Ongoing Yolanda Relief Work

While I have left the Philippines, I was struck by a news story that flashed before me at the ferry terminal in Ormoc: "Corpses are still being recovered in Tacloban." It was four months after Super Typhoon Yolanda blasted through Tacloban City and bodies were still being found and people were still lining up for rice and food rations.

Feet dangling from the top of a jeepney on the way home from work.
© 2014 Andrea Rip

Tacloban, the area hardest hit by Yolanda, is All Hands' next area of concentration. When I left, there was a small group of six to eight people setting up a new base there and getting started on a major neighborhood rebuild project. With a number of projects to be completed between Ormoc and Kananga, All Hands was following through on their commitments to the area I served in before moving everyone to Tacloban.

While parts of the Island Leyte are getting electricity, each home and business has to pay to reconnect to the lines - and with little business income after the storm, this can be impossible for many. Depending on the size of the home, it could be P400 (~$10USD), but too much for many on the Island.

Despite rainy season's end at the beginning of February, mid-March tropical storms and a small typhoon have dampened a week's worth of work. When people are living in temporary cardboard, plywood, tarpaulin, and tin huts, the extra and unseasonable rain and wind makes for difficult circumstances. One of All Hands' teams in the mountains was virtually rained out of a weeks worth of work in their wind torn tents with battered equipment.

This is the reality of working in the Philippines and serves as a reminder to stay aware of people who need help: Please do not forget the Philippines.

A sign I spotted in Ormoc: "Ormoc is now HOPEFUL and We are THANKFUL
to YOU generous PEOPLE."
© 2014 Andrea Rip

Yolanda was a wicked and destructive storm and the work is far from over. There is so much work to be done yet - so many homes (temporary and permanent) to be built, unsafe structures to be taken down, people who need food, and families who need their livelihood back. My All Hands donation site is closed now, but here are several ways you can still donate if you are able:

• www.world renew.net
• www.hands.org
• www.doctorswithoutborder.org
• or your favorite international aid organization (Red Cross, World Health Organization, UNICEF, Save the Children, World Vision, etc).

A recent update (with a video) from All Hands puts some numbers to the Project:
"We established Project Leyte in late November, and since then we have assisted 2,998 families, and 22,571 people total, in the recovery...we have relied on 6,550 days of donated labor by 286 volunteers from 32 countries around the world."

One of the women who joined Project Leyte, Chloe "Crutches" Lyttle, with her 19 Toes Productions, put together a beautiful video that summarizes what our Project looked like: Hard work, cute kids, and occasionally a little play.

Riding back from work on the back of a jeepney.
Photo Credit: René Serrano

I returned grateful for the work I was able to contribute in the Philippines; amazed at the hard working, peculiar, and beautiful people who were part of this experience; simply incredulous at the amount of resilience and number of smiles I saw from the Filipino people; relieved that I returned without major injury; and without words to describe the thankfulness I have for all those of you who supported my trip with their money, positive thoughts, and their prayers.

Amen!

Swimming with Whale Sharks

Up well before the sun thought about rising, I witnessed it's beauty from my
bus window on my way to Oslob on the Island of Cebu.
© 2014 Andrea Rip

The soonest flight from Cebu that I could board was three days after my volunteer work completed on Leyte. With a three night stay booked in Cebu City, I planned to enjoy my clean hotel room, get some much needed quiet sleep and rest, catch up on the news, repack my luggage, and make use of the free WiFi in my hotel room.

It wasn't until I checked into my room that I realized how much I needed some quiet time and some space. It was pure luxury to spend time in my pristine room at the Mandarin Plaza Hotel (that was still in its "soft opening" phase) by myself.

An underwater selfie with a whale shark.
© 2014 Andrea Rip

I couldn't squander the little bit of time I had left in the Philippines, and put some time into researching some activities that I could do in my final three days. I settled on swimming with the whale sharks and determined that as much as I wanted to sleep in the next morning, Monday was going to be the day I trekked down to Oslob, a small barangay (municipality) on the southern end of the Island of Cebu.

Whale shark eating krill. They are very friendly to humans, but a person
could definitely fit in that mouth!
© 2014 Andrea Rip

I woke up at 3:30am to gather my belongings and catch my prearranged taxi to the bus station. The taxi driver helped me find my 4:something a.m. bus and I prepared to pay the P120 fee (~$2.75USD) for the two to four hour air conditioned, WiFi enabled bus ride. The bus departed promptly and the early bus meant we made a magnificent coastal trip in two hours. I slept here and there, but was quite keen on watching the sunrise. Watching the colors creep over the beaches and blue ocean felt idyllic - like Leyte's devastation was on the other side of the world.

After hopping off the bus with a couple other intrepid early morning tourists, we located a hotel that allowed guests to pay a small fee (like $1.50USD) to use their facilities. They would also accompany us to the whale shark watching company and bring us out to the underwater oddity. Afterward, they provided showers and comfort rooms (toilets), and a little cafe.

