Typhoon Yolanda Relief,
DapDap, Ponson Island, Province of Cebu
Typhoon Yolanda Relief,
On November 8th, 2013 Super Typhoon Yolanda made landfall crossing the central Visayas of the Philippines with winds up to 350 km, wiping out entire towns on the eastern front. Leaving a destructive post apocalyptic scene for many of the islands where inhabitants rely on coconut, fish, rice, and the bare essentials, many of the hard hit areas in the Visayas received minimal aid for the first week after Yolanda left her wrath. With international aid pouring in, some hard to reach provinces in the region were left wondering if they too, were going to receive the attention they need to start rebuilding. By determination, courage, emails, and support, we were able to make a journey to a small barangay named Dap Dap on the island of Ponson, the northern island of the Camotes just between the major islands, Cebu and Leyte. Thankfully, a couple in the states made contact with us when they heard we were putting together a fund raiser to take supplies to some hard hit areas. Here is our story.
ABOUT US:
This newsletter was written in order to give a lot of the unsung heroes the recognition they deserve as well as some insight into our journey and small contribution in helping to rebuild lives here in the Philippines. Jeff and I have been living in Cebu City since the beginning of this year, originally from San Diego, California. Cebu City is the second largest city here in the Philippines, comfortably nestled between Negros and Bohol island, as well as the Philippine Fault.
Just one month ago, Bohol was the epic center of a 7.2 magnitude earthquake that rocked the island as well as topple centuries old churches, erected roads, homes were either badly damaged and/or destroyed. Cebu City experienced minor damage unlike Bohol, and again with the typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan), Cebu City was spared by 30 or some odd miles of being in the direct path of the eye. Again, there was some damage in the city and power was out in many barangays but nothing compared to these hard hit areas of the Visaya region here in the Philippines.
Yolanda was rumored to be the most intense tropical storm depression turn typhoon turned super typhoon to ever make landfall. She gained momentum as she made her way towards the Philippines keeping her intensity steady rather then declining. Her speeds and gust of wind reached over 300km and sped through the archipelago island chain with such velocity. The Visaya region was put on high alert three days prior to her arrival by the local government, news outlets, CNN, internet, rating Yolanda as Category 5 hurricane far more eager to cause havoc then that of Hurriance Katrina. People were anticipating landslides and flooding, but what they weren’t expecting was the unannounced storm surge. After two natural disasters, Cebu City is now on the map providing aid and help for those in need. We are fortunate enough to do what we could do in the wake of Yolanda, and would like to thank everyone who helped us make it happen.
Des and Jeff
The development of Yolanda
With the Philippines being in the direct alley way of tropical storm depressions, the island country is no stranger to typhoons. Each year the country endure at least twenty typhoons, minimal, that cause massive flooding and landslides as it crosses over into the South China Sea. Many Filipinos experience it time and time again, knowing of what to relatively expect as it reaches land fall from the south Pacific. What made Yolanda (Haiyan) notable this year was the sheer magnitude that developed in the Pacific that ultimately formed not only a typhoon, but to a super typhoon with wind gusts surpassing 330 km an hour making Yolanda far more potentially destructive then Hurricane Katrina. And that potential destruction became calamity.
Prior to landfall
I was part of a group of friends who came together to produce an event called SWAYED set for the weekend of November 9th and 10th in the southwest province of Cebu. SWAYED stands for STAND UP PADDLE, WAKE BOARDING, AQUA SPORTS, YOGA, ECO, DIVE. It was an event to get people to try different activities, come together for a beach clean up, and ultimately create such an event that would help initiate another one next year. The initial word was a typhoon was coming (nothing unusual) but the strength it was bringing was slightly unprecedented then those in the past. It was set to make landfall by Friday morning and all we knew was we were in the direct path. That Tuesday evening [48 hours before Friday] our board made a decision to postpone the event and prep for this typhoon for the next couple days. Majority of our efforts were geared towards setting up for the event, which now in a sense we could relax a little, but rather had to start prepping for mother nature.
It felt like a waiting game at this point, just sit and wait. Jeff’s dad is in town from Orange county and it’s his first time in the Philippines of course not anticipating a typhoon, so he was here to experience this south Pacific phenomenon at it’s heightened state. Slowly, people from all over the world were starting to catch drift of the typhoon since it was making international news following the path. We assured people we were fine and Jeff’s dad is here so family was with us, the hotel next to our building would be operational, no evacuation procedures were highlighted despite the massive intensity of the storm. We were to be ok where we were at. Now if there were hotel evacuation plans taking place, then we would, for sure, be in some kind of predicament.
