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Volunteer with us

and make a difference in your life and theirs

 
 

2019 Volunteer in Ghana and Myanmar

Volunteering in Ghana

Our Projects are based in the rural area around Accra, supporting a well established local NGO.

  • Medical Volunteering (qualifications apply): in 2 clinics and a hospital

  • Teaching English, Maths, Science in a school started and run by the NGO, for local children who are unable to afford an education

  • Refugee Camp, now a relocation camp for refugees granted residency in Ghana. You will working with children, some of whom have surviving relatives, on a family strengthening projects in the camp.

 
 
 
 
 

Volunteering in Myanmar

Our Projects are based in the urban area of Mawlamyine

 

We’re Recruiting

Gap Year, Interns, Internships, and Paid Posts

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a National Development Coordinator in Sri Lanka

Support our Sri Lanka Volunteering, and develop our Sri Lanka NGO.

Could we be a match?

Find out more here

 

Join us volunteering from £110 / USD$139 / week

There is no registration fee, and no hidden charges

Find Out More Here

 
Sri Lanka Volunteering
 

Alice volunteered with us in Summer 2017, and is a student at University of Oxford

listen to her Audio Review at   http://www.giveafigvolunteering.com/reviews/

Ricky and Niko volunteered with us in 2108. Read their review.

Government Partnered Education and Development Projects

  • The correct visas for volunteering in Sri Lanka (A Tourist Visa does not allow you to volunteer in Sri Lanka)

  • Volunteer with confidence - we give you 24 hour, 365 days, 360⁰ support in Sri Lanka.

  • UK Staff with you in Sri Lanka

  • No hidden costs, Affordable Volunteering: Priceless Opportunities

  • Take your TESOL Qualification with us, for fun, and for travel.

  • Our programmes are from 2 weeks - 1 year, from aged 16 - to over 60,

  • You'll stay with our staff in our own accommodation, the Fig and Gecko

About Us

Hi! We're Paul and Jane.

We pride ourselves in doing our best for you, so that you can do your best for the communities we work with.

Meet the Team

Your accommodation when you volunteer with us

Our competitive Pricing

 

 

Volunteer Projects

Aged 16- 60? Join us for the adventure of a lifetime and make a real difference in Sri Lanka.

All our volunteering, which you'll love, is community initiated - from teaching English in schools and orphanages, to working with turtles, to building toilets. All in a day's volunteering!

As an education company, we have a unique position of trust in Sri Lanka, and our range of professionally planned and supported projects, can be tailored to suit your outcomes. Discover Our Projects

Sri Lanka

Because of our close working relationships with the Sri Lankan people & government, with Give A Fig Volunteering (& Give A Fig NGO), you'll experience this beautiful safe and incredible tropical island, its people, vibrant culture, festivals, and unique environment from within.

Featured Project:

 Dienst als freiwillige und unterrichtet Deutsch in Sri Lanka

Coach / Teach German in Sri Lankan Government Schools

Volunteer with Confidence:

Volunteer with confidence

Give A Fig are trusted Volunteering partners of :

Sri Lankan government, Education Department:

German Government Volunteering Programme Hosts. 

Join us from 2 -52 weeks, teaching German Language in government schools to pupils aged 14 - 19. Support these pupils who have chosen German as a subject, and their teachers.

Run German language clubs for those younger than 14, and run German language holiday clubs in December, April, and August.

We welcome as volunteers complete beginners to those who are retired teachers.

 

For more information about our other projects, visit our volunteering project page.

Volunteering Updates from Sri Lanka

We're on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Please like our pages - your support makes a big difference.

 

