We flew to Ecuador from Bogota the next afternoon, as the flight was only an hour, we had time to walk around in the old town of Quito a bit. We stayed at a very cheap hostel in which we even had a (soviet style) private room for 5,5 € per person. The toilet on the other hand was something bey next level. It was literally a 1x1 m box where the sink, shower and toilet where but basically on each other. There wasn't a roof, room to move and the water was ice cold (Quito in the evening is cold on its own at this season). Happy showers!
Took a local bus of 25 cents to the Southern bus terminal early next morning and started the journey to Canoa. There was no direct bus until nighttime so we had to change in San Vicente. The bus ride took around 7,5 hours but would have been much quicker if we hadn't had so much stops, I'm not talking about stops in different bus stations in different towns, but literally stopping on every corner at some point, locals coming in and out. Also, there came hordes of different kinds of salesmen in every stop we made. The roads were pretty good, half the way was driving in mountains, so very curvy and on the edge of the mountain, but the views were exquisite.
Our destination was Coconut hotel, the 'All Hands' basecamp, 20 minute walk from the town of Canoa.
On the 16th of April 2016 a powerful earthquakewith a moment magnitude of 7.8 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe) rattled the coast of Ecuador. At least 673 people were killed and 27,732 people injured.
All Hands Volunteers is the world’s leading disaster relief organization powered by volunteers. Over the last ten years, they have enabled over 35,000 volunteers to donate 175,000 days impacting 500,000 people all over the globe. As the volunteers work together to rebuild hope alongside local residents and partners, communities are restored and lives are transformed. The vision is to demonstrate the power and value of volunteer service through the tangible work done, the hope it brings to suffering communities and the transformative experiences it provides for volunteers.
We worked in several different teams building core homes for a damaged village. Foundation, A-frame, floors, walls, roofs, interior, finishing details, toilets etc. Fair to say I can use all kinds of different saws, drills and tools now, call me if you need help :)
Took a local bus of 25 cents to the Southern bus terminal early next morning and started the journey to Canoa. There was no direct bus until nighttime so we had to change in San Vicente. The bus ride took around 7,5 hours but would have been much quicker if we hadn't had so much stops, I'm not talking about stops in different bus stations in different towns, but literally stopping on every corner at some point, locals coming in and out. Also, there came hordes of different kinds of salesmen in every stop we made. The roads were pretty good, half the way was driving in mountains, so very curvy and on the edge of the mountain, but the views were exquisite.
Our destination was Coconut hotel, the 'All Hands' basecamp, 20 minute walk from the town of Canoa.
On the 16th of April 2016 a powerful earthquakewith a moment magnitude of 7.8 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe) rattled the coast of Ecuador. At least 673 people were killed and 27,732 people injured.
All Hands Volunteers is the world’s leading disaster relief organization powered by volunteers. Over the last ten years, they have enabled over 35,000 volunteers to donate 175,000 days impacting 500,000 people all over the globe. As the volunteers work together to rebuild hope alongside local residents and partners, communities are restored and lives are transformed. The vision is to demonstrate the power and value of volunteer service through the tangible work done, the hope it brings to suffering communities and the transformative experiences it provides for volunteers.
We worked in several different teams building core homes for a damaged village. Foundation, A-frame, floors, walls, roofs, interior, finishing details, toilets etc. Fair to say I can use all kinds of different saws, drills and tools now, call me if you need help :)
The workdays can seem long and the work hard but it is very rewarding. We're changing someone's lives for better. Most people volunteering in these projects always go back when there is a need somewhere.
Our base was lovely, right at the sea, so every day after work we went straight for a swim. The waves were usually huge and the water refreshing. We slept in tents. Ours was a tiny one from Columbia, luckily it didn't rain too heavily. At lunchtime the locals whose property we were working on cooked simple but amazing Ecuadorian food for us, for dinner at the base, the organization has employed local cooks, our truck drivers are local also as well as some of the workers on site, which is a great way of empowering people from disaster zones as next to building what is needed, paid jobs are provided.
We had three dogs, this cool fellow her is Camp Dog
Work was Monday to Saturday, evenings after daily meetings and dinner were filled with chatting and playing cards, on Friday we had a beer pong tournament, which we managed to get to half finals. Sundays are off work, so Saturday night we went to party in Canoa with most of the people. Canoa is a town/village (population around 6000) 20-minute-walk on the beach from us. It's an interesting place with sand roads and low small buildings but gets pretty cray cray on a Saturday night. Live music, salsa, reggaeton, whatever you prefer really. We literally just popped from place to place and danced or chatted in the middle of the road. A lovely hostel/bar owner had a bunch of tiny kittens and puppies to give away to good homes, we went crazy for a second petting them, cuteness level rose to maximum heights! As All Hands curfew is 10 pm, 11 on a Saturday, we stayed at a hostel there, totally decent for 5$. Spent the morning drinking coffee, popping from place to place again, snacking on breakfast food and visiting a fruit market. Can I just stress out again that the fruits here are amazingly delicious.
Walked back to base and took a bus to a bigger nearby town Bahia (Bahia de Caraquez, officially known as San Antonio de Caraquez, population around 20 000). Bahia was on of the most badly hurt cities. It used to be a resort town with huge hotels and beautiful buildings, it's sad to see huge cracks in these now deserted hotels and all the demolitions happening around.
I really recommend All Hands if somebody is interested in volunteering. I know i want to go again and participate if there is a need somewhere. www.hands.org is the homepage for different ongoing projects and you can ask me if you have any questions!
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