Once in a lifetime experience to volunteer in Sri Lanka

Natalie Reed Start Date: Mar 24, 2017 - End Date: Sep 23, 2017
  • Sri Lanka

My Travel Story

by: Natalie Reed Start Date: Mar 24, 2017 - End Date: Sep 23, 2017
Hi, So I have been chosen to go to Sri Lanka in October of this year to volunteer as a Peer Mentor in the Mental Health programme with SLV for 12 weeks! SLV receives no funding from the governement, and therefore all volunteers have to raise their own funds for the placement! So I'm hoping you guys can help me out?
Still recovering from a 25-year civil war, and with the wounds from the 2004 tsunami not yet healed, Sri Lanka's population is in need of more psychological support than current resources can provide.
In Sri Lanka, they only have one psychiatrist for every 500,000 people! This means that their first line of treatment to help Mental Health patients, is medication.

As a SLV Peer Mentot volunteer, I will be able to run group activites for patients using sensory, music and creative therapies to engage with patients on a variety of wards in multiple institutions. I will be working in a variety of settings from psychiatric hospitals, rehabilitation centres and community outreach programs. 

In addition to working with Mental Health patients, I will also be working with both adults and children who may have physical disabilities, learning difficulties, or challenging behaviour. I will also be teaching English to young children on vocational courses by engaging them with games, songs, dance and physical activity.
My responsibilities as a Peer Mentor are: To ensure volunteer safety; Support and listen to the volunteers; Motivate the volunteers; Be a role model to the volunteers and represent SLV Global.
I will be living, along with other volunteers, in a home stay environement with a Sri Lankan family. I will be able to experience a completely different culture, and get stuck into the 'local life'. As well as enhancing my cultural experiences, this opportunity will also increase my knowledge in the Mental Health feild, and put everything I have learnt into practice. I'm hoping this expereince will get me a step closer to where I want to be with my career and also open my eyes to a competlely different environment.

Thank you in advance for your support!
  • Sri Lanka

Updates

3
  • 12 Week Peer Mentor Volunteer

    12 Week Peer Mentor Volunteer
    Hey everyone! So, I have been offered (and accepted) the opportunity to stay in Sri Lanka for a total of 12 weeks, to be a Peer Mentor to the volunteers. I am looking forward to taking on this new challenge, where I will need to be supportive, professional and a role model to the volunteers on the placements.
  • Flooding In Sri Lanka

    Flooding in Sri Lanka
    This weekend the beautiful island of Sri Lanka was pummelled with immense rainfall, resulting in flooding and subsequent landslides, throughout the south of the island. Over 100 people have tragically lost their lives and it is estimated that more than 500,000 have been displaced due to the magnitude of the disaster.
    This event will obviously have a massive impact on the lives of Sri Lankan's and the help I will be doing in October will hopefully effect those lives who have gone through these horrendous floods. Please help guys!