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Hi future Workawayer! 😊
Are you looking for a unique Workaway experience that combines tropical estate life, lots of animals, cultural exchange, and meaningful support and learning?
We are an active multicultural family of three (Dutch & Sinhalese) living on a beautiful 13-acre estate, about 30 minutes from Negombo beach. Life isn't boring here, and it comes with a mini “farm family” too! Dogs, cows, goats (we have a little baby one right now!), chickens and fish. If you’re a true animal lover (especially a dog lover 🐶), you’ll feel right at home!
We have a 24-year-old son with autism and an intellectual disability (IDD). He is limited-verbal and he is the heart of our family, but our dogs are too! Much of our day is focused on supporting him, teaching him new life skills, and following an ABA-based approach (Applied Behaviour Analysis).
Food is a big part of life in our home. We enjoy local Sri Lankan meals as well as dishes from other cultures, and we love experimenting in the kitchen and inviting friends over for dinner. Our friendly and talented cook, Priyanthi, will happily share her cooking secrets with you, and you can learn a little Sinhala along the way too!
Our estate is large enough for peaceful walks (or even a mountain bike ride). And if you’d like to cool down, we have a beautiful lap pool available day and night.
We also love growing our own organic vegetables, and planting is part of daily life here. Several people from our neighbourhood work on the estate, so there’s plenty of opportunity to learn, connect, and share.
In addition, we run a registered charity and are currently in the start-up phase of creating the first residential community for young adults with autism in Sri Lanka. If you are interested in this, any help with this project is welcome. It’s a special opportunity to be part of something bigger .
Our estate is just outside a village with local shops, a weekly market, and very friendly people. A Buddhist temple is within walking distance and is a peaceful place to visit. In your free time, it’s easy to travel and explore Sri Lanka , and as a former travel agent, I’m always happy to share tips and help you plan to explore our beautiful island.
If this sounds like your kind of journey, we’d love to hear from you!
Warm wishes from us!🌺
Types of help and learning opportunities
Charity Work
Art Projects
Language practice
Help with Eco Projects
Teaching
Gardening
DIY and building projects
Animal Care
Farmstay help
Creating/ Cooking family meals
Help around the house
Interests
Videography
Events & social
Vegetarian or vegan
Sustainability
Pets
Self development
Farming
Charity work
Animals
Languages
Photography
Plant care
DIY & crafts
Books
Art & design
Gardening
Cooking & food
Architecture
Drawing & painting
Winter sports
Camping
Water sports
Outdoor activities
Beach
Nature
Cycling
Yoga / Wellness
Cultural exchange and learning opportunities
Life on our estate is a mix of family warmth, Sri Lankan village life, and little daily adventures.
Our home is social, and we often have friends and family over for lunches or relaxed dinners. As a Workawayer you won’t just stay with us , but you’ll be part of our everyday family life. That includes trips into the community: supermarket runs, village outings with our son, a trip to the local ground or to the beach, and peaceful visits to the nearby local Buddhist temple. Once a week we also visit a small school for children with special needs in our area, which is always a meaningful experience.
Food is one of the best ways to connect with Sri Lanka , and in our kitchen you can experience real home-style Sri Lankan cooking. Our cook is very talented and will happily share her cooking secrets with you.
Because we live on a large estate, there’s also a lot to explore. You can work alongside our estate team and learn about the many trees, fruits, and vegetables growing here. If you’re curious, we can also visit some of our workers’ homes, so you can experience authentic Sri Lankan family life.
On the estate you’ll also find a small carpentry workshop where a local carpenter builds furniture, doors, and windows, and even a classic car restoration area where local technicians bring old vehicles back to life.
Sri Lanka is also famous for its beautiful batiks. At walking distance a close family member runs a small batik factory, where you can see how the beautiful batik art is all hand made. This is a lovely place and if you are interested we are more than happy to share this experience with you and even get you some batik classes.
One of the most special corners of our land is our almost 100-year-old ancestral home. Stepping inside feels like stepping into another time, and it comes with many stories we love to share.
And because our family is both Dutch and Sinhalese, you’ll experience two cultures under one roof.
