Matilda Nichols: My Volunteering Trip to Sri Lanka

The trip started with a mini tour of the island, showing the vast differences in the landscape. I was shocked to see how little the communities had, yet how happy and content they were. The buildings, rarely finished, only had a few walls and sometimes no roofs for shelter. This within itself was eye opening. Living in England, one of the most built-up countries in the world, we have everything at the touch of a button the majority of the time. You don’t truly realise how other countries live. After the tour, we settled at our accommodation in Hikkaduwa.

The programme I participated in was Marine and Wildlife Conservation. We fed the turtles, cleaned tanks, and gave them medication in order for them to get better. The idea behind the turtle hatchery was to provide a safe haven to the turtles that were ill or injured so they could fully recover before being released in the wild. Unfortunately for two of the turtles, they would never be released. One had a crack in her shell and only had two of her fins, one at the front and one the opposite side at the back. The crack in her shell meant that she couldn’t swim and would just stay buoyant at the top of the water, and the placement of her two remaining fins meant that she could only swim round in circles. Releasing her would mean she would easily be hunted by predators, leaving her defenceless to the elements. The other turtle, named Snarl due to his feisty attitude, was blind meaning that he would not be able to catch any food for himself, but also leaving him as an easy victim for predators.

We also visited a local herb garden in Hikkaduwa, where we would gather herbs and plants that would be used to make medicines in order to help the turtles. They had numerous spice plants, such as saffron, turmeric and the most common, the banana plant. The way the medicine was made almost seemed medieval to me, due to the vast array of over-the-counter medications widely available in the UK. This was the most basic form of creating medicines. In Sri Lanka, the main religion is Buddhism. This religion teaches spirituality, which involves a lot of herbal treatments. This explains the heavy use of herbs and spices within the turtles’ medication.

On this programme, we also volunteered beach clean ups, which unfortunately were covered in plastic. One day we cleared 93kg of plastic on a small 200 metre stretch of beach! Clearing the beaches provides the communities with safer living environments but also to the wildlife as well.

In the future, I believe this will aid me by having a broader knowledge of the world around me and how the smallest amount of help, can really help those who need it.

Where it isn’t related to my university course, I believe it has given me a more rounded approach and outlook on the world. In turn it has helped me to be more empathic of other situations I may have experienced, therefore not understand.

Matilda’s volunteering trip was partly-funded by Santander Travel Fund.

Matilda Nichols

Matilda Nichols recently graduated from the University of Northampton where she studied BA Fashion. She has an interest in delving deeper into situations to truly understand them for what they are. Through this, Matilda decided to gain some life skills and immerse herself into a different culture, to understand others upbringings and their lifestyles, but also to engage with the community seeking to help those who do not have everything at their fingertips.