Philippines Volunteering with IVI - Impactful Programs

In the Philippines, I was able to travel with a rural health unit to local communities administering vaccinations and giving out maintenance medications. While I was unable to do some of the tasks, there was plenty to see to keep yourself interested. Everyone on my trip from my host family to clinic staff to volunteer staff were all very welcoming and accommodating. Volunteers for the Visayan's staff were very friendly and helpful. They checked in on their volunteers regularly and provided us with two retreats to see the area. The accommodations were accurate to described and I found the food to be quite good as the homestay was accommodating. The only improvement I would add is more communication throughout the planning process as I did things that were not necessary or had questions I had trouble getting the answers to.

Highlights of the volunteering program... 4 hours a day, super fun due to the people I was with! Highlights was karaoke night & the boat trip we did one afternoon as we had the afternoon off.

Local team were amazing and so accomdating
Food was amazing !! Fried chicken, pasta, amazing curries, pancakes for breakfast and unlimited cereal all day everyday!

Thoughts on local team and accommodation....
The accommodation was way nicer than I ever expected, super comfy beds and nice cold showers!

One of the highlights of this trip was that I got to immerse myself in a cultural-rich environment, Tacloban City. During the time, I have been given opportunities to interact and connect with the local families and children, which in turn, brought me immeasurable amount of love and joy. I was assigned to a community-feeing project at Cangumbang; and this experience was incredible from the beginning till the end — from planning, forecasting ingredients, buying extra things out of my own expense, cooking to serving there weren’t moments I didn’t enjoy. I really looked forward to each day visiting the community there and feeding the sponsored children of up to 35. After feeding, I have enjoyed the playing and chilling times with the children because they are all welcoming, amiable and simple! In addition, this trip has made me cherish all that I have, such as access to clean drinkable water and advanced public health facilities such as paced pedestrian roads.

The team was welcoming and warm-hearted. I could definitely tell that my vision with the organisation, is alike. Because that the Philippines is predominantly a Christian (Roman Catholic) country, I felt much more spiritually connected to the land and the people. The food provided by my homestay was simple yet delicious! I had no issue with the local food there at all because the filipino cuisine is very much like my home dishes, which I have found soul-comforting. Except that I had experience epsiodes of diarrhoea at the same time with my accompanying brother when we had our first contact with the restaurant foods in an adjacent mall.
My homestay nanay was nice and friendly and has always treated me like a family. I just needed to report an incident of break-in into my homestay house. My homestay was alert of this thereafter and has changed the lock of the back door and the team was aware of this issue. So I believe this security issue would be improved in a later term.

With the nutrition project, I think the future volunteers could accomplish more aside from feeding the community children. Outreach activities related to optimal nutrition could be planned out and developed, so that more and more young children and families will have a fair chance to learn from qualified health professionals and tackle the issue of malnutrition city-wide. Outside of placement times (mine was between 1pm to 5pm), I think we could have some site visits so we can understand what other sites are currently doing but again understand that the staff were busy with their own workloads.

Highlights of the trip:
One of the highlights of this trip was that I got to immerse myself in a cultural-rich environment, Tacloban City. During the time, I have been given opportunities to interact and connect with the local families and children, which in turn, brought me immeasurable amount of love and joy. I was assigned to a community-feeing project at Cangumbang; and this experience was incredible from the beginning till the end — from planning, forecasting ingredients, buying extra things out of my own expense, cooking to serving there weren’t moments I didn’t enjoy. I really looked forward to each day visiting the community there and feeding the sponsored children of up to 35. After feeding, I have enjoyed the playing and chilling times with the children because they are all welcoming, amiable and simple! In addition, this trip has made me cherish all that I have, such as access to clean drinkable water and advanced public health facilities such as paced pedestrian roads.
Comments on the team, food and accommodation:
The team was welcoming and warm-hearted. I could definitely tell that my vision with the organisation, is alike. Because that the Philippines is predominantly a Christian (Roman Catholic) country, I felt much more spiritually connected to the land and the people. The food provided by my homestay was simple yet delicious! I had no issue with the local food there at all because the filipino cuisine is very much like my home dishes, which I have found soul-comforting. Except that I had experience epsiodes of diarrhoea at the same time with my accompanying brother when we had our first contact with the restaurant foods in an adjacent mall.
My homestay was neat and simple; just needed to overcome the fears of insects (cockroaches, lizards, mice etc.) and bear with the challenge of bucket shower and no flush toilet. My homestay nanay was nice and friendly and has always treated me like a family. I just needed to report an incident of break-in into my homestay house. My homestay was alert of this thereafter and has changed the lock of the back door and the team was aware of this issue. So I believe this security issue would be improved in a later term.

Living outside your comfort zone, in a new country with a different culture from yours, sharing rooms and sleeping in bunk beds, having cold showers (which by the way I will miss) makes you look at life differently and appreciate the simple things.

I can’t put into words how rewarding it was working with the children. Teaching was a challenge but the feeling of contributing for their education and just being part of their everyday life, either in the classroom or just laying outside, is more than fulfilling. Energy that never runs out, eagerness to learn (and teach me), cheeky curiosity and genuine happiness. Pure happiness. Those are the words that would describe them.

My experience in Tigman, taught me how to be more present. Enjoy every single moment and dedicate my time to people. People who became friends just in a few days.
I will always remember the sunsets on the beach, eating the best banana fritters, the long talks in Tiki hut, dancing around the bonfire with a full moon, singing my heart out on Karaoke nights but most importantly, all the people I’ve met and were part of each moment. Kind hearts with open minds that went to make a difference. I leave Tigman with a full heart, ready to come back.