SLV.Global is a graduate-led volunteering organisation working in Sri Lanka and Bali, Indonesia.
We began in 2010 when Lucy Nightingale, a then recent Psychology graduate from the University of Manchester, joined forces with Yasintha Rathnayake, a Sri Lankan youth worker. Our volunteers provide valuable support in various facilities by running therapeutic activity sessions for those living with a wide range of mental health issues and various disabilities, as well as taking part in English for Development projects in the community.
All of our placements are designed to provide maximum benefit to the communities where we work, whilst at the same time providing skilled volunteers with the chance to gain much-desired psychology work experience.
In both Sri Lanka and Bali, volunteers work one day a week in a Psychiatric facility and spend the rest of their week at various other mental health, special needs and English teaching projects, thus utilising and developing a wide range of skills. Our aim is to bolster the resources at pre-existing facilities and provide greater social interaction and stimulation for individuals living in institutionalised care. Through planning and delivering stimulating and interesting sessions for service users, volunteers gain valuable hands on experience within the mental health sector and also have the opportunity to view mental health from an additional cultural perspective.
We will be running more sessions throughout semester 1 and 2, details will be listed here as and when they come up.