I thought I would put up a few thoughts about volunteering holidays in general and specifically Sri Lanka with i-to-i.
I spent four weeks doing a volunteering holiday at Kosgoda, working on Tsunami relief projects.
In a nutshell, here are the pros and cons:
Pros: you get to meet local people as a guest rather than a tourist; immerse a little in local life; work on projects which do benefit people; spend time (relatively) safely in an unfamiliar country and not have to worry about finding accommodation companions and activities; you will meet amazing people and, possibly; add to others' lives.
Cons: you do not 'really' benefit local people or projects very much at all; the projects are usually under-resourced and of dubious value to the local community; you will pay an awful lot of money for the convenience factor, of which very little goes to the community you stay with; you need to be aware that you're doing this more for you than for the benefit of the communities you visit; you may come away feeling a little jaded about the 'ethical' aspects of your trip.
Having said that, you can increase your chances of finding a trip which substantially contributes to local projects by doing your homework - ask for written information on the proportion of the holiday fee which goes to the local community, ask for details of the feedback from the local community leaders as to the success of the projects, ask other volunteers what they thought, ask for advice from charities and NGOs.
I want to wrap it up by saying that I had an amazing time in Sri Lanka, the people, food, country and experience were all wonderful.
I do not think that I contributed very much at all to anything worthwhile, but what can you expect from a four-week trip?
If I were doing it again, I would make much more effort to find local organisations to arrange my trip with, and pay them directly. Booking through an intermediary such as i-to-i means you have no control over what goes to the communities you're trying to help.
i-to-i certainly make the process simple, but you do then compromise on the actual value of your volunteering efforts and hard-earned cash.
Send your feedback or queries to been.there@guardian.co.uk
Search Been there
I now know that volunteers can have a positive impact on (most) projects because I have seen the difference in, for example, the English speaking skills of a class of Peruvian children. I also see the volunteers improving as people.
As concerns the money, gap year companies are businesses and this is not a secret. Also, the amount of money paid by each volunteer does cover a lot of expenses such as insurance, food, accommodation and staff support both in the UK and overseas, so the profit margin is smaller than you might imagine.
I agree that you should do your homework on the companies. You should also be aware that this experience will be mainly for your own benefit, but you should not feel guilty about this. You cannot expect to save the world, but improving yourself has positive impacts of its own. I also think that it is worth booking through intermediaries, especially if it is your first time abroad alone, purely because it is much safer.