Hi Everyone, 

Earlier this year I took a giant leap of faith, and quit my job of 18 years to embark on this incredible journey. This led me to All Hands Volunteers (AVH), where I have spent 6 of the last 9 months volunteering. I set out wanting to help those in need. Little did I know how much I would learn from them.  It has been truly humbling to witness such strength, courage, joy and generosity in the face of such tragedy. 

To give an example of their generosity, one afternoon a group of us were building a communal kitchen in an area called tent city in the pouring rain. We were overwhelmed by some of the residents who were providing us with hot coffee, bread and running back to their tents to give us dry t-shirts so we wouldn’t get sick working in the rain. Another day, after working in one of the transitional housing communities, I stayed on-site to spend time with the community. I planned on showering there before the evening movie showing. Several families offered and even insisted I use their drinking water to wash in, saying the water from the pump was smelly. Their drinking water is delivered every 2-3 days and each family only gets a limited supply. I did not take either the t-shirt or the drinking water, but I was deeply impacted by the level of generosity. As we enter the season of giving, I cannot think of people who are more deserving of our help and generosity.  Here is a little more about what happened this last year.  

On the 8th of November 2013, Super-typhoon Yolanda hit the islands of Samar and Leyte. The death toll soared to over 6,200, and roughly 1,785 people were reported missing.  Nearly one year later AHV are still here dedicated to helping the victims of Yolanda who are still suffering from the immediate effects of the disaster. 

Since March 2014 AHV have built 146 transitional shelters and 2 core homes. Although huge progress has been made, 31,000 of those affected by the typhoon still go to bed each night without adequate housing. 

Our goal is to raise 1.1 million Pesos($25,168 USD): a peso for every home damaged or destroyed by Yolanda. This symbolic amount, one peso for every home that was affected, will allow nine Progressive Core Homes to be built and strengthen the communities that they are in. This money goes directly towards building permanent homes for the displaced families,  who are currently living in absolute dire conditions under makeshift tarp roofs. Your donations help us purchase and build permanent core shelters for these families. 

Everyone deserves a home and thousands of people here in Tacloban have been living without adequate shelter since last November.  My goal is to raise enough money to build one home ($3,500 USD) here in Tacloban. 

The 1.1 Million Campaign will allow nine of these homes to be built, but why stop at nine, the more money we raise the more houses we build. Please join me in helping build homes for those in need.

Thank you for all your love and support.

Love,

Amy xx

Please check out the Project Leyte 1.1 Million Campaign page below.