Without Borders is a Social Enterprise with a core vision of empowering individuals and communities to become nothing but their best through innovative education and training models. We started off in April 2014 with around 10 volunteers, 30 students, and no monetary support, in a small run-down temple hall. Absolutely nothing would have convinced us that we would become what we are today. Our idea was simple.
We wanted to run a simple after school program where we teach English to children and adults in Deraniyagala.
Fast forward three years, we currently run three idea labs, impacting over 1500 trainees across 7 deep rural communities and even hiring back our own students as trainers. If someone was to ask us what it was that kept us going? It’s those stories of courage, change, and transformation that helped us do what we do.
Project: Changing Classrooms
(Sri Lanka): Our schools need urgent remodeling: our syllabuses are outdated, our teachers are underpaid and undertrained. Our aim through Changing Classrooms is to foster innovative partnerships with schools in deep rural areas and to then work with teachers and students to bring in innovative teaching methods, creative and results-oriented curricula and effective classroom management techniques to our schools.
We started off with the Dehiowita National School (click here for maps) where we’re currently running a year-long pilot run of our curricula focused on spoken English, creative thinking and confidence building. The sessions occur once a week, where we bring in trained teacher trainers and volunteers to give the students a one of a kind classroom experience. One classroom at a time we’re changing the way we think of education.
If you can spare a full (any) Tuesday from your schedule, you’re a perfect fit.
Volunteer Responsibilities
You will start off the day pretty early, it takes about one and a half – two (2) hours to get to Dehiowita from Colombo. The syllabus and all other required materials will be provided by us. Volunteers are required to work with the team in running the lessons and other activities with the kids, mentoring the students, creating new programs and innovating on our existing syllabus. Above all we want this to be a creative space for you – to build something life changing that you wished you had in school.
Minimum requirement: We require every volunteer to satisfy a minimum of one Tuesday per month. If you feel that you’re unable to commit in a given month you will need to inform us over the previous month.
Cancellation Policy: When you sign up for a given slot on our Doodle sheet you commit to showing up. The smooth running of the program depends on your attendance and punctuality. We are extremely strict on last minute cancellations besides in the case of a family or medical emergency.
For more information or clarification, email or call (+94772654444) Amana from Without Borders.