Environmental Project in the Philippines

I found volunteering in the Philippines through IVHQ to be a very rewarding experience. The country itself was so beautiful and the people there were so generous and welcoming, I immediately felt settled in. The first 3 days I had for orientation I got a basic language class, went to a local farm, had a roof making class, went into Puerto Princesa for the day and also had a cooking class which altogether I found to be really enjoyable. For my actual volunteer work I did the Environmental project which included coastal cleanups as well as cleanups of the surrounding streets of the accommodation, visiting a fertiliser farm and learning how the locals sieve their own soil, up-keeping the garden in the volunteers accommodation, planting different plants in surrounding areas and watering them throughout your stay, lesson planning and then later visiting the school to teach the children about the environment and pollution and lastly going to the mangroves which I found to be the most rewarding part of the experience. The majority of our mornings during the week was spent in the Mangroves where we collected seeds and later planted them in a effort to rehabilitate areas of the mangroves that had be cut down significantly. Overall I left feeling accomplished and would 100% highly recommend going to the Philippines to anyone as I left having met so many amazing people and feeling as though I made my own personal impact on the locals lives in Tigman village.