School cricket tours to Sri Lanka

The tour operator employs local sales staff and IT consultants in Sri Lanka to handle its holiday enquiries and all technical development and web production. Employees are contracted on ‘fair’ terms and offered annual profit shares. The tour operator is also committed to the support of local-level economic, social and environmental community projects in Sri Lanka and donates 2.5% of net annual profit to selected charities. In 2005/06 the operator has committed to making a contribution to Friends of the South, a Galle-based charity that has been managing small-scale tsunami-related projects.

The tour operator uses only local guides and drivers and shows a genuine concern for the welfare of both, believing that their services have been exploited in the past, especially in Sri Lanka, where price-fixing with the major large operators has kept their wages at unacceptably low levels. All drivers are employed on fair terms, ensuring they receive a proper wage for their services and have access to acceptable facilities, including good, clean, comfortable accommodation. All drivers receive a voluntary annual bonus equivalent to a 12.5% increment above the industry-wide driver wage in Sri Lanka.

One afternoon has been set-aside for a community day at an orphanage in Kandy. Sri Lankan orphanages receive paltry support from the local government and the facilities are depressingly basic for those used to European education systems. But the children show unbelievably good spirits despite this and are working hard to build better futures for themselves. An afternoon spent in the orphanage provides them some chance of some riotous fun. Watch out though when they challenge you to a softball match – there are some fine young cricketers in their ranks.

Later on in the tour a full three days has been set aside for participation in of the most inspirational stories to have emerged from the Asian tsunami. The small village of Seenigama was virtually flattened by the surging sea and many lives were lost. But thanks to the help of two of Sri Lanka’s cricketers, Muttiah Muralitharan and Chaminda Vaas, partners in a project now called the Foundation for Goodness, the residents are starting life afresh with revitalised hope. New homes have been constructed and many more are planned for the future. Youth development programmes have been set-up, not just for Seenigama but for villages all around. You will join in, lending your time and energy like so many volunteers to helping local people rebuild for a better future.