Ceylon tea, approximately 300,000 estate workers in Sri Lanka pluck millions of tea leaves by hand every day. This largely counts to maintaining the best quality tea in Sri Lanka compared to other countries where the tea is plucked by machines.
When the tea is plucked by hand, only the bud and the two leaves are plucked, which have the flavor and aroma. When the plucking is done by machines, most of the time a lot of coarse leaves and a few twigs too would be mixed, which add bulk but not flavor to the tea.
After plucking the tea is taken straight to the muster sheds to weigh in under first-rate supervision, and then the teas are brought to the factory where they are withered by means of large blowers.
In order to bring out the juice of the leaves, the leaves are cut and a fermentation process begins. Great precision is needed to keep the correct temperature, humidity and specially the fermentation times need to be controlled. Failing to follow these guidelines will make the flavor disappear. The tea leaves are fired to retain the flavor after the fermentation process is complete and would be dried to bring out the qualities.
The Ohiya Voluntourism Program
Arrival and greeting by us at Colombo Airport. For the first night we stay in Negombo or Colombo and early the next morning take the train to Ohiya from Colombo Forte Railway Station. This trip takes about 8 hours by the trine to Ohiya and the ride is one of the best railway rides in the world.
The Train trip will take you through 56 manmade tunnels. Places to look out for are Nawalapitiya – Hatton, and Haputale – Ella. Grey stone cliffs and rivers will flash past your window with occasional views of enormous waterfalls cascading down the mountainside, while the train keeps climbing steadily through to Hatton then Nanu Oya. If you are going to Nuwara Eliya you need to break journey here and take a tuk tuk or bus. If not, you continue to Pattipola and Ohiya. Ohiya reaches its highest elevation of 1890 meters above sea level.
Arrive in Ohiya and take a Tuk Tuk for about 5 KM and walk down to Misty Mountain Lodge and rest the remainder of the day.
From Day 3 you will start your volunteer work in a school next to the misty Mountain Lodge during weekdays. Each week can be at a different school.
Saturday and Sundays you can visit the Horton Plains and walk the Horton’s National Park and come back to the lodge and rest the evening and Sunday. You can also
trek to the Bambarakanda Waterfall, the highest waterfall in Sri Lanka. From the waterfall you will taketransport to Haputale and stay overnight.
