Shared Volunteer Orientation: Monday afternoon
Forest Garden Tour: Wednesday morning.
Following is a checklist of items that new guests and volunteers need to be taken through. If you have arrived and no-one has taken you through this orientation list, please ask us to.
Updates. If something in this orientation checklist is missing, needs updating/deleting etc, please just write it on the printout (or, if you are reading online, just add a comment at the bottom of this page) in and it will eventually be updated on the intranet.
Belipola Culture: Belipola is an evolving experiment in a different way of living. We are all learning as we go along, giving it our best shot. As with any group of people Belipola goes through highs and lows. Also, individuals within the community go through their own highs and lows at their own times and have different personalities, strengths and weaknesses. Sometimes things run smoothly, other times it's a bumpy ride. Of course, we never quite have enough people to make things run as effectively as we would like and sometimes the movements of people leave a hole in our processes. The bumps are inevitable - it's how we deal with them and what we learn from them that is important. There will always be things for us to learn and plenty we could be doing better. So, please:
Be open to the experience and observe your own reactions as if you are an explorer on a new adventure.
Be solution focused. If you don't like something (e.g. a process is not working for you or you have a tension/conflict with another person here) please let us know. Raise practical/process issues at a feedback meeting or speak to Thamindu (volunteer coordinator). For personal issues, conflicts etc, speak with Sion or Trudy.
Do not gossip (speak negatively about others behind their back) - this is the single most destructive thing in communities and workplaces. It entrenches misunderstanding and disconnection. If another person starts to gossip to you (even if it's a community member - they are human, too), support their higher self by suggesting they speak to someone who can do something about it (eg . the person they have the issue with or a project leader).
Sharing the load. The physical work (e.g. gardens, cleaning, maintenance) that you see going on around Belipola is only the tip of the iceberg - perhaps 10% of the work that actually goes on. Behind the scenes, there is a lot of work going on (management, administration, legal, financial, conflict resolution, shared decision-making, policy development, information systems, business development, grant writing, project planning etc). So, you may never see some community members out in the garden with you but just be aware that they will be pulling their weight in a different way and, if you want to, ask them how it is that they contribute.
Guest/Volunteer Application form online. Complete (if not previously completed) and have volunteer coordinator sight passport/WWOOFer number/Driver's license.
Your accommodation:
Your room allocation.
Linen - bedsheets, pillow case, blankets.
Prior to leaving, please clean your room
Costs:
Guests pay at the end of their stay to the volunteer coordinator.
Vounteers pay at the end of each week to the volunteer coordinator.
Reimbursement - if you want to be reimbursed for something you must negotiate the maximum cost in advance with the volunteer coordinator.
Food:
Food is vegetarian, healthy and delicious.
Breakfast: from 7.30am. Help yourself. Simple food – fruit, bread, yoghurt will generally be available in the kitchen.
Lunch: from 12pm. Catered. Main meal – generally rice, curry, salad.
Dinner: from 6pm. Help yourself. Food will have been cooked earlier and set aside for dinner. You are welcome to cook for yourself using ingredients in the kitchen pantry (please refer to stickers on jars). You may also harvest from our organic vegetable garden and the forest (please refer to guidelines for doing so as to respect the business that we run and to ensure sustainable and equitable harvest for those that come after you)
Stickers on jars - green (eat as much as you want), yellow (limited personal use), red (only for community meals). Helps us stay on budget.
Gardens - Check with the gardener/s about how, when and what to pick for vegies/salads and what is ready to pick.
Dietary requirements – remind us of any food you cannot eat or special needs that you have.
Kitchen:
Cleanup: after eating/drinking, always clean up after yourself. Wash and put away dishes etc, wipe down benches, etc.
Kitchen cleanliness. If you have been preparing food, clean up immediately after yourself, before going off to eat. Leave the area cleaner than you found it. This is important when there are many different people using the kitchen.
Conserve water to be sustainable. Please:
have brief showers (maximum 4 minutes) and do not run at maximum flow
use low flow with taps/showers unless essential,
turn off water whilst cleaning teeth,
Rinse vegetables, salads etc in a bowl of water and not under a running tap
Rinse plates, pots etc in a bowl of water or plugged sink and not under a running tap
Conserve energy
Remember to turn off lights and fans etc. Especially in the community spaces at night, please check around and turn off lights that have been left on. Particularly, the last person out, make sure all inside lights are turned off.
