I took part in the 5-week placement to Sri Lanka with SLV Global and had the most amazing time. I really enjoyed living in another culture alongside other Psychology students and the sessions were really eye-opening. One aspect I would say needs to be improved is session planning on a Monday morning. This was rather unorganised and we were only given 10 minutes to plan each session. I think this aspect could definitely be improved, as it is a very important part of the week. Moreover, costs including transport and resources are not included within placement fees and many people did not realise this before going to Sri Lanka. Although both of these aspects are rather inexpensive in Sri Lanka, costs do still build up. Overall, Sri Lanka was the most amazing experience and I really enjoyed the placement. Thank you SLV!

I completed the 5 week foundation mental health placement in Sri Lanka. Overall, I would say the experience was rewarding: I gained invaluable experience in a field I did not know much about before, while fully immersing myself in a new and exciting culture. I worked on many different projects with service users exhibiting a range of different disabilities, giving me a varied and well-rounded experience. I particularly enjoyed the field trip to a psychiatric facility - although it was difficult and emotionally taxing to see the state of the facility and the extreme dependence on drug therapy in Sri Lanka. However, I only gave 3 stars because of two main limitations. Firstly, I wasn't entirely sure where my placement fees went, since there were quite a few additional costs. For example, attendance to the workshops, which were offered every Thursday, was strongly encouraged since after all, "it's what you paid for" (quoting a peer mentor). However, these workshops always came at an additional cost! They weren't expensive, yet it just made me wonder where all the money from the fees went (there were also additional transport costs to other compulsory activities)... Moreover, the session planning hour on Mondays was my least favourite part of the week. It was very unorganized and held in a loud setting - hardly the right environment for thoughtful discussion and planning (maybe this was just the case in my placement area, Horana, since I heard that the volunteers in Kotte and Colombo did not have this problem). Each project only got 15min of planning dedicated to it, which sadly often led to rushed and "impromptu" session plans, which were not sufficiently tailored to the individual service users needs. I wish SLV had some sort of “masterplan” for each project, providing some sort of rough overview of what has been done in the past, and what should be focused on in the coming weeks – I feel like this would make session planning way more straightforward and ultimately give service users (and volunteers) a better experience. That being said, I do not regret doing this placement, yet I would definitely encourage future applicants to take the above into consideration. It is an expensive placement and you should be very sure you are willing to pay the sort of money required for the experience.

My whole experience with SLV Global has been one of the best things I've ever done. I am so grateful to have been able to travel out to Sri Lanka for 5 weeks working on a variety of Mental Health and Community based projects in order to help to improve Mental Health in Sri Lanka. You are not only provided with a wide range of invaluable psychological work-experience, but you also meet a variety of amazing people, travel during weekends and challenge yourself daily- therefore the whole experience is also an amazing personal experience- one which I will never forget and will continue to recommend to everyone!

Very fruitful and rewarding experience where you could get hands-on experience working with different service users. And as well, gain a broader view on global mental health issue.

The experience is a once in a life time opportunity. It gives you experience that will be useful for the rest of your life, and perfect to talk about in any form of interviews no matter what future job or experience you apply for. As well as this, the experience is exciting and gives you a chance to impact others and have your life changed in return! The company makes the transition into your experience smooth and enjoyable and everything is extremely well organised ensuring you can enjoy yourself stress free!

The most life changing and rewarding experience having the opportunity to work within an amazing team and in a field thaI I am most passionate upon. I did not realize how powerful non-verbal communication is until I joined the SLV.Global in Bali with the language barrier and the individuals who had severe mental health issues or hearing impairment; this is one of the valuable skills that I have developed for my future career in mental health A lot of the team had graduated or were graduating in psychology however this placement is beneficial for all areas working within mental health or individuals with learning disabilities. The weeks were occasionally challlenging from the heat and exhaustion yet it was definitely worth every minute of it by making that small yet significant differnce on the individual. SLV.Glbal were very supportive during the four weeks and I cannot thank them enough for the inspiring experience. Not only has this developed my skills for my career yet I have gained amazing friends and memories that will last a life time!

Because there is just one life, we need to make the most out of it. When I hear at first about SLV Global I thought it was one of those things only happened in dreams. But we are the owners of our lives, and we decide if we want to make our dreams become true. I completed the 5 weeks program in SL last year, and it was, apart from a significant working experience in my cv, such a life challenge. It was my first time out of Europe; I was traveling by myself to work and live with people I didn't know and it was in a faraway country. Sounds scary right? Well... I always said that I have my blood family back to my country, and I have my day a day family, the family that the life makes you cross with. I am lucky to say that I founded my family in SL who teach me to live, work and deal with so many different people every day. My ama and daughter (Sindu) who were my mom and sister and whose I loved to spend time plaiting their hair and playing the lottery every Sunday night; my roommates, colleges and mainly friends with who I got lost every weekend, got sick together and sweat together so much (because you will sweat a lot, LOL); and my "Despacito team" (Staffs) always laughing and mocking with me to make the most out of my smile, whose will join you all the time working, dancing or anything you need. I remember I came back last year after this project and I felt strange, couldn't believe all that I did in such a short time, and I knew I would do something like this again. Now I just completed the SLV India program. This time I thought I knew where I was going and what I was going to do but what the life is that it will never stop to surprise me. It is a completely different project and I still have literally no words to describe it. It was amazing, beautiful, wonderful, it is such a short project, so you think is not going to be as good as the previous one. But I found out how many things you can learn in just 2 weeks time. The first week is about workshops and clinics around India which surprisingly has so much to offer; you will learn and discover a new brutal cultural approach, I was fascinated about NIMHAS and all the temples you will visit too! It is just impressive!. And very important to point out, the second week: such an adventure, you will jump in the sea like a kid as well as hiking in between the clouds of mountains with the best team you could ever have! These guys looking after you in India will become your friends, your support to cry, laugh, eat a lot and jump to any adverse issue that you can approach being abroad. Even when a few people did not want to get involved in the activities and they were pushing the whole group down, the team did everything to find the best solution to help them. These guys became my family and I will always be so grateful to all of them. Because this is not a goodbye, this is a see you soon guys! The 2 weeks India program is full of awesome and also tricky experiences with lots of emotions of all sizes which will make you feel everything intensest than ever! I just came back and everything feels different at home, still processing that I am not there anymore and I need to get back to a world where nobody will really understand what those 2 weeks experience has been like to you. That's why it is a one life experience that nobody should miss because I can not explain it better, you should just go, try and live it....! that's all it is. Thank you to the whole team. Sonia Gascon

Amazing company offering such invaluable experiences that make such a difference to both service users and volunteer's lives. Thank you SLV.Global!

Volunteering with SLV. Global provided me with the most incredible experience from working with service users with a wide variety of mental health issues to being completely immersed into a new culture and way of life. I loved every second of this challenging but extremely rewarding placement and can only hope to continue work like this in the future.

5 week advanced placement, Sri Lanka I have recently come back from my placement in Sri Lanka and it may just be one of the best things that I have ever done. The placement exceeded any expectations and gave me opportunities to work with a variety of service users whilst making friends that I consider family and experience an entirely different culture (which I miss so much). I didn't want to come home!