Follow us on Instagram

Whilst Jane and Paul are assessing projects in #myanmar, the volunteering continues in #Ghana where we have 2 volunteers assessing projects that have been running for 5 years that we have been asked to support. We are also beginning new projects in Ghana, and in #srilanka where you'll be staying @figandgecko, the projects continue and we look forward to welcoming volunteers again now that travel restrictions are lifted. To find out how to join us in medical, teaching, and development projects contact us for details.,
We've been taken to one of the famed beaches here and it's off season. We're looking around to see what volunteers can do here, and discussing projects. We find on the beach the Blow / Puffer Fish of Fugu fame. The fishermen, knowing they're poisonous, leave them on the beach. Apparently, some local people know how to prepare them and will eat them. Volunteers won't be eating Fugu, but you will be welcomed and looked after from what Jane and Paul have experienced.
How many reasons do you need to volunteer in Myanmar? It's still an unexplored affordable country where you're guaranteed a friendly welcome. It has unique sights around every corner - such as this duck pagoda in flooded paddy fields. We're looking for people to volunteer here from 2 weeks to up to 6 months. If you'd love to explore a country from the inside, get in touch.
With 3 of our volunteers at the school, children can have plenty of personalised support and learning. Join us in Ghana, supporting disadvantaged children at a school and children's centre.
Our first project partnership meeting with our hosts - the Director, Civil Society Programme Director (Mi Mon, who contributed a chapter to the book published in 2019), and Mary from a Canadian NGO who is working here to develop the organisation - ended with lunch. We have a organised more visits, and have gained a better understanding of what we have been discussing for 6 months. If you'd like to volunteer and teach English in Myanmar with us and this organisation who have operated since 2002, empowering villagers, and women to develop their lives and communities, please get in touch with us.
Follow Give A Fig Volunteering for volunteering in Myanmar.
It was a real honour to be met at the airport by the Ven Sundara, who we know as the Chief monk of the Myanmar Temple in Anuradhapura. After 2 decades, he's now Chief Monk of a monastery in his home town in Myanmar, and we'll be meeting the new Chief Monk, who we know, tomorrow. We're really looking forward to going to the temple and working on projects with a Civil Society Organisation to teach English, and German to support development here. If you'd like to know more about volunteering with us, contact us.
Our friends, followers, and supporters will recognise Ricky and Niko from our posts. They volunteered with us in Sri Lanka last year and were so impressed with us, as we were with them, that when we asked if they'd like to assess our Ghana projects for for a month, they said yes, and we're delighted, and we're looking forward to some candid feedback to ensure your experience with us is as good as it can be. We've got projects in teaching, medicine and nursing, as well as medical and dentrsitry electives. And we'll shortly be starting Public Health and Psychology projects with universities, that will include seminars, field opportunities, and community impact activities. The guys are with Gertrude, who's setting up projects to support girls and young women through education and training, and we're really looking ngg forward to being a part of that. Follow us to keep up to date with best in volunteering.
Here's Jane, the co-founder of @giveafigvolunteering (with 2 of our fabulous alumni volunteers looking on) talking to prospective volunteers and gap yearers. Whether you're joining us for 2 weeks or 52, after Yr 13 or between Yr 12-13, or as a graduate or undergrad, you'll have the same 24/7 360° in-country support, and fantastic opportunities and experiences that make a real difference to you and others. Contact us to find out more.
Here we are in Winchester, the capital of Anglo-Saxon England @peter_symonds_college for the annual gap year fair. A lovely evening for it. All of the people supporting you in the country you select run and manage the projects, and are on hand 24/7, and we're in weekly touch with them. If you're coming to the fair, pop by and see us for the best supported volunteering and gap year experiences you'll find.
The full board hostel / hotel accommodation we provide @figandgecko in Sri Lanka for our volunteers us excellent. It's a beautiful colonial building set in wooded grounds where you can sleep outside under the xs stars, or in ensuite. Our staff keep the place in great shape, and Kumari (also our excellent cook) is replacing the weave on a traditional chair. Accommodation in Ghana and Myanmar is in friendly homestays where you can make a difference and get to know their culture. Join us on our fully managed and supported projects.
If you ever wondered where the house geckos lay their eggs, as I have, read on. And they don't come down from the ceiling to lay them in the earth. They find dark places in the house - the locals say where there's no smell of people - such as the backs of cupboards, piles of blankets, holes in the walls, and in this case, in the pocket of a caram board. Playing caram for the first time in a few weeks, we found 2 pea sized balls in one of the pockets, which is how I discovered the answer to a question that's puzzled me as I've looked at the baby ones and assuming the answer, I hadn't asked. More gecko tales another day.
Seemed like a perfect photo opportunity. We'd left the monks' school and were stood at the expertly restored ancient 'pond' with the Ruwanwelisaya - one of Sri Lankan buddhism's most sacred sites - in the background.
My first stop in Sri Lanka on Sunday was to meet with Nalin again, the most acclaimed puppeteer in Sri Lanka. Nalin has been to 20 countries demonstrating his skills, and holding workshops. it was his great grandfather who made puppeteering what it has become today, a tradition of story telling and drama and child sized puppets. The puppets are hand made; the dancing girl was made by his father and is 70 years old - the other puppets were made by Nalin The stories are comedic, dramatic, and musical. In order to preserve the culture, we are working with Nalin to bring puppeteering to new tourist audiences, as advisory shows for children in schools, as well as working with others from overseas universities or other groups who may like to learn puppeteering, present shows in English, and make their own puppets. If you're interested in joining us on a course, or hosting shows in Sri Lanka or overseas, please contact us for details.
I clearly need a lot more practise just to get the stance of a lion for this Sri Lankan mask dance. Your teacher, should you like to learn the history of mask dancing, making masks, and dancing, will be the eminent thespian and academic, Professor Bentharage, who's been acting and dancing since childhood. Joining us for volunteering, or on our our cultural courses, which develop your skills as well as contributes to saving the culture of Sri Lanka and making it known to a wider audience and new generations. You know with us, you'll be making a difference in your life and those of others.

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