Sri Lanka Volunteer- Mental Health Placement

Rachel Germon Start Date: Sep 8, 2015 - End Date: Jan 5, 2016
  • TEFL/Teach Abroad
  • Educational/Research Trip
  • Volunteer Trip
  • Sri Lanka

My Travel Story

by: Rachel Germon Start Date: Sep 8, 2015 - End Date: Jan 5, 2016
  • TEFL/Teach Abroad
  • Educational/Research Trip
  • Volunteer Trip
I have been accepted as a volunteer to a Mental Health Placement program for 10 weeks in Sri Lanka, an island just southeast of India! I am volunteering with SLV, Sri Lanka Volunteers, which is an educational organization for both undergraduate and graduate students of the university. You can find more information on SLV here: http://slvolunteers.com/.

On a weekly basis, I will be working in a psychiatric facility and mental health rehabilitation facility. In addition, I will also be working with children with special needs, and working with the locals as an English teacher. I have always had passion in my heart for helping others, especially those with “disabilities”. This opportunity has presented itself to me, and I am doing everything I can to make it happen. Volunteering in Sri Lanka will aid me in my undergraduate Psychology studies at Georgia State University, and give me a different perspective in my future career as a Psychologist.

Working in a culture that is foreign to me, observing, learning, and comparing their therapeutic techniques to those that are American will give me a more well-rounded outlook on my approach to therapy. Not only will volunteering in Sri Lanka be a once in a lifetime experience, but it will also give me the chance to truly make an impact on others. When I was growing up, one night at youth group my pastor took me aside and said to me, “Rachel, I just want you to know that you are very important in God’s kingdom, and I don’t ever want you to forget that.” I have carried that with me ever since, and I believe it has helped me through my hardest times to strive to do better, and to be a better person.

Volunteering in Sri Lanka will give me the opportunity to help those in need see that light at the end of the tunnel, whether it be through teaching them a new language, or supporting them in their therapeutic endeavors. If you make a donation for my Sri Lanka trip, you will not be let down.

If you and I can work together to make this trip successful, I will have the chance to touch others with knowledge, acceptance, understanding, and most of all, kindness. Every penny counts, so whether you donate fifty cents or fifty dollars: your money is appreciated more than words can describe.
  • Sri Lanka