Rubbish
There is no rubbish collection here so avoid creating it by avoiding packaging. Take out what you bring in.
Waste paper (but not plastic) can be thrown into the fire in the kitchen
Waste plastic should be taken to Bandarawella and disposed of in rubbish bins there (e.g. in front of Food City)
Organic Waste (eg banana peals) can be thrown into the organic waste bin in the kitchen for composting
Volunteer work coordination:
Work hours: are generally from 7am until 3pm Monday to Friday. There are generally 2 tea breaks during the day and a longer lunch break. Saturday and Sunday are free.
Trial Period: Your volunteering begins with a 3 day trial period. Assuming all is well, you can then stay on for up to a month. If all goes well in that time, you can then stay on for a longer period.
Volunteer hours log book in office: Record your hours worked.
Weekly Timetable on clipboard in office. To assist with work planning please:
Let the volunteer coordinator know your preferences.
Let the volunteer coordinator know your planned departure a week in advance.
Check the timetable each afternoon to see what work you are scheduled for the following day.
Check with your allocated supervisor before doing any other work that someone else has requested.
One Off Tasks. Often a range of tasks will be written in the "One Off Tasks" book that may be suitable for you to do. Check here if you are looking for something to do. Check with the person whose name is beside the task to get more detail.
Looking for something to do. There is a list of Regular Volunteer Tasks in the office. If you don't have anything to do, do something from this list and let your supervisor know.
Activities:
Weekly group debrief with all volunteers together every Tuesday morning.
Coming events on whiteboard. Please add to it.
Write volunteer and guest names on whiteboard, with room number
Daily/weekly activities. Sometimes yoga (if we have a teacher here), working bees, check whiteboard.
Things to do around Belipola. Big list online at www.belipola.com/experience/things-to-do shows things onsite and in the area. e.g. visit Ella. Let us know of any other things to do or if you feel the need or desire to do things.
Communications Technology
Mobile phone reception – Dialog provides the best coverage in Sri Lanka. However, the free sim card that they may give you as you go through immigration at the airport is a "special" tourist sim card. Charges seem to be higher and the card will expire after one month, requiring a trip into Bandarwella with your passport to the Dialog shop to get the card unblocked. If the card requires your passport number to be activated then you have a tourist sim card. The sim cards sold at the Dialog booth in the airport arrivals lounge seem to be be okay - make sure you check. Safest to just by a sim card at a regular shop.
Incoming main phone – Office line: +94-57-240-5033 or Site managers (Sion) 0773869272 & (Trudy) 0774191016
Answering the phone - If the person asked for is not present, take a message. Write down intended recipient, caller's name and number, message, time and date of call, and your name (in case your message cannot be understood)
Outgoing phones – only for office staff or emergency calls within Sri Lanka.
Emergency phone numbers:
110 - Fire and Rescue Service
112 - Police Emergency Service (Mobile)
118 - National Help Desk (Ministry of Defence)
119 - Police Emergency Service
Internet – wifi is available at the office. (password is 033033033) We subscribe with a limited useage package. Please respect that there are many people that share the allocated useage, including for office work. We request that you do not download large files (more than 25mb) and you do not stream video or audio content. This ensures that everyone gets to access internet for their needs.
Movies: You can buy DVDs in Bandarawella for Rs70 if you want to watch new movies. Or borrow our DVDs.
Post a photo each week - Volunteers, please like our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/belipola and post a photo of something related to Belipola once a week as a contribution for your internet use - this helps us a lot.
Intranet - useful information for members at https://sites.google.com/site/belipolaintranet/
Transport:
Frequent buses run to Bandarawella (about 12 kms) for Rs 30 and take about 30 minutes. When returning, ask to be dropped at Mirahawatha. From Belipola to the main road for the bus is about a kilometer (or 2 kms from the Mirahawatha Post Office)
An 3-wheeler costs Rs700 or 800 to take you to and from Bandarawella and wait for you.
A 3-wheeler will drop you in Bandarawela for 600rs.
We generally make a delivery to Bandarawella twice a week by three wheeler. You can catch a free ride if there is space.