Hi everyone, my name is Damian and I’m 17 years old. I’ve joined Volunteer Worldwide twice before on their youth trips, and this year I decided to travel to Sri Lanka on my own for four weeks!

I spent the first two weeks in a town called Badulla for the volunteer work. Every morning I helped out at a preschool together with another volunteer. It’s a Buddhist preschool, so each day starts with praying and meditation. After that, the teachers begin their lessons in Sinhala and English. This was also the perfect time for us to be useful and prepare our own activities.
The children have breakfast at school and there’s plenty of time for playing, drawing and crafting. They also spend a lot of time practising writing letters and numbers.

For me, volunteering is all about sharing experiences. The more energy you put into it, the more rewarding it becomes.

I got to experience some really special moments, especially because this was an important time for Buddhists. The day before Poya Day, which is a festive Buddhist holiday, the children came to school in traditional clothing and visited the temple to meditate. The day after Poya Day, the mothers came to school for a session led by a monk, who taught them about raising their children. It was incredibly special to be there for that.

In the afternoons, I coached football at the local football club in Badulla. I worked with around 20 boys aged between 12 and 18. This was completely unexpected, because I originally came only to help at the preschool. Thanks to the amazing support both from Volunteer Worldwide and in Sri Lanka, I got in contact with the head coach of the team. That set everything in motion and turned into another amazing experience for me.

All in all, I had such an incredible time here, one I couldn’t have experienced in any other way. Volunteering, to me, is about sharing experiences. The more energy you put in, the more you get out of it. Learning the language and remembering the children’s names makes a huge difference, because you’ll see that they trust you more quickly and allow you to help them.

- Damian