The highlight, of course, was donning my favorite snorkel and entering the water with enormous fish. The sharks are very docile toward humans though their mouths are massive. When one such creature crept toward me with its mouth open, my thoughts were twofold: that I didn't really want to be in its path and that I was probably also eating some of the krill he was after.

Tumalog Falls in Oslob are gorgeous with cool water.
© 2014 Andrea Rip

Philippines law dictates that tourists can only be in the water for 30 minutes, but I swam with about 10 sharks for that time. Sometimes they would sneak up and swim right under me. Other times, they would bob like me in the water waiting to be fed a bit more. Some dove deep down to where the scuba divers anchored themselves on the bottom. The entire experience is rather "canned" and touristy, but I couldn't escape how surreal it felt to see such beautiful whale sharks so close.

After I dried off at the hotel and had a bite to eat along with a mango shake made by Mark, my "tour guide," he took me on his motorcycle up to Tumalog Falls. The beautiful waterfall cascaded down a mossy cliff to create a gorgeous aqua-colored cool pool. The waterfall is fed by a spring and is always flowing.

I was content with my swim with the whale sharks and didn't venture in this pool, but Mark made the short hike with me and I learned some things about the falls, the Philippines, and his life while we walked. Afterword, he timed out the bus and hailed it for me to ride back into Cebu City. The ride back was a bit longer - more than three hours, but I was back in the quiet hotel room by 3:30pm and discovered the Ayala Center Mall a couple blocks from the hotel where I did not eat rice, but found a number of options for meals outside the hotel.

The next day I wandered around that part of the City, repacked my luggage, rested, and prepared to fly out on my third morning. The return trip was quite uneventful and included a much shorter layover in Hong Kong, and a three day layover in Los Angeles where I stayed with my generous and wonderful friends, Seth and Amanda, while saturating myself into American LA culture including Whole Foods, Starbucks, fancy indulgent SUV's, and no rice.

Last Working Day on Leyte

A bus stop on the road between Kananga and Ormoc.
© 2014 Andrea Rip

My last day on the job, I worked in Ormoc and decided to stand on the back ladder on the 45 minute ride back to base. I soaked it all in, watched the distressed palm trees one last time, smiled at the beautiful sky and hills, mourned the still-broken houses and roofless schoolrooms, while feeling enormously grateful and downright blessed that I had the time and opportunity to serve in the Philippines after such a major disaster.

If not me, then who will go...

This is what many temporary (and for many, permanent) homes looks like

in the Philippines. Made from salvaged materials and not so storm proof.

© 2014 Andrea Rip

That was the phrase that passed through my head while I packed and prepared for the trip. And, it found me again on this last ride. When I leave, who will follow? Most certainly Project Leyte will find volunteers - a demographic of mostly 20-something backpackers with some younger professionals taking a break in life, freckled with other do-gooders who have time and space in life to accommodate some work. There was a 1500 - 2000 person wait list while I worked on the project. But with so much damage, I hope there are more people and more organizations who can keep the momentum for rebuilding and recovery going throughout the year.

John with his "hard yakka" shorts riding on the back
of a jeepney.
© 2014 Andrea Rip

Part of me considered that all this hard work ("hard yakka" as the Australians put it - also an Aussie clothing brand) could be wiped away with another typhoon. Part of me hopes that the work we are doing is a little bit better than what was there before - and when another disaster hits this island in the Philippines, the next relief effort can build it a little more resilient than how we left it. And, part of me prays that it never happens again - though this country is perfectly positioned for tropical storms, flooding, volcanoes, and earthquakes.

The women at the Gawad Kalinga Tambulilid neighborhood in Ormoc took

a photo with me on my last working day.

The last day of work, I went out to Ormoc and worked with the Gawad Kalinga project one last day. The familiar Filipino faces were so warm and friendly. They were sad to see me go and gave me hugs and gratitude for my work. The girls and women all posed for nice photos with me in my bright pink tank top. I worked, tried fresh coconut juice that was about the best drink I had in the Philippines from a woman who sold it for 10 pesos in a plastic bag with a straw. She thanked me with such a lump in her throat it nearly made me cry. She said she wished she had more to thank me with than words. I told her that I was only giving to her what other people had given to me throughout life and for this trip. There are really so many people behind my effort. Her story, like so many others is of heartbreaking loss, but strength from God to move forward, come together with her neighbors, and reestablish their homes. It is pure inspiration.

All That is Lost...and Found

A man came by to look through the debri for his personal

documents that had been buried by the storm and tree.

© 2014 Andrea Rip

Perhaps the time that I was most moved to understand how deep Yolanda's devastation permeated through a place was while I worked at the Valencia Elementary School to clear a classroom of a large tree. Initially, Yolanda uprooted and massive tree onto the classroom. It destroyed the roof and compromised the entire structure of the classroom.

