I have just completed my 3 and a bit weeks volunteering in Tacloban and can honestly say it was an incredible experience. Hurricane Yolanda as the locals call it (Typhoon Haiyan to the international community) hit Tacloban ridiculously hard in November 2013 causing a stupid amount of damage to an already pretty basic place. When my plane came to land and I looked out the window it was pretty obvious why this place got smashed up. It's a vast and very flat island that the hurricane would have just flattened with relative ease, there is no where to hide. According to official figures 6340 died but when speaking to the locals, they claim it was easily more than 10000. However, apparently when a natural disaster/catastrophe hits somewhere and the figures of death reach over 10000 it means that the international community have to get involved and for some reason the Philippine government did not what this to happen. The organisation I worked for is called "All Hands Volunteers" which is a non profit NGO who operate all over the world. They provide immediate and long-term support to those who need it, basically those who have been smashed by natural disasters.
I arrived very early on the 1st and caught a trike to the base that would be my home during the stay. A trike is basically a motorbike with like a carriage connected to it for people to sit in. The journey from Bangkok was quite an effort as I had a 6 hour wait in Manila. I thought id be able to sleep there but the noise put a stop to it plan. By the time I reached the base I felt shattered but decided to soldier on and get involved by working that same afternoon. The main project in this area is the rebuilding of houses in barangay 83c (basically a neighbourhood). 40 houses are being rebuilt from scratch with each house taking 4 weeks and multiple houses being built at the same time. By the time I arrived they were on the last 7 or 8. As well as this several other projects are simultaneously going on including the building of a park for the kids to play on and also a basketball court and new evacuation centre for when Tacloban gets hit again by tornados. My first afternoon was spent digging in pretty torrential rain, ready to lay the foundations for a recently commenced house. It was tough work, I was sweating a stupid amount and it was definitely an eye opener to what the next few weeks had in store for me.
The base we stayed on is pretty basic. The showers intermittently worked for my first week (they improved thereafter) with only cold water and obviously no aircon! After my first night there I got a fan and spent the rest of the time sleeping with the fan blowing directly in to my face which kept me cool and enabled me to get a good kip. About 80 of us stop on this base at any one time with volunteers coming and going all the time. It is a very international community with people from all over the world volunteering. The majority have no previous skills and are taught upon arrival. Which is actually quite incredible as you have people taking charge of the building from start to finish which isn't a skill many possess. It's fascinating talking to people and finding out what they do back home. One chap who was in-charge of a house was a bus driver back home... And here he was ultimately being an architect. Madness.
For my first full day I was put on the "Gladiator" team. The gladiators basically take all the resources needed for the building of these houses, directly to the sites that need them. It's hard graft, pretty much just labouring all day long, for 6 days a week. After a bit I was put in charge of this team and stayed a gladiator thereafter. We would be picked up daily at 0715 and all cram in to a "Jeepney". A Jeepney is unique to the Philippines and is an American jeep that was left over after WWII. The locals extended these jeeps and basically tuned them into a bus. They are still running today with a lot of them actually dating back 70 odd years. We would drive for 10 minutes or so where the Gladiators who averaged about 6-9 people in the team, would get dropped off at the warehouse and then load up a Jeepney with whatever the site needs, predominately cement, gravel, sand and wood. The Jeepney would then get as close as possible to the sites where we would unload all the materials and carry them to the site before heading back and refilling. And then back and forth until about 1630. I personally quite enjoyed the workout but in general the gladiators weren't a popular choice by the majority.
The barangay itself was like something I've never encountered. People are seemingly living in squaller. Broken and battered shacks with no running water and a very ropey sewage system. It wasn't uncommon to see human s***e on the ground and I often saw people just slashing in the street. Dead puppy's and kittens just discarded on the side of the path and just in general a very dirty place. I even saw a dog munching a soiled nappy. I was tempted to grab him and take him to a shop I knew where they discard coconut shells once they've been used. Surely he'd have preferred trying to nibble one of them. But he knew the area better than me so I left him to it. He must have been one peckish hound dog. However, despite all this, this is their life. You have to respect that and almost turn a blind eye, there's only so much you can do. And the work of All Hands Volunteering was more than most are. And to be honest no matter how unprivileged they all seemed, the parents of the little children used to dress the school kids immaculately. It was admirable really. For my first few days I used to use the dogs to navigate as it all looked the same to me. When I saw the white dog, I knew where I was. Same with the puppy's and also a dog with a huge tumour on his b******s... When I saw him I knew I was near the house I worked on for my first afternoon. The monkey on a lead also aided my navigation (I s*** you not). After a while though, I got my bearings and didn't need to rely on the animals. The people as expected were very friendly. The little kids would all know how to say "Hey, what's your name?". I think the general consensus was that they were pleased we were there helping, as can be expected.
The evenings were spent relaxing or popping down town for some food. We got all our meals paid for which was great but because there were so many of us the portions weren't huge so most people went out for a second dinner. You get Sundays off which I mainly used to recover from the previous nights antics. I'd get a massage, eat good food and basically just chill out. My first Saturday night was definitely a highlight of the volunteering for me. A bunch of us hit a swanky hotel for a few drinks and then a German chap called Georg and I hit a karaoke bar. They absolutely love a bit of karaoke out here. We didn't pay for a drink in the place and the locals also bought us food. One chap I was talking to for a while kept thanking me for being there and saying "I salute you Sir". He was incredibly thankful and genuine and it really made you realise what a difference you were making. Unfortunately Georg and I got a little excited that night and missed the curfew by half an hour and were consequently suspended for one day and had to stay off base. A little harsh I thought but rules are there for a reason I guess. From then on in, when I went out on a Saturday I just ticked the "out all night" box so didn't have that issue again. One Saturday Georg' plan was to sleep rough on some tables near the base... Thankfully I managed to get a hotel as I didn't really fancy that. I'm hitting a full moon party in Thailand in a week with him... God help me!
I feel like this is quite a poor blog and doesn't really paint a picture of my volunteering at all. I should have blogged as I went along but it really has flown by and I've been quite a busy man throughout. The ultimate highlight for it all, as cheesy as it sounds was the naivety and happiness of all the kids. They don't know life out of the barangay and it seems they don't really need to. They are ridiculously happy and the smiles on their faces when they see these predominately Western volunteers rebuilding their broken village only reaffirms this. All the locals will have a story to tell from Yolonda and all would have definitely known someone who died as a result of this. Despite the devastation, destruction and pain they remain positive and happy. They have a roof over their heads in most cases and have loving families. Add a bit of karaoke in the mixer, which most seem to have in their homes and you've got one chirpy place to live. I was also lucky enough to see a few handovers when out there. Which is when the finished house is handed over to the family. Although the local elder people can be quite shy, there was no hiding the happiness on the families faces. It was great to see. I've worked in some pretty random places doing various different work, from Afghanistan to Bahrain, Djibouti to the Gulf, on Submarines and US ships and finally and worst of all... Bedford. But I can honestly say, for me, my time volunteering was probably the most worthwhile work I've ever been involved in. Bravo All Hands.
I now have 6 or so days to burn in the Philippines before I pop back to Thailand, smash a full moon and then head to Cambodia I think. I'm heading to Bohol for a few days to relax so will update from there.