Voluteering in Sri Lanka

Hello everyone! In the summer I will be travelling to Ambalangoda in Sri Lanka for ten weeks. I will be volunteering with elderly and disabled elephants who couldn't be cared for by their previous owners for four weeks and will take part in a turtle conservation programme for six weeks, I will participate in beach cleans, care for the disabled turtles that have been mainly injured in fishermen's nets and will collect turtle eggs to be re-released safely. I am very excited to volunteer as five out of earths seven turtle species are endangered, they face climate change and the threat of being caught in fishermen's nets. Also the Sri Lankan elephant population has fallen almost 65% since 1800 due to habitat destruction, humans have caused 322 animal extinctions in the past 500 years and I want to help the best I can.

I will be volunteering with the animals in the mornings and hope to be volunteering in the afternoons at places such as the tsunami village education project or the local orphanages. I am going with planmygapyear (PMGY) it sends volunteers all over the world and makes a lasting difference in the community, in Sri Lanka PMGY funds many projects like the Tsunami Village Education project, it is an after-school education project run completely by PMGY for children in communities displaced by the boxing day Tsunami which Sri Lanka is still recovering from.

This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for me and something I have dreamed of since I was little. I know this will be a huge learning experience for me! I have saved £2500 myself but could use your support in reaching my target. I will doing different fundraising activities and hope to climb Ben Nevis to raise money, I would be grateful for any donations that will help make my dream a reality, thanks for reading this!