It took me awhile to post this because I honestly did not know where to begin. I have a million thoughts coupled with every emotion physically possible. This post had a very good chance of being 10,000 words ending with a picture of me ugly sobbing. I will try my best to spare everyone.
I spent 7 days in Bohol, Philippines volunteering for an organization called All hands. A week is by no means a lot of time, but it was enough to change my life. I arrived that first day via tricycle and as soon as I pulled up to the main base, or what I later learned was called “tent city”, the nervousness I felt only doubled. It was bigger, louder, and seemed to me all that more intimidating. All I could think about was how unprepared I felt. Within minutes I was greeted by some of the friendliest people I have ever met, and helped to settle in to my temporary home. There was no awkwardness allowed. I was instantly family and I began suspecting that this was going to be a great week.
Once my tent was up I was sent off to work for my first day. I jumped on the Jeepney and headed to a home that had been destroyed during the earthquake. It was our job to safely bring down the collapsed walls so that this family could re-build. This involved sledge hammering a cement wall. Insert nervousness again. Prior to this week I had never even picked up a wrench. A Phillips screw driver was a type of shot I once took in the Bahamas. By the end of the day I was sledging away, hard hat and all. Despite the learning curve I had to overcome, my team was amazing and supportive.
The day lasted about 8 hours and by the time the Jeepney arrived to pick us up, I could not feel a single part of my body. As I sat on the roof and watched the towns go by, I honestly wondered how the heck I would wake up the next day and do it again. Cue the children. The whole ride home the local kids chased after our bus waving and laughing and being the cutest things in the entire world. The old men and women by the side of the road would thank us as we drove by. The entire community was behind us and the genuine appreciation was overwhelming. That’s when I knew I would have no problem doing it all again.
I spent the day working hard with amazing people, and then got to spend the evening getting to know them even better. Every night we would have a meeting in which we shared successes and challenges and re grouped for the work day to come. We would eat together, drink together, laugh together and basically spend every waking moment together. My first time at this communal living thing was a success. The people I was sharing such a small space with were all alike. They came there for the same purpose, and shared the same hopes and ideals as each other. They were also far more interesting than I could every hope to be.
All seven days I had there followed the same pattern. Woke up, worked incredibly hard in the hot sun, loved every single moment of it, and then spent the evening with some of the greatest people I have ever met. There were obviously challenges. Physical and emotional. But there was always someone there to talk to and help get you through it. We were all a team, in every sense of the word.
As a treat, on my last day there we got to spend an afternoon at a local elementary school with children that literally chased our vehicles down in anticipation. We played games, taught them about the countries that we came from, and my ultimate favourite sang songs. One Direction is universal.
My week there went by in a flash. When I was saying my goodbye speech on my last day, it felt like a moment ago I nervously said my hellos to about 60 strangers. It felt impossible to me that I could feel so different after such a short period of time. Not only did I learn invaluable practical knowledge (even though I did call “rebar” “rhubarb” for the longest time) I also left with a slightly new outlook on life. I know it’s probably cliche to say that it made me appreciate what I had, but it really did. I gained perspective and it’s something that influences all of my decisions now. On top of all that, I got to meet friends for life, and live in a community full of inspiring locals and stories.
In the end my contribution was tiny. I helped take a part the roof of a school, de-construct two wooden homes, and knock down a broken concrete wall. I wish I could have stayed longer and done more. The only solution I can see for this problem is that I will just have to go again. This was in no way my first and last volunteer experience.
Thank you All Hands for making my time with you amazing. You do great work and I have nothing but never ending respect for all the staff and volunteers. It was truly a life changing experience and I hope I can continue to help in any way possible.
Cheers from 30,000 feet
@elzzster