Another response team sent a group with chainsaws who cut up the tree in manageable pieces. However, when All Hands took on the project, the room was a pile of branches, sawdust, leaves, glass, concrete, and a dilapidated metal/tin ceiling structure that was between six to 12 feet (2 - 3m) high.

The "Philosophy of Education in the New Society" sign was

a casualty of Yolanda.

© 2014 Andrea Rip

Every day, between two to six people worked on cleaning this room. Some used a metal grinder to safely remove the roof structure as others shoveled sawdust and pulled the branches from the room. After we cleared the rooms, we sledge hammered the walls and pulled them down to clear the concrete foundation slab so that a new classroom could be built.

The interior of the classroom next-door to the classroom that was destroyed
by a massive tree at Valencia Elementary School. In much better condition
than the kindergarten room that shared a wall, this room was waiting for an
engineering assessment to determine if the walls were structurally sound.
© 2014 Andrea Rip

As we cleared the tree out, we began to uncover what remained of the classroom after the storm. Most of our job sites were cleared out of the substantial and salvageable material before we arrived. I wish I had taken a photo of the alphabet blocks that I discovered mixed in with sawdust, but it simply remains a sad memory in my head of the kindergarten classroom that had probably been filled with children just a day or few before the storm. I wanted to keep one of the blocks as my reminder of the storm, but brought them to the principal's office instead - hoping that even though the blocks were quite battered, some children might still be able to use them.

As we found items that were in the classroom, much of which was still wet from ongoing rains or broken, we tossed it in a pile of mixed debris. One of the afternoons when we were working, a man came by to assess the work we had done. He asked if we found any items in the room and I pointed him in the direction of our pile. A little later, I walked by and saw him still sorting through some of the papers. In one of the envelopes he pulled out some important documents and showed me the one on top that read, "Marriage Contract." He had many of his personal effects in that classroom. As sad as I was for what had been lost, I was relieved that he had found some important pieces of what he was looking for.

Even being on the ground where Yolanda hit the hardest, it was hard to comprehend how much had been lost. This work site provided me a small picture of how much it will take to rebuild people's lives - even after the structures are back in place, there is so much that will need to be acquired to fill up those new empty places.

Watermelon on the Outside, Bubble Gum on the Inside

A glimpse of the "big pink watermelon" from across the sugarcane fields.
© 2014 Andrea Rip

For the first week that I was on Project Leyte, I spent my days painting the hospital's interior. At first it seemed like a good way to ease into the work with All Hands - and by Wednesday, I just wanted to see the rooms painted in the entire building.

Feeling quite accomplished for finishing off a large green room. We worked
around boxes filled with donated medical supplies from around the world.
© 2014 Andrea Rip

With so much bright pink paint, the exterior of the hospital looked like what Katie called the "big pink watermelon." The green roof enveloped the pink fruit while the black window sills gave the building it's seeds. All that color on the outside did not prevent the interior from becoming quite colorful itself. We painted every room in a shade of green, blue, or pink - just like a selection of Bubblicious Bubble Gum.

Before we could think about painting, we had to clean. We cleaned up gecko poop, small animal carcasses, various "fluids" on the walls (it's a hospital so your guess is as good as mine), debri left from all the construction projects going on, and in the kitchen - a whole lot of grease and grime. Cleaning involved washing, scrubbing, sanding and sweeping. Only then could we start with the rollers and paint brushes and put two coats of paint on each wall. I even was able to teach Jessica, from China, the English phrase, "coat of paint" which she thought was quite clever - or just odd.

Keeping track of wet and clean paint brushes for
each of our colors was a bit challenging when
painters changed out nearly every day.
© 2014 Andrea Rip

Did I mention that we all lived in the hospital while this work was going on? We even had bunk beds set up in the morgue. During the work, any given group of people would have to move out of their room so that it could be fixed up as an administrative office, operating room, recovery room, birthing room, or nurses station - and then some other group would move into that room when work was completed. This happened until the entire place was fixed up and we eventually all moved out into tents out front of the hospital building.

Tim, with his enviable hair managed much of the hospital work including the
meticulous painting of each room, doors, windows, and trim.
© 2014 Andrea Rip

I quickly found that I had a good hand for painting a straight edge for the eight-ish centimeters of "trim" (a darker color of the wall paint) around the bottom of all the walls. So, after the rooms walls were coated, I went around and did a lot of the trim twice over for a little visual variety.

There were a number of team members who participated on any given day. One person who I really enjoyed working with was Kamila from Poland. She reminded me so much of another Polish friend who I have and we painted quietly and occasionally talked and joked about life and the project work. I was sad to see her go after a week but she was participating in a project at the Tarsier Sanctuary on Bohol that I had visited.

