Hi,

My name is Emily Perrott and I am a second year Paediatric student Nurse at Anglia Ruskin University. As part of the university degree, we have been given the opportunity to do a 4 week elective placement in Kandy, Sri Lanka. This elective placement is arranged through an established company called WorkTheWorld, who have been working with my university for many years providing safe, structured and rewarding elective hospital placements all over the world. These placements are tailor made to each student to ensure that the student benefits as much as they can.

During this placement, i will be volunteering in a children's hospital caring for sick and vulnerable children who quite often will be living in unsafe conditions because they do not tend to have the basic necessities that we have here in the UK. Kandy Sri Lanka, unfortunately also suffers from many life threatening conditions. These include malaria, hepatitis, HIV, encephalitis, dengue and TB.

This excellent opportunity will give me the chance to expand my knowledge of healthcare to include the influence of culture and socioeconomic backgrounds. I will also be gaining lots of experience in general nursing that i will be able to bring back to the UK to reflect on and possibly implement. As part of the placement i might have the opportunity to be able to spend some time on a critical care placement on the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) or Accident and Emergency (A&E). Prior to this elective placement, i have a confirmed placement on a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit in the UK and this would be a brilliant chance for me to use the newly learnt skills and compare the difference in healthcare settings in different countries. This placement will also allow me to experience healthcare that is very rare in the UK related to the conditions mentioned above and therefore I am really interested in experiencing the care provided for a patient suffering with these conditions and the treatments that are implemented.

As a nursing student i will be trying to self-fund as much of this elective placement as i can but the cost of living away at university is a big financial commitment. So i am asking for your help via donations to help me with some of the costs of travelling to Sri Lanka, including accommodation, flights, insurance and living funds. In addition to this page, i will be doing many fundraising events and activities to ensure i can complete this placement and help children suffering in another country.

Cost Breakdown

£300 initial application fee, £1490 accommodation and food, £560 return flights, £29 visa, £20 uniform (scrubs), £25 insurance, £160 travel vaccinations and the recommended £600 (150/week) living costs.