PHILIPPINES: 120 Days in Santo Domingo

The volunteers have all left Santo Domingo (actually, we all left on the same plane bound for Manila!). We had our despededa, gave away our accumulated assets, cleaned the house, and said our goodbyes. The volunteers have left for Indonesia, Ireland, Borneo, Cameroon, Malaysia, Thailand, the USA - places exotic and home. Bound together by a commitment to help those in need, wherever Hands On will be next.

Thank you to those who followed our activities, made comment and suggestions, and made donations. Thanks especially to the volunteers of Project Santo Domingo for all of the hard work, long hours, passion, patience, understanding, and fun. It is you, the volunteer, that gives a part of your life to a common cause and makes this organization what it is and what it will be.
Thank you all, and until we meet again……….

Give it away. Give it away, give it away now
The end of a deployment comes with a giveaway. Barbara and Andrea spent hours organizing a raffle to distribute the assets accumulated during our time here. The beneficiaries were the most needy 50 families in our barangay. The most coveted prizes? Of course, the 4 bunk beds!

Gotta keep ‘em generated
In a unique 3 way agreement, our 2 generators will power the evacuation centers used during typhoons or Mt. Mayon eruptions. Working with Noel Estillomo and the local government unit (LGU), our valuable equipment will now provide light and power for those forced to evacuate to either San Andres or Bikal shelters. Operating and maintenance costs will be covered by the LGU, while the stewardship, repairs, and non-emergency use time will be overseen by Noel. Santo Domingo is now better prepared to respond to future evacuations.

More on relationships
In a match truly made in heaven we completed the reconstruction of our 5th elementary school working in partnership with the Scandinavian Childrens Mission (SCM). Wow, did we get this school reconstruction down or what? We refined the process to the point of being able to rebuild and paint a school in a matter of DAYS! Thanks not only to SCM but to project leaders Sarah, Rachel, Alan, Mark, Ken, and of course our talented local leader Jun (Longhair) Belmonte. Their help and that of the teachers, community men, women, and children, and of course the rest of the HODR volunteers made this effort an amazing success.

Room with a view (a much better one!)
It was the view that I looked at every day for almost 5 months; the missing GI, mangled trusses, and rain-covered floor of the San Isidro barangay hall haunted my vision of our rebuilding efforts. Volunteer “Solo” stepped up to lead the repair of the building that houses the womens’ health office, community center, and meeting space. What a joy to look down our street toward the seascape and see this beautifully restored building!

and the winner is………. Sweepstakes Elementary!
It was a long process, worked on by many volunteers, and adopted by Ken as his quest, but work was finally completed in the last week of our deployment. Our home elementary school was rebuilt to better than pre-typhoon condition with the painting of the basketball court and the refurbishment of the former library. This was the very first school we worked on way back in January when we shoveled and buggyed away an ankle deep layer of lahar and debris We left as a basketball tournament was being played over the freshly painted Hands On logo at center court. A special thank you to the anonymous donors (from those in our midst at the volunteer house) who helped fund this project!

Citio Baleti Day Care
In barangay Alimsog, we rebuilt their daycare from the ground up back in February. It was a beautiful structure that needed paint…no more! Suzi returned to her adopted home with Norman to apply the finishing touches to this project. Now it is a solidly built structure of cement, wood, and GI lovingly painted in beautiful colors. Bursting with Hands On pride, we gave this to citio Baleti.

Graduation and Turn over
The end of April is when local schoolchildren graduate to their next level of education; any chance for a ceremony and/or celebration here is not missed! We worked on so many of the schools that we were natural guests of honor at these events. We had ribbon-cutting events (turning over ceremony) held in conjunction with SCM, graduations, recognition ceremonies, and dancing (a lot of dancing!). Speeches were recited, plaques were awarded, performances were witnessed. Who knew that being a volunteer came with such an engaging social calendar? It was a great time to be a volunteer and see the appreciation from the communities we served.

Despededa
In a country that exports a great deal of its labor force, they have a special word for “going away celebrations.” Our home barangay gave us a despededa party the weekend before our departure. We had heard rumors of the scheduled event but in true Filipino fashion we were not told until the day before. Actually, I had to bluntly ask Marissa (the lovely woman who helped us at the house) if there was a party scheduled in our honor. She agreed yes, but I had to promise not to tell anyone that she told! With time short, Jihan and Andrea prepared a choreographed dance number for us to learn and perform during our intermission surprise. Highlights were the Hands On Dancers and James (who actually has a load of talent) performing on acoustic guitar. Good fun, every bit of it!

Soaring spirit of volunteerism
Sadly, I must acknowledge the tragic death of Julia Campbell, who was a Peace Corps volunteer and a Hands On (Project Santo Domingo) volunteer. In a random act of violence, we were robbed of a beautiful soul who helped so many and smiled so bright. Her spirit and commitment will be missed.

In our four months in the Philippines, we shoveled lahar, tarped roofs, rebuilt schools, built boats, planted coconut trees, shared laughs, made lifelong friends, and ate a lot of pork! We may no longer rise to the pre-dawn crowing of a rooster, thumping of a karaoke machine, or roar of a trike, but the memories and the work that we did in Santo Domingo will live on. Thanks to the people of Santo Domingo for welcoming us into their home, and thanks again to the volunteers for their hard work and their heart. We’ll see you at the next one…

Marc Young
Operations Director
Hands On Disaster Response
Project Santo Domingo