Tim, and Australian American, was much more committed to the hospital painting and repair work than anyone. He had an aversion to both hospitals and the color pink due to his wife's recent breast cancer. But, I think in the end, the experience was rather therapeutic for him and he left our team with quite an accomplishment under his belt - the hospital was completed. He had one of the bigger farewells from volunteers who respected him and missed him after he took off toward Australia.

The Ceiling at Lonoy Elementary School

Carlo and John screwing support beams to the ceiling.
© 2014 Andrea Rip

One of the first projects that I did outside of the hospital was working on the Lonoy Elementary School Kindergarten classroom ceiling. When the team originally arrived to the structure, classes were still being held in this room despite a bowed and broken ceiling. The rafters and support beams were distressed and falling. First, the team led by Carlo and John removed the damaged ceiling structure and salvaged as much reusable wood as possible. Then they commenced restructuring the beams and supports.

John and Joe hammering in additional support for the plywood ceiling.
© 2014 Andrea Rip

This is where I joined the project. Just finishing the beams and supports, John's friends back in Australia donated some money to the project. John used this money to purchase plywood that was not originally funded in the project scope through All Hands.

Over the course of the day, we had to add extra wood beams so that we could secure all the plywood to the roof structure. Then we started nailing in the plywood sheets as evenly and securely as possible. The first day we only managed to tack in three plywood panels. The next day we added the rest that we had on hand and still required six more to complete the work. The volunteers back on base pitched in enough money to purchase the remaining panels and complete the ceiling in the classroom.

Kids, including Neil, always found a way to sneak in the room.
© 2014 Andrea Rip

While we worked, school kids would constantly wander into the room to see how the project was coming along. Sometimes they brought us flowers - that poor school grounds must have been picked bare by the time our work was done there. Many times we would receive notes of thanks from different classrooms, individual students, teachers, and staff. I received several from nine year old Neil who professed his love to me several times over!

Maybe the best part of working at Lonoy Elementary School was snack time. Clearly, if the kids are getting breaks and snacks, so should the volunteers who are helping out. On one day we were the grateful recipients of a stir fried meal with an entire loaf of white bread for the four of us workers. We ate our fill of it all and then some that day - along with a traditional bottle of Coke.

Lonoy Elementary School always provided good snacks while we worked.
This 'snack' nearly constituted an entire meal.
© 2014 Andrea Rip

Working at schools was rewarding because the students are always there. We could always see the kids we were benefiting and they always expressed their gratitude, asked us our names, tried to provide help, and pummeled us with questions about why we were there and our personal statuses. The teachers and staff were always full of smiles as well and treated us with a great deal of respect for the work we were doing so that they could move out of their tent classrooms and back into their normal rooms. It was not hard to feel really good about finishing a days work at a school!

Nearly finished with the project, the school presented us with a 'thank you'
banner in gratitude of all the work we performed. We also snapped a photo
to remember the day.
© 2014 Andrea Rip

Riding Caribou | Water Buffalo

Kitty mountain the caribou for her very short ride.
Photo by Mikel Iriarte

As soon as I discovered the water buffalo (locally known as caribou) in the small river near our base at the hospital, I wanted to try riding one. I witnessed men casually riding them down the road from fields to watering holes so I knew it was possible. Knowing that it was probably not going to happen, I made a joke out of it and encouraged Carlo, one of the Filipino volunteers on the project, to find a friendly water buffalo to ride. He never did find one.

Petting the water buffalo was the closest I came to riding it.
Photo by Mikel Iriarte

Diana, from Portugal, had the most beautiful way of pronouncing buffalo as BUFE-a-low. She had already given it a try - getting poked in the posterior by one of its horns before managing to secure a seat on the animal. This had the potential to be my 'running of the bulls' moment.

So, on our moving day, Kitty, decided she was going to find the owner of the buffalo in the river and give it a ride and I tagged along to have my turn, too.

Myself with Kitty and the caribou's caretaker in Kananga.
Photo by Mikel Iriarte

The woman, who was only the caretaker of the water buffalo was reluctant to let us try since she didn't want the owner to find out that she was allowing us to play with the buffalo. We convinced her to let us do a photo op only on the buffalo - just Kitty and I.

She came along the river bank and dragged the beast out of his pleasant spot in the water and pulled him along side a large felled tree trunk so that we would have a step. Kitty mounted up and, like a rodeo, began bouncing along on his back. I think Kitty was a little surprised that he started waltzing around the tree stump and it didn't take long before she fell off his back on the ground. Watching the water buffalo's wiliness, I determined that my travel insurance may not view a water buffalo incident very kindly, but settled up next to him to pet his prickly and sparse hair on his back.

We laughed so hard. The caretaker laughed right along with us. It was some salve on the overworked soul that afternoon. I think everyone really enjoyed their time and the hysteria of it all. We posed for a few photos and we gave the lovely caretaker a gift in pesos for her time and the risk she incurred for allowing us to ride without the owner's permission.