As you can see we have a lot to share, we are curious and would love to learn and hear about your culture too!
Projects involving children
This project could involve children. For more information see our guidelines and tips here.
Help
There are several ways that you can help us out:
Support us with our 24-year-old son with Autism.
You should be physically fit and comfortable doing a variety of activities with him, depending on his energy and mood. This can include swimming, biking, ball play, teaching life skills, going out into the community, or simply spending relaxed time together.
A background in Psychology or Social work, experience in supporting people with special needs, would be wonderful. However, experience is not required, we provide free training in ABA (Applied Behaviour Analysis), and you will learn many valuable skills in Autism support. A willingness to learn, patience, and a positive attitude are essential.
Help us out with the cooking and tidying of our home.
Although we have a cook, we also prepare special dishes for our son, so if you are more a person like that, it would be a great help too! We will guide you on his preferences, and we would also love any new ideas (food from your own culture, which of course we also love!), as we are working on expanding his menu.
Help out in our home garden and vegetable garden (and beyond) It is a little big and any help there is greatly appreciated. Planting new trees and expanding our little forest is an other opportunity we have on our estate.
Since we are in the start-up phase of our community project we need a block of our land to be cleaned up. This requires some more heavy work. Support of our own estate workers will be there. If you could drive a tractor it would be a bonus too!
If you have strong digital content creator skills and like to help us out with our social media for our charity, that would be great as well.
Let us know where you can help us out and we would love to discuss this further.
Languages
Languages spoken
English: Fluent
Dutch: Fluent
Sinhalese: FluentThis host offers a language exchange
My level of Sinhalese, being dutch is still in the beginner stage, so you can learn with me. My husbands English and Sinhala is fluent, and his Dutch is in the beginner stage.
Accommodation
We have two accommodation options for our Workawayer:
1. A small, clean and cosy bedroom with an attached bathroom. Please note that this bathroom may also be used by other family members.
2. A lovely garden cabana with a small private balcony. This option is more private, but it does not have its own bathroom (yet). You would need to walk through the garden to the main house and use the bathroom in the other room.
About the meals, we provide breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day.
Breakfast is a mix; sometimes Western-style, and sometimes Sri Lankan favourites such as roti, string hoppers, and milk rice. Sri Lankan breakfasts take a little longer to prepare, so on those days we will take our breakfast maybe little later.
Lunch is usually rice and curries, with a variety of vegetables and often a salad. Vegetarian meals are absolutely no problem.
Dinner is again a mix of Western, Sri Lankan, and sometimes other international dishes. We enjoy experimenting in the kitchen, and you are very welcome to join in, share your ideas, and cook with us if you like!
What else ...
We completely understand that as a Workawayer you will need and want your own private time to relax, recharge, and explore Sri Lanka. We’re happy to support that, and we want you to enjoy your stay with us both on and off the estate.
Because we are a busy family, we do ask for flexibility and an open mindset (we’re not a strict “9–5” household). Some days may be more active, while other days will have a lot of breaks in between. If planned in advance, it’s also possible to arrange a free afternoon or even an extra-long weekend from time to time.
Some free time ideas:
Short breaks: relax in the garden, go for a swim, take a walk around the estate, biking in the neighbourhood, visit the nearby village and temple, try some carpentry work, or visit the batik place.
A free afternoon: head to the beach and enjoy Negombo town, it’s easy to reach from our home, or to explore little more in our area you can easily hire a tuk-tuk.
Weekends / long weekends: Sri Lanka is perfect for sightseeing and travelling. You can visit famous cultural sites, nature and wildlife, and beautiful beaches and you may even meet other volunteers or Workawayers nearby.
House rules (important)
We only have a few simple house rules:
No smoking inside the house (smoking is fine outside in the garden)
No alcohol misuse
No outside visitors without permission
Other than that, we are very relaxed and easy-going. 😊
A little more information
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
Can host families
How many Workawayers can stay?
Two
My animals / pets
Fish
various goats
lots of chicken
10 cows
Junior
Lady
Tessa
Grumpy
Balla
Poddy
Winky
