Sri Lanka - Teaching in Manikhinna, Digana, Sarasavigama and Ranawane

Volunteer Comments

Averil Brown from UK (Manikhinna)
"On arrival I wondered if I was gaining more benefit from the volunteering than the village, the opportunity to live and work with local people, learn and respect their culture and also to be able to travel extensively in such a beautiful country.

By the end of my time, I had watched the confidence and skills grow amongst the children we taught. We had been able to tap into a tremendous enthusiasm for learning and channel it. It taught me that you don't need to invest huge amounts of money to achieve change but invest in time and skills and provide an outlet for their own energy."

Cecile Guinard from France (Manikhinna)
"I said good-bye to my students and the teachers last week and to my surprise they had organised a leaving party with the children's parents, monks etc. Speeches, presents, it was wonderful! A lot of emotion and I will surely miss them all. This has been a great experience and I thoroughly enjoyed the teaching!"

Satya Byock from USA (Manikhinna)
"I had an absolutely incredible, wonderful time here and don't know how I am going to leave. The temple has given me peace of mind that I will be able to carry with me for the rest of my life. Living near a Buddhist temple, has allowed me to learn everyday about Sri Lankan culture and Buddhist teachings at their core. I was always invited to take part in the celebrations and the daily life. It will be so unbelievably difficult to leave...."

Yasmin Kaur & Alyson Hyder from the UK (Manikhinna)
"Everything is fantastic! The temple is an amazing place and Nerampawe Dhammalokha is definitely one person you would wish to meet in your life... he is amazing and full of laughter. We are staying with his sister who just happens to be a cook and really wants to fatten us up. The teaching is really fun. We are teaching Montessori 35 odd 4 - 5 year olds from 8am till 10am...then we do an adult class at 3pm till 5pm for about 20max students who are actually all very advanced. To be honest we were prepared for a lot harsher conditions, but this does really feel like a bit of luxury."