Kananga National High School

Seated for the Kananga National High School Program.
© 2014 Andrea Rip

Though I never worked on the Kananga National High School projects, I was invited, along with the rest of our group, to be a part of an appreciation ceremony that the school put on in honor of All Hands Volunteers. We all raced home from our work sites at the end of the day, cleaned up the best we could, put on our finest wrinkled clothes, clamored up onto our jeepneys again, and rushed off to the festivities.

Brett signing autographs for his screaming fan base of girls at Kananga
High School.
© 2014 Andrea Rip

The high school is located up a hill in Kananga and is a large high school campus. Many of their classrooms right now are temporary rooms donated by a Buddhist organization and set up on a playing field below their main buildings. Among other things, All Hands had teams at the high school to tarp some roofs, demolish some classrooms, and separate materials for reuse.

The students stayed late on this particular day so that they could put on a program after we finished our work day and could manage to arrive for the dinner. The program was fantastic - an hour or more of student and teacher performances put on for our Team's enjoyment. They started the evening with the Philippines' national anthem and followed that with a violin solo, dancing, and even a skit about Yolanda blowing through the Philippines and how the people (including All Hands) have come along behind her to restore the Island of Leyte.

Full pig roast at Kananga National High School.
© Andrea Rip

For the people who did work on the high school projects, there was a ceremony where they received a certificate for their work and a Philippines key chain. It was clear from the beginning of the evening that the KNHS community was grateful for the work that All Hands did for them. The generosity and gratitude that we received from the school seemed like a huge extravagance next to the work that our teams happily did for them.

After the performances, dinner was served including a full pig with all the Filipino fixings including fruit, potatoes, a salad, and a stir fry. Many of the students and nearly all the teachers stayed to socialize and enjoy the meal. Many of the girls treated Brett like a pop star and he started signing shirts after dinner. It did not take too long before everyone in our group was autographing tshirts and hats. An impromptu dance party started and some of those who had performed led everyone in the Philippines version of line dancing to songs like Gangnam...

Due to most of the students being under 18, the party broke up pretty early for our group of volunteers. We left the school looking for our jeepneys and quickly realized that the drivers had headed home for the night. At least the 5km walk back to base was mostly downhill. And, it was a beautiful night for star gazing and grabbing a little mango smoothie in town.

Our Local Staff and Transportation

Hiring local people to help run Project Leyte is one of the elements of the All Hands organization that sets it apart from other relief agencies. Several of the Project's administrative staff were hired from the Philippines with knowledge of the language and skills in organizing work projects, finances, and people.  Our base also had two lovely laundry ladies, two fantastic cooks in the kitchen, and four jeepneys and drivers who all came from Ormoc every day to take care of us with their special skills.

While I was painting in the hospital, I met Jr, the four year old son of one of he laundry ladies. He didn't speak much English, but was certainly fun to play peek-a-boo with and share a smile with. I painted a dot on my nose which he thought was hilarious, followed by one on my forehead. However, when I tried to give him a painted nose, he always ran away!

Our drivers were hired to make sure we had transportation from work and back each day. Sometimes they also stayed a little late to bring us to a special event, or to take a whole group of us to Ormoc on the weekend.

The jeepneys were originally born of US Jeeps that were sold or given to the Filipino people after World War II. They were retrofitted, decorated, and flared out to be used generally a public utility vehicles. Since then, several other vehicle models have been adapted into the family of jeepneys. What remains the same is the outrageous colors, decorations and the route of service painted on the sides. Each jeepney drives a specified return trip or circuit and will make as many stops as there are people on board - which can be quite a few when the top is loaded up as well!

The best part of the day for me was riding home on the top of a jeepney. The temperature was just a little cooler, the sun would sink, the children would call out and wave to us, and I could see the rice paddies, mountains, palm trees, and people perfectly from the higher vantage point. It was also a great time catch up with a team mate or to reflect and process the day's work.

The Filipino Faces We See

Children at Lonoy Elementary School watch while we hung a new
plywood roof in their Kindy classroom.
© 2014 Andrea Rip

When I began thinking about volunteering in the Philippines after the Super Typhoon, I imagined arriving in a depressed and demolished island and helping raise the spirits of the people along with raising their houses back.

I was pretty wrong. While the damage on the Island was evident as soon as I arrived to Ormoc on the SuperCat Ferry, the people who I crossed paths with showed gratefulness for what they did have left, a resilience to rebuild and help restore their communities, and generosity towards those of us who came to help them with their clean up and rebuilding efforts.

This very social boy at the Gawad Kalinda Rebuild project site loved to pose.
© 2014 Andrea Rip

Most notable were the children, who with a remarkable curiosity and gratitude, found our project teams working at their schools, churches, nearby homes, and neighborhoods. They watched; the giggled with each other; they picked their crushes from among us; they waited for an opportunity to pick up a shovel, or wheelbarrow, or sledge hammer and work with us; and they loved to ask our names and find out where we are from.

