In 2013 a team of 6 volunteers continue to support developments in all 10 villages where we have provided buildings. This team has also been dedicated to the provision of the well in Ambakotte village.

Jon Casey

Hi my name is Jon and I will be taking part in Project Sri Lanka 2013. I graduated from Teesside University in June 2011 and quickly found that mainstream office work was not for me. I therefore have taken a job working in a large outdoors and sports retail store at which I am now still working. I thoroughly enjoy this environment and it has given me the flexibility to get involved in great charitable projects such as Project Sri Lanka.

I got my first taste of charity work abroad this June when I went to Poland to work with disadvantaged kids in the poorest areas of Warsaw and found I had caught the travel bug and would like to further employ my time to such causes. This has been realised in Project Sri Lanka 2013 which is an exciting new opportunity to continue the work in this region, employing collective team skills in whatever way the community needs.

I am thoroughly excited to be a part of the team which will also include my soon-to-be wife, Sarah. I look forward to immersing myself in a very different land and culture and look forward to new friends, new experiences and the challenges and successes that we will meet along the way. In all this I hope we can bring practical solutions and happy times to the people of Sri Lanka whom we encounter.

Oliver Cook

Hi I’m Oliver, 20 years old from Darlington and currently studying History &Philosophy at University of Sheffield. For a while now I have wanted to experience more of the world, a world much different to that I am used to. I have a few friends who went to Africa to do voluntary work last year who came back saying it was one of the best and most rewarding experiences of their life, and since then it has been something I have wanted to do. To me, experiencing life in a third world country and trying to help is something that I feel will change my life, and will change my perspective on things when I return back to a privileged lifestyle in England.

When I heard about Project Sri Lanka I was instantly curious. I can still remember seeing the awful footage of the Tsunami in 2007, and saw how much devastation. Finding out that even 5 years on Sri Lanka is still affected by what happened that day and has not recovered from it, I couldn’t believe it. As a result I felt this Project was exactly the experience that I have been waiting for. Not only am I looking forward to experiencing a completely different culture and environment to what I am used to, but also I hope my contribution to the Project has a lasting effect, and improves the lives of many. To know that you have made a difference in the world is something that I think all people wish to achieve, and I am no different. With my aspirations to be a Primary School teacher, I also feel that a chance to teach in Sri Lanka will also be fantastic experience for me, and may even open my eyes to the possibility of later teaching abroad in my career. Hopefully with a team of fellow passionate colleagues, I will meet new people, make new friends, and gain an experience that I will never forget for the rest of my life.

Poppy Garrison

Hey I’m Poppy, 21 years old, and I’m currently in my second year at The University of East Anglia studying International Development. I aspire some day to work in the medical area of development, specialising in tropical diseases.

Unlike many NGOs and charities Project Sri Lanka focuses on the importance of community support in order to make adequate change within a society. Throughout my time studying development from various angles, it has become extremely clear that the social and emotional support is just as or even more important than financial support. I see Project Sri Lanka as the perfect opportunity to experience development first hand,  and hopefully exchange knowledge and experience with local people within the villages we will work in.

Sri Lanka has always been a place that I have found very exciting to read about and research and I am so excited to be at the heart of assisting in the rehabilitation of such a beautiful country that has been so sadly devastated by natural causes. In addition, I am just as excited to meet and spend time with people who are as passionate about making a change!

Sittha Kruarat

Hi I’m Beam, a first year Business and Management student at John Snow College, Durham University. I am from Thailand and I have had the opportunity to spend several years of my childhood on the beautiful island of Phuket.Like Sri Lanka, this island was struck by the same catastrophe that was the tsunami in 2004.

Thus when I first heard about the Project Sri Lanka, I immediately became attached to it since many of the areas they are working on are tsunami devastated communities. I am very glad to have been given a chance to spend the next summer away from home and contribute to this wonderful charity.

I believe that the heart of this expedition is not merely about restoring physical infrastructures but also the hope of the people in Sri Lanka. I am looking forward to be working with a team of like-minded individuals and hopefully, we can bring smiles and warmth to the places and friends whom we meet along the way.

Rose Maddick

Hi, I’m Rose, I studying for a masters degree in social work along with Laura and originally am from Durham. When I first found out about the project I jumped at the chance to be involved. During my undergraduate politics degree, I studied Sri Lanka and the impact of civil war in the country, and my interest has grown since then. I remember seeing images of the devastating tsunami on the news, and saw the impact that it has had on some communities in Southern India, and am keen to help the project support similar societies in Sri Lanka.

I have been lucky enough to travel within Asia over the past couple of years, and relish the
opportunity of learning the customs and cultures of another country. I have had some experience
working in education, so am looking forward to being involved both within schools and within the
wider community. This will be a fantastic opportunity to learn new skills, make new friends and
hopefully help the wider community in Sri Lanka.

Sarah Noble

Hi I’m Sarah and I was part of the team of volunteers of Project Sri Lanka in 2011. I am very excited to be going back to visit the villages the charity has supported and to be part of a new team of volunteers from different walks of life working together.

Since volunteering with Project Sri Lanka in 2011 it has inspired me to travel and so this year
I volunteered with Voluntary Services Overseas working as part of a team on a community
development project in the south of Nigeria. I am now keen to travel, to see the world, taking on
new opportunities and challenges as I go along. I am very excited to be part of Project Sri Lanka 2013
and working with a different team of people. Sri Lanka is an amazing place and the people are so
warm and friendly and I am looking forward to meeting the villagers again and being part of the Sri
Lankan culture that I enjoyed so much the first time. I am very much looking forward to summer
2013, not to rush time away… but roll on June and here we come Sri Lanka!

Laura Thurman

I hardly feel the need to introduce myself anymore, as after so many years of involvement with Project Sri Lanka and penning my reflections for the website, all you readers feel like old friends now. I’ve been wracking my brains to think of something new to write about, as I’ve already mentioned in previous introductions about the many new friends from around the world I have met through the Project. I’ve told you about the amazing opportunities and the way in which my work with the Charity has altered the course of my life; how Sri Lankan culture, divine food, beautiful saris and the friendly people have called me back year after year to the country that now feels like home.

Perhaps what I have not mentioned so far is the unique and special character of each of our communities and the overwhelming kindness and gratitude towards the volunteer teams expressed by the villagers. Every year they look forward to welcoming us into their homes and schools and every year, as I have got to know these people better, saying goodbye becomes harder. We have shared our hopes and aspirations, watched the children grow and move on from the pre-schools to primary schools. New babies have been welcomed into villages, graduations have been celebrated and exciting community ventures developed in the buildings we have funded. Needless to say that every day I spend working with the Project brings new and diverse experiences. I continue to grow as a person through my involvement and have learnt so much about myself and the world. Having shared so much of my life with our communities in Sri Lanka, it’s a privilege to be able to go back and spend another summer supporting them. But then, I guess that’s what families should do – be there for each other!In 2013 a team of 6 volunteers continue to support developments in all 10 villages where we have provided buildings. This team has also been dedicated to the provision of the well in Ambakotte village.

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