We are a network of volunteers and volunteer projects operating mostly in the southwest third of Sri Lanka since the earliest days after the tsunami of December 2004 devastated the coastal regions of the island. The mission of VSL is to mobilize volunteers to help rebuild and rehabilitate Sri Lanka in the coming years.

If you want to come to Sri Lanka to volunteer we can help you find a place in the reconstruction efforts by matching your skill set with the needs of NGOs and other volunteer projects operating at the community level.

To date (April 2004) we have registered over 500 volunteers and placed over 80 in projects from Hambantota to Hikkaduwa and everywhere in between. Check out the Get Involved section to find out more. And if you have already made plans to come, be sure and drop us an email and check out the Tips section – these are hard won lessons from volunteers who have learned the hard way.

We are entirely self-funded and we charge no fee for this service. If you would like to assist us with a donation you can find more information below.

To the left there is a form you can download and fill out. It tries to chart your skill sets and interests so we can enter them into a database.

Then we go and identify small international and local NGO, and volunteer efforts working in tsunami survivor camps (known as IDP, or Internally Displaced Persons Camps) in the southern 4 districts of Sri Lanka: Kalutara, Galle, Hambantota, Matara and Hambantota. We have contacts in over 100 camps in these four districts alone.

We get the people running these projects to give us the skill sets they are looking for, then we search our database and try to match these skills needs to those of potential volunteers. If there is a match we put the volunteers directly in touch with these efforts. You can find out more about some of the projects we are working with (those that have a web presence) in the links section of this site.

Although we ask for a minimum of one month commitment before we try and match you, we also try and help volunteers who simply show up to Sri Lanka. We have an office on Galle Road in Hikkaduwa. Our contact number are above so call us when you get to country - we can help!

Created in the wake of the disaster that struck South Asia on Boxing Day 2004, VolunteerSriLanka (VSL) is a response to the critical need to co-ordinate the large numbers of international volunteers who flooded into Sri Lanka offering assistance.

In the southwest third of Sri Lanka there are numerous small volunteer. local NGO and small international NGO projects which have sprung up as a response to the tremendous need of displaced people affected by the tsunami. These smaller scale projects are tremendously effective due to their ability to operate with low overhead and make quick decisions. Larger International NGOs take as much as 40% off the top of all donation money and are hampered by their own organizational constraints. Furthermore these larger organizations have no capacity to utilize volunteers.

VSL utilizes a community-focused, demand driven approach to volunteer placement. This means that Community-based Organizations (CBO), whether its the Lion's Club, a group of volunteers who are taking care of an IDP Camp, or some small NGO or church group, is the driving force in volunteer placement. We just match their needs with what's available on our database.

We ask volunteers to leave their expectations at home and to come with open minds and be prepared to do whatever is necessary. Rest assured past volunteers have found the experience extremely rewarding. Volunteers are badly needed, especially in volunteer-run camps and projects. Most of our placements are in the southwest third of the island. With donations we have opened an office in Hikkaduwa (approx 90 km south of Colombo) from where most camps and projects are readily accessible.