Two children cleaning up in the morning and watch the workers start
heading off to shovel and lay bricks at Gawad Kalinga in Ormoc.
© 2014 Andrea Rip

In most cases, they are safe and stay out of the way, but eventually several kids will start creeping in toward our work and we have to tell them to leave, close the door, or stand behind an invisible line or yellow caution tape. They are so curious, but in lieu of a wall falling down on them, we could get a little hard nosed with our demands to "hawa hawa" (get away or back off).

Children at Valencia Central School watching us depart the work
site for the day.
© 2014 Andrea Rip

The most fantastic encounter with a little girl was on my very last work day in Ormoc. The day before, I learned from Sheila that children show respect to adults by taking the adult's hand and raising it to touch their forehead. The entire time I was in the Philippines, I had only seen children approach her in this way and never any of the volunteers who I worked with for a month. On this day, I forgot my work gloves at our project site and had to run back to where our belongings were stored in order to retrieve them. On my short walk a small girl - maybe three or four years old - passed me on the way. Only two of us were on the pathway and I stopped and said 'hello.' She smiled, took my hand, and raised the back of it to her forehead. I couldn't sort out what to say in response, but was immediately impressed by the depth of appreciation even the children had for the work I contributed to in their country.

Hard not to love every one of them for the henna in their hair, a crooked smile full of missing teeth, shy pokes on the arm, or their exuberance to to wave and beg our names, we all inevitably have photos of the smiles - and memories of signing their tshirts, playing games, and holding them on our laps.

Meeting Shella

The concrete building foundation in the background is where
Shella's house stood before Yolanda.
© 2014 Andrea Rip

I met Shella at the end of my time in the Philippines. Our All Hands Base moved from the Tugbong Municipal Hospital to a large private home a little closer to the town of Kananga. Shella was living across the street. She observed as we prepared the house the first day; tearing down water damaged ceiling panels and putting up new plywood ceilings, cleaning the floors, and moving furniture around. She and her father came over to help us interpret with the previous tenants and her father offered a piece of his land for some tents.

With Shella at the new All Hands Volunteers base in Kananga.
© 2014 Andrea Rip

Shella pulled me over to the window in the living room of the new house and pointed through the window toward a slab of concrete with a small number of cement blocks placed on it and some new rebar sticking out of the corners. "That was my house." She began to tell me her Typhoon Yolanda story.

Shella and her two children huddled in the comfort room (bathroom) in her house when the winds picked up and while it howled and screamed around them. Never so scared in her life, she heard the entire house eventually crash around her. Her parents who live across the way, looked toward her home when the winds started subsiding and thought that she and her kids had died in the house. All they could see was a collapsed home that appeared unsurvivable.

When the wind totally let up, she was able to get up out of the bathroom with her children and walk outside towards her parents home. As you can imagine their family praised God and expressed enormous relief that they walked out alive.

Shella now lives with her parents until there is resources available to rebuild her house. Her two children are with her as well as a cousin's family. Her husband was able to break away from his job on another island for just one day to make sure she was okay right after Yolanda blew through.

Next door to Shella's family home was another house that blew apart. The people who lived there were renting the home and they talked to the owners of the home about rebuilding. However, the government will not allow a home to built in that location again. So, Shella's father gave them part of his land to put up a house. Their house right now is plywood with a tin roof. Everyone knows of people who were not so fortunate to have their lives spared or to find shelter so easily with family or friends. In light of this, it impresses me that Shella's family including her father is showing impressive grace and mercy to those whose homes were not spared - when it would be so easy to victimize his family and his community. He is even willing to give up some of his property to a wily group of All Hands Volunteer's tents while they contribute to the relief work in Kananga. He epitomizing what community should be!

I did not spend a lot of time with Shella, but I had a wonderful connection with her. We shared glassy eyes when she told her difficult story and a common faith in God and His goodness to her despite the loss of her home. I did not know what to say while she was telling me what happened, there were a lot of silence while she formed her sentences and reiterated what happened, and at the end all I could really do was put my hand on her shoulder and say "I'm glad that you are alive today to tell your story to me. God has taken care of you."

Shella's story is now part of my Philippines story and I am so happy that she entrusted me with her typhoon experience. She was one Filipino person who I was sorry to leave behind with a hug and a photo when I departed Kananga.

