All Hands and Hearts

I volunteered with All hands and Hearts houston in March. My fiancé and I went for a week which I thought would be enough but after how much we loved it and enjoyed our time I wish we had stayed 3 months. Everything was very well organised, everyone we met was so friendly we made some friends. The site supervisor Barrett would we worked with was very welcoming and so encouraging, he was patience and kind and made us feel like we could achieve anything. All the staff made us feel at home and were genuinely interested in getting to know us. The food and accommodation was well organised and cleaned daily by volunteers.

Not to sound too cliche but the experience was life changing and made us both feel differently about how we see ourselves and others and want to give our time to more programmes in the future.
I would recommend everyone to give even just one week you get as much as you give. It’s awesome

I arrived in Nepal on April 25, 2016, 1 year to the day since the earthquake struck. As soon as I arrived I knew this place would be a second home and I would never want to leave! I immediately extended my stay on the program to the full 5 months (Nepal visa restriction) and it was the best decision I have made!

This was a life-changing experience for me in so many ways. I was able to form strong bonds with the local community and as well as other volunteers on the program. I can honestly say these people will remain in my life forever. All Hands also allowed me to develop professional skills and gave me a foot in the door to working for a Humanitarian NGO.

The work is tough, you will sweat like you have never sweated before, but it is all for a good reason, that reason is the community you are helping. The love and kindness they showed me was worth every second of work I put in!

I ended up returning and in total was with All Hands and Hearts in Nepal for 11 months.I attend the handovers of 6 schools that we built, and the teams have since built even more! As soon as I can I will absolutely be returning!

I love this organization with all of my heart. I first started volunteering on the Louisiana program in August 2016, when the floods in Baton Rouge and Denham Springs first happened. I signed up for a week in between university semesters, and I knew from my first week that I was hooked. I came back in December to serve with the organization in Louisiana for another five weeks, and returned again in July for another ten months.

Since then, I've been exposed to so many people throughout the world who are eager to make a difference. At the time, I was a disgruntled political science student and seeing how many wonderful people are willing to sacrifice their time and other commitments to help someone else in need spoke volumes to me. Not only will you get to meet people from around the world and be exposed to new cultures, but you'll also learn new skills and help a community in need. Before volunteering with All Hands and Hearts, I had never used a construction tool in my life before, but everyone is so patient and eager to help that it was fun to pick it up.

Thank you for changing my life, All Hands and Hearts. You flipped it around in the best way possible, and I owe a lot of love to the organization for doing it.

This was my first project with All Hands and Hearts and most definitely not my last. I was originally signed up to volunteer in Houston for two weeks, but after my first few days I knew I wanted to stay longer. I ultimately remained on project for just over three months, and in that time I worked on sites that will stay with me forever and made friends who became family.

The Houston project is filled with a variety of different work, including muck & guts, sanitations, rebuilds, and more. I've had days where I was installing flooring and others where I completed entire kitchen guts. No matter the task at hand, each day's work was overwhelmingly gratifying .

Words cannot fully describe the level of love and admiration I have for this project, and I'm sure each new volunteer will feel the same. I would return in an instant if I could.

Volunteering with All Hands and Hearts - Smart Response in both Denham Springs, Louisiana and then in Aransas Pass, Texas was the most life changing experience I’ve had thus far. I went in wanting to do something adventurous but selfless and All Hands and Hearts provided just that. An incredible, fulfilling, exciting, yet difficult in all of the best ways possible experience. I met some of my absolute favorite human beings, learned an entire new skill set, and above all else gained a new perspective on life and how I think we as human beings should spend our lives. Being given the chance to travel, meet new like-minded people, and put myself to work to help people who have been put into unexpected and unfortunate circumstances is something I cannot thank All Hands and Hearts for enough. I highly recommend applying to volunteer on any of AHAH’s programs open around the world.