Program Reviews

What an amazing place with dedicated volunteers and staff. Everyone is here to give back to a deserving community and I have learned so much from this experience so far. I would recommend this experience to anyone!

Volunteering with All Hands in Tacloban has been a life-changing experience. The fun work you do everyday building houses for those affected by typhoon Yolanda is made so much better by the amazing volunteers you are surrounded by. I would recommend this to everybody!

Every day get to work in contact with awesome people, helping out a lot and seeing real changes, real goal achieved and Tacloban community so happy for the help they receive.
I have been here for a little more than i week and i have been engaged in carpentry, cement mixing, working on new foundations plans and involved in the community.

I met my family a year ago.I had to leave. A month ago I had to return. Couldn't stop thinking about it. These are the days. We work hard during the day,we meet a family everyday to whom we are building a house.We cry with them when we handover the finished house. We build houses! How amazing is that?! I made friends for life,and Im still learning with my new friends.
We make history. All hands wrote my history.

Vonteering with All Hands was the most rewarding thing I have ever done. I learned an abundance of new skills and met the most incredible people. The organisation have a fantastic relationship with the community in Tacloban and I really felt welcomed and like I was having a significant positive impact on the lives of those affected by the typhoon.

This project was one of the best times of 2012 for me. It's daunting to travel to another country, especially when you're taking the trip solo. The first impression I had of the Project was the people of the Philippines. While I was on my connecting flight from Manila to CDO I was seated next to the most wonderful woman who had move from CDO to the states who then offered her help in getting me to the Project House so that I didn't have to take a taxi. (The taxi drivers will try and give you a run for your money...you can fall for it a couple times, but eventually you'll get the hang of it) Once we landed she helped me get my bags and then loaded me into one of 2 vans of family members that had come to great her. Her 24 family members and then made our way down into the valley, and after a few wrong turns and slight panic that maybe I had the wrong address, we found the house. I hoped out of the van and her ENTIRE family got out with me took a picture with me and gave me a send off fit for a queen. If that doesn't say something about the kindness and generosity of the people then I don't know what does!
The house was great, I was met by Jess and Chris who were the project leads at the time and after some simple paperwork for my emergency contact and what not I was on my way. The house is simple, but it gives you everything you need. The wifi is great, I never had an issue with it unless there was an occasional black out from a thunderstorm.
The other Volunteers really made the experience for me. I met some of the best people ever during my time there, a good handful of whom I was able to see this past New Years Eve in New York City while they were all working on Hurricane Sandy Relief.
The work is self explanatory, you know what your getting yourself into and after the first few days of fatigue and jet lag you find yourself digging holes and laying foundations like a pro.
In terms of your surroundings you're in a great area, there is access to a local mall that has EVERYTHING you could possibly need.
This particular project really is the best of both worlds. The community it what really makes it worth it. The work is work, but the people make getting up everyday at the crack of dawn manageable.
And on the bright side, every couple weeks (depending on the number of volunteers in the house) you get a morning to sleep in a bit when you're assigned house cleaning, believe it or not I've never been so excited to clean just for that extra hour of sleep.
Just Do It!

I wil forever be dedicated to the All Hands Organization. After Superstorm Sandy hit and saw all the destruction that happened my heart broke. I wanted to go out there and help. I wanted to get my hands dirty and help clean up. That's when I came across the All Hands Organization. The All Hands Organization is a grassroots organization dedicated to actually be "all hands" in and helping. The staff is so professional,caring and knowledgeable. They share the same passion as me with helping. When you go out to a job site you get assigned a team leader who is totally knowledgeable on what to do. I felt so comfortable the first time I went. Words can't describe the feeling I had once the day was over knowing that I just helped a family get one step closer to getting their life back in their home. On April 20th I will be going back to help for the third time bringing a small group of people with me. There's still so much to be done. I guarantee if you go once you'll want to keep coming back to help. It's such a rewarding experience.

I have volunteered with All Hands in many different countries throughout the years and I honestly feel my time spent volunteering was effective, fun and enriched my life in uncountable ways. I can only hope that I also had that affect on others as well.