Rice, Rice, Rice

Dinner served at the All Hands Base in Kananga.
© 2014 Andrea Rip

Part of All Hands' commitment to volunteers is that the organization will provide a place to stay, transportation to and from the job sites, and meals. Food was prepared for vegetarians along with meat eaters. I opted for the meat eating diet, but sometimes the veggies looked pretty amazing!
Breakfast was provided, but each volunteer has to prepare their own meal. I usually opted for oatmeal with some brown sugar and dry milk powder along with a cup of coffee (I invested in my own Kopachino packages from the Richardson's Supermarket that came with a special pack of coffee sprinkles for the frothy top). Sometimes, if I had been to Kananga Town the day before, I had a mango as well. One egg and two pieces of bread were also allowed - though I could never be bothered to make eggs or toast my bread!
Lunch was served at 12:00pm. Most of us within a ~20 minute ride of base would come back for lunch during the day. We had a couple of projects that were far enough away that we would stay on site and purchase our own meal for the group. Dinner was out by 4:30-5pm. On base, we would have rice for lunch and dinner along with either chicken, pork, or occasionally some beef (or caribou | water buffalo).
After eating truly 'free range' chicken in the Philippines, I am convinced that chickens in North America are either genetically modified to be large, on a weightlifting regimen, or are simply obese. The American chicken's drumsticks are about three times the size of a Filipino chicken's leg. Then again, Americans are quite a bit taller and larger than the average Filipino person as well.
Regardless of chicken sizes, I will be happy to trade in rice for nearly any other food for awhile.

On Parade

Jenny and Jasmine collected beautiful bouquets of flowers from the
children at Lonoy Elementary School on Valentines Day.
© 2014 Andrea Rip 

For those who have dreamed of being famous, nothing will make you feel more like a movie star than walking down the road in a small Filipino town as a stranger | Westerner | volunteer. The children scream, run to the road to watch us pass by, pull on our hands, ask "what is your name?" and smile. Their smiles are beyond brilliant. Mothers hold their babies up and force their small hands to wave in our direction while older couples smile and nod acknowledging our work in the community. Many stare with smiles on their faces, assumed to be wondering why people come from around the world to help their small village that rarely sees a tourist or western visitor.
On Valentine's Day, we had a team working at the Lonoy Elementary School where the students wrote a load of Valentine's to the group there. "Princess" Jasmine and Jenny came home with many of those cards professing love and warm friendship from the elementary crew. They each had a massive bouquet of wildflowers from around the school (which I am certain looked quite bare after February 14 passed).

Juli signs  her autograph to a tshirt of a woman at the
Gawad Kalinga Rebuild site in Ormoc.
© 2014 Andrea Rip

Riding the jeepneys to our work sites every day was another spectacle altogether. Most of us opted to ride on the top of the jeepney where it is cooler and we can enjoy the views of mountains and palm trees in rice fields. Kids can see our white skin on the top of the jeepneys from a long way off and start their waving and "hellos" as soon as we come into view. We wave like we are on a parade float and try to reciprocate their gleaming smiles. All Hands has been embraced by the community where we are working and those instances of pseudo fame are a way that they show gratitude for our work and we can feel appreciation for our small contribution to Yolanda clean up.
Several times while I was on the Project, our group was asked to sign our autograph to tshirts, hats, and towels for the people who we were helping. Juli thoughtfully took her All Hands tshirt and had everyone reciprocate by adding their signature to her shirt.
After a long and hard day of work, we were spoiled with gratitude and praise from the children. Those smiles and shouts never got old and made every swing of a sledge hammer worth our effort!

Let the Walls Fall Down

Yesterday I assisted with a deconstruction project.

Structurally compromised chapel in Lonoy, Philippines.
© 2014 Andrea Rip

Our task was to safely take down the walls of a small chapel in Lonoy. All of the walls were compromised so that it was unusable and dangerous to use. The little church had four very proud cornerstones that did not want to be felled. We spent most of our morning removing most of the iron gates to be salvaged for the reconstruction. Then we further compromised the building by sledge hammering the support columns, clipping rebar inside those columns and throwing a rope around the wall so that we could have a jeepney pull the entire structure down at one time.

After more than an hour of tugging, we finally toppled the chapel.
© 2014 Andrea Rip

We tried about five different ways and continued to sledge out the walls we could access safely - all the time mindful that the entire structure could come down at once. Sean sledged, Matt used a hack saw to cut more rebar. Finally, some of the Filipino men in our massive audience came over and gave our ropes a good tug that collapsed the entire structure at once.
In the afternoon we returned to tidy up the debris and cut up the metal ceiling beams. We finished about ½ of the task and will need to return on Monday to finish the clean up.

After a week of sledge hammering and shoveling concrete my muscles are ready for this wonderful Sunday off.
Watch the video HERE.

Arrival at the Kananga Hospital

Kananga Hospital where All Hands is based.
© 2014 Andrea Rip

I have safely arrived in Kananga at the pink hospital where our All Hands Team is fixing up the hospital so that it can be operational again.
The volunteers are a great group of people and very fun to work with. I have already seen friends come and go. My first week of work was painting the inside of the hospital in one of three different bubble gum colours (green, pink, and blue). We finished that work on Saturday afternoon and next week I intend to head out to the field to assist with deconstruction work or something of that like.

