Typhoon Response: Leyte, Philippines

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[UPDATE: We are fully booked until February 29, 2016 and closing down in early March. However, we have a project open in Nepal following the devastating earthquake of last year. To apply click here: https://hodr.wufoo.com/forms/project-nepal-volunteer-application/]

We are a registered US charity that conducts disaster relief and recovery work both in the United States and around the world. Our work is powered by volunteers and our programs focus on making the most effective use of our volunteer labour pool. Our volunteers work extremely hard and maintain high quality of work but it can one of the most rewarding experiences of your life.

On Friday, November 8, 2013 one of the strongest typhoons on record hit the island of Leyte - and neighboring islands - in the Visayas region of the Philippines. Dubbed a super typhoon, Haiyan (known locally as Yolanda) was responsible for over 6,100 confirmed deaths, damaged or destroyed homes numbering in the 100,000s, paralyzed local governments and economies, and crippled transportation, power and telecommunications systems throughout the region.

Super Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda) affected a 200 km wide swath of Leyte, and in response we launched our project. In the response phase we cleared debris, removed fallen trees, repaired a hospital, demolished unsafe structures and salvaged building materials to give families the means to begin rebuilding.

We are now engaged in the longer term recovery of Leyte and Samar and have shifted focus to the city of Tacloban and the surrounding area. We are currently working on constructing an office, a dormitory, a learning center and a clinic just outside of the city with the help of Streetlight Philippines. Further to this, we have finished the construction of a elementary classroom in a small community. Lastly, we have finished the construction of a concrete evacuation center in the community of Hernani, in Eastern Samar. The evac center has been built in partnership with German NGO Humedica and it is the largest build our Volunteers has taken on to date.