Farming - Nuwaraeliya

Boys’ Town was designed to help encourage the aspirations, talents and abilities of disadvantaged youth looking for a brighter future. Trainees live on-site so that Boys’ Town is a tight-knit community where everyone lives happily together.

Boys' Town features a four year residential training program in:

Agriculture and Farming: Pig rearing, poultry, dairy farming, rabbit farming, rice cultivation, rubber tapping and processing, coconut cultivation, vegetable cultivation and cash crop production are all a part of this farm. The farm is equipped with poultry, a piggery, dairy, apiary and aquarium facilities as well as a mini zoo for educational purposes. Vegetable and spice gardens supplement the larger plantations that consist of rice paddies, rubber and coconut.

The Boy’s Town is a three campus complex. The first year of the program is spent on basic training at the central center in Ragama. Then students go for six months to SLTI’s Agricultural Training Centre in Nuwara Eliya, Central Province. This is a wet location. Afterwards, students shift to the dry location of St. Anthony’s Farm Agricultural Training Centre. This centre is renowned for its buffalo herds. The first year allows students to find their interests and concentration. The next three years are spent learning the intricacies of the specialization. Each boy is trained in an all-around manner at Boys’ Town. They learn how to cook, sew, care for animals and cultivate land. Parish priests can recommend school dropouts, orphans, handicapped individuals, boys from broken homes, and boys up to the age of eighteen how have committed minor offences. SLTI accepts applicants from all religions, although 90 percent are Catholic and they begin and close the day with chapel prayers.

Volunteers will assist with:

Harvesting or planting crops
Digging
Weeding
Composting
Clearing areas of grass
Maintaining enclosures / fences
Basic building work / DIY

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