New friends enjoying smoothies at one of the bake shops in Kananga.
© 2014 Andrea Rip

We have over 50 people on base - living dormitory style. The words "bucket flush," "cold shower," and "mosquito spray" have an entirely new meaning to me, but after a few days on base, I was used to the cadence of community living. I am also already looking forward to my first meal that does not include rice - though the Filipino lunch and dinner we are served is very good.
Our team has been dengue free for three weeks and we no longer have to wear long sleeves and long pants anymore which is a relief. It was quite awkward to see everyone's legs and arms after that announcement was made!
The people here are resilient. The children have some of the most beautiful smiles I have ever seen. Every time we take the 2km walk into Kananga town we feel like we are on parade; waving to kids on both sides of the street who run out of their houses and say hello and ask our names.
My updates to this blog may come retroactively when I return as internet is quite difficult to come by and I do not believe that will change before my time here is complete. I have been enjoying the unplugged lifestyle and having a lot of fantastic conversations with my new friends and fellow volunteers.

A Bohol Day Trip

Corella Tarsier Sanctuary.
© 2014 Andrea Rip

One of the things that I hoped to sort out while on Cebu was a day trip to the Island of Bohol. All Hands Volunteers have been working on this island to respond to the earthquake that hit only two months before Typhoon Yolanda ran over the Island of Leyte. Though these islands are all very close to each other, I am amazed that the damage by the earthquake and the typhoon were pretty much localized to a single island. Cebu remains untouched by both catastrophes.
Despite the damage, tours still visit Bohol. I departed at 7:30am from my hotel, caught the SuperCat boat for a two hour ride to the Island and met my tour guide. It was a long day of hopping in and out of a minivan with nine others, but very worthwhile.
One of the highlights for me was stopping at the tarsier sanctuary where we spotted the smallest variety of monkey in the world. These nocturnal critters are no bigger than a man's fist and have enormous eyes.

Flying away at the Butterfly Conservatory.
© 2014 Andrea Rip

We also saw the town of Loboc where the earthquake damaged their bridge and historic church. Churches across the island appeared to be the biggest victim of the earthquake including the Baclayon Church and Museum that we visited - the second oldest church in the Philippines (built 400 years ago).
In Loboc we had lunch aboard a river cruise boat that was not only tasty, but entertaining with live music and dancing and singing organized on the river banks. The riverboat company must operate at least 10 boats during lunch and dinner hours.
The butterfly conservatory was fascinating mostly due to our very young male tour guide who discussed all sorts of butterfly facts. He was very good at his job and took photos of all the ladies with butterfly wings. He even instructed several of us to jump - so you should be able to see me taking off and flying away with my butterfly wings in this photo that he snapped - on the first try!
Another highlight was visiting the Chocolate Hills. More than 1200 hills dot the landscape near the town of Carmen. The impressive site would have been more photogenic later in the day, but I still managed to capture the fascinating geological area. These mounds also have a cookie candy named after them. Peanut Kisses look like the familiar Hershey Kisses - except they are made with peanuts, egg whites, and sugar. Strangely, the little peaks look a lot like the Chocolate Hills on Bohol and are something of the island's sweet treat.

Chocolate Hills near Carmen on the Island of Bohol, Philippines.
© 2014 Andrea Rip

The tour was long, but very well orchestrated and I learned a lot. I am always amazed by the variety of landscapes and people that God has created on this expansive Earth. And, this satisfies a bit of my wanderlust in this country that I will be living in for awhile.

A Brief Reprieve

Zubuchon Roasted Pork with Iba/Kamias Shake and Flan.
© 2014 Andrea Rip

Now that I've arrived on Cebu, I have several days to adjust to the weather and catch my breath before starting work with All Hands. I am most definitely taking advantage of my own room, with a huge bed, and a warm shower - all items that I will be without for the next month.

The Jeepney mode of transportation.
© 2014 Andrea Rip

Cebu attracts a number of tourist, so there are several things that I have been out to see near my hotel. Zubuchon Restaurant was recommended to me by the Summit Circle Hotel staff, so after several outings to try and find it, I finally walked over an ordered their Zubuchon (roasted pork) with a Iba or Kamias (fruit) Shake. The smallest order of pork I could get was a ½ kilo - and so that is what I ate (minus the fatty skin that kept the moisture in)! I also had a bit of leche flan for dessert - yum!
There is a convenient shopping center in the same building as my hotel, so I have visited the grocer for a few items and bottled water several times. I walked around the neighborhood to find the Starbucks for my Philippines mug and Bo's Coffee which is my preferred destination for wifi and a quick bite and good coffee.
The traffic is busy here and street crossing is mildly treacherous, but for the most part, the streets are fairly easy to negotiate with sidwalks, or a place for pedestrians.
There is an unusual mode of transportation here called a Jeepney. They run on set routes and are quite colorful and flashy (the one in the photo is a rather dull representation of others that stand out like a sore thumb).