Lovely Homestay near Kandy in the beautiful Hill Country of Sri Lanka

  • Favourited 622 times
  • Last activity: 29 Feb 2024

Availability

  2024 

 Min stay requested: at least a week

J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D

Details

  • Description

    Description

    We are Sally & Jerry, an English couple in our early 60's and 70's - We have a beautiful home in rural Sri Lanka, in the hill country 11K from Kandy (the cultural capital) We run our home as a guest house, and we have a large 2.5 acre garden to tame and maintain. We employ 3 local people, but we need extra helping hands for both maintenance and the improvement of our buildings and with Digital Marketing support... so we are always looking for carpentry, plumbing and building skills and have some smaller indoor and outdoor projects; painting walls, filling cracks, , weeding, mending fences etc. etc. That would be OK for the unskillled partner of a carpenter or plumber. But the other Area of work we are looking for help with is Digital Marketing - so regular updates on our Facebook Account, Posting on other relevent sites, preparing and compiling newsletters and using Mailchimp to distribute.

    Currently because of Covid and our financial constraints we are only taking two - four volunteers at a time.

    None of the jobs we ask volunteers to do would create extra permanent work for locals. If our business grows enough for us to afford more full-time staff then we are totally committed to providing more jobs for local people.

    We have had the house for several years and moved out to Sri Lanka permanently in 2015 and want to get the garden working well and to improve paths, steps, fences and flower and vegetable beds as well lots of other projects and Ideas....including building and plumbing work to improve various buildings in the grounds. although there are also bits of less skilled work like painting, weeding etc. to be done; so we welcome partners/couples with just one skilled practioner. .

    In return for your help, and advice we can offer you basic but comfortable accommodation and a small kitchen to prepare your own food (which we pay for). You also get to use the large and lovely swimming pool in your spare time, or use many of the games we have in the garden. Croquet, Boules, Badminton etc.

    Please let us know as soon as possible if you are interested.... we ask that you stay for a week minimum but we are especially keen on volunteers who wat to stay for up to a month or even longer. As a minimum, you will work 5 days per week, and your days off will be flexible. The working day will usually start at 8 a.m. and will either continue till 1pm (with a short break for tea/coffee at 10.30) or may possibly be in two sections during very hot dry weather; starting at 7.30 am until 10.am and then continuing from 3pm-5.30pm to avoid the worst heat of the day.

    When possible we will try to arrange for trips out to interesting local places (which are too far to walk to) including a picnic lunch which we will provide as well as transport. Priority for places on these trips will be given to volunteers who have worked with us for over 1 week.

  • Types of help and learning opportunities

    Types of help and learning opportunities

    Gardening
    DIY and building projects
    Help around the house
    General Maintenance
    Help with Computers/ Internet
  • Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

    Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

    We find that we have very interesting conversations with our volunteers, and whilst we are English we live in a house with Martin and Rani our Sri Lankan Tamil staff and Noni a Sinhalese widow lives with her children nearby.
    The local village is very typical of this tea growing area of the country, so you can learn a lot by just walking about and meeting people in your time off.
    We also support a Project a nearby charity - which offers opportunities to the children of the tea workers who are some of the most underprivileged children in Sri Lanka.... they also take on Volunteers so there may be some opportunities to work with them as well.

  • Help

    Help

    Really it will mostly be either Digital Marketing and/or building and maintenence: plumbing, carpentry, building garden walls, steps etc , Also shifting earth, planting things, weeding fishing leaves out of the pool.

  • Languages spoken

    English: Fluent
    French: Beginner

  • Accommodation

    Accommodation

    We have a garden room, separate from the main guesthouse, which is self contained for day to day living and it sleeps 4 in one double bed and a set of bunk beds. It is all very comfortable (though cosy) and has an en-suite toilet, basin and shower and a kettle, mini fridge and water filter, also an outside covered terrace for sitting out and/or drying your clothes - you also have access to the poolside kitchen and Spacious verandah and would normally cook food that we provide, . However, twice per week we will invite you to supper with us and any guests, in the main house.
    We always have the need for qualified professionals in the building trade. So if you are a Qualified plumber, electrician, builder or joiner - and also Digital Marketing People particularly people with experience ofMail Chhimp, Facebook, Twitter, Booking engines etc.

  • What else ...

    What else ...

    Our house and Garden is really lovely and full of wildlife, we also have a large swimming pool you are welcome to use and there is great walking through the tea estate. There are frequent buses to Kandy from about 1K down the road....Kandy is a big and busy city with lots to do during the day... however this is definitely a place for people seeking peace and tranquillity - night life is at most, a game Scrabble and a good dinner or gazing at the milky way, surrounded by fireflies and listening to the Cicada's. If you are a writer, a walker, and artist or a romantic; this may be for you!

  • A little more information

    A little more information

    • Internet access

    • Limited internet access

      Limited internet access

    • We have pets

    • We are smokers

    • Can host families

  • Can host digital nomads

    Can host digital nomads

    We would be keen to accomodate Digital Nomads in return for them helping us to digitally market our homestay as part of their volunteering work.

  • How many Workawayers can stay?

    How many Workawayers can stay?

    More than two

  • ...

    Hours expected

    Maximum 5 hours a day, 5 days a week

Host ref number: 494359245897

Feedback (69)



Feedback

These are extra optional ratings when members leave feedback. The average rating left for each option is displayed.

Accuracy of profile: (5.0)

Cultural exchange: (4.9)

Communication: (5.0)








































































Help with garden and guestouse in Hikkaduwa, Sri Lanka
Developing Eco tourism, planning Tea and Rubber plantation visits, Marketing the place using social media in Ingiriya, Srilanka.