It really was just a waiting game until Friday morning, with sun shining and almost an erie calmness in the city, at least for me. People were going about their days, but the build up had many people worried, stock piling, panic buying, better to be safe then sorry. The Philippine local and national government did warn the region of the signal strength, and the news showed barangays and cities were making legitimate preparation plans when Yolanda was set to hit. It wasn’t as if no one wasn’t taking it seriously in regards to low laying lands, cities, and evacuation centers. The winds and rain are always expected. It was best to anticipate her wrath and within two days, people were set to face her face. But the strength was beyond the measure in some areas and that was yet to take place.
Friday morning there were very few cars on the road and the rain had begun. Jeff and I decided to go outside in our rain coats and do some recording. The hotel next to us was busy, buffet was still being served, packed with people, internet, electricity but as winds picked up, brown outs were happening, internet went down so it was roughly 5 hours of sitting back and watching. When the winds intensified, we started to see it blast past our window, howls, hearing debris flying in the air and landing where ever it could. Going up and down the elevator was kind of nerve wrecking, they were alternating working and non-working. We walked the other side of our floor and can hear loud winds, assuming the windows broke. We could feel the wind push the front door with deep howls and the way our building is built, there are three towers on the property, clustered vs. a line. Our unit is facing the mountains away from the on coming winds and it’s also blocked by Crown Regency hotel and that gave us some cushion compared to others.
That evening we had cable and internet back on, and I went to the gym that apparently was open the whole day on the 15th floor in the other tower. I thought for sure it would be closed since the casino on the 3rd floors closed the night before the typhoon came, and you know casinos love taking your money. Jeff went there the night before with his dad and they told him to play his last hand because they were shutting down. After going to the gym, it was another waiting game for the rest of the region because the entire country was warned of the severity. Knowing low laying cities and villages are in the direct path of a super typhoon now said to be written as the most powerful storm ever in recorded history.
Post Yolanda and Relief
The day, after, Saturday we headed down south of the island to the other side to take advantage of the nice weather. The resort we were going to was open, so we called a friend of ours who had guests in from Europe and we all drove down to make the best of post Yolanda. For the next couple days we did some free diving, scuba diving, relaxing, starting to hear the news coming in of the places being hit. Because so many towns, provinces, barangays, were wiped out, people who weren’t immediately impacted wouldn’t know the extensive damage Yolanda created unless you had direct contact with someone on the front lines. Apart of me felt bad and almost helpless, yet so grateful that everyone I knew were fine, and we were able to spend the days enjoying the beauty of the islands. Our friend Bo, who is a local here, was relaying information to us of some of the devastation in the north of the island. We pledged to help and didn’t know where to start from. Bo is a great source and a network surge of know how and how to. After spending a few days down south, Jeff and his dad went swimming with whalesharks and I went back to the city.
For the next day or so, I watched on TV the calamity of the region and I wanted to do something. I text Jeff and told him we have to contribute in some way either up north or somewhere that needs it. I went to the store and bought $100 worth of supplies just to start the project while I waited for Jeff and his dad. When they arrived back from the south, we took our computers to dinner and came up with a page and flyer to ask for donations. We were hoping people took us seriously in the matter about raising money to help fund relief to some areas that needed it most.
The following day we raised around $800 USD and received an email from a couple in the states about an island in the Camotes named Ponson. The husband and wife from Utah had some relatives living on the island, which was in the direct path of the eye just between Cebu and Leyte. The email stated they had sent money to purchase bags of rice but it was proven difficult for the rice to make it to it’s location on Ponson. Originally we thought we’d be going to Malapascua in the north to deliver goods but our plans had changed now we were aware of Ponson. Jeff, his dad, our driver, and I went to a hardware store and loaded up on basic building supplies. Shovels, nails, sealant, rope, hammers, saws, flashlights, batteries, gathering as much supply as we could. Shortly after we headed to a food store and stocked up on canned goods, rice, noodles, diapers, etc, took it to Bo’s for staging while he was heading back from Ormoc, Leyte.
That afternoon, I went over to the house and packed all the goods with one of the workers at Bo’s house, and then walked back to our place only to be told we were going back to Bo’s for dinner and meeting. At least I had a good hour of cardio. When we did, Jeff and I, we met another friend Marnie who had also received money from her international friends to help with relief. From there, we came up with a plan to send the goods up north while still trying to work out getting the rice and boat. After a day of some hustling, running around, getting truck, rice, packing, we were set to go.
We woke up 2:30 am to get picked up at 3am. It was Bo, his girlfriend Sol, Marnie, Jeff, myself, our driver Leven, a nurse, photographer, all coming together. We headed to Mactan, dropped off our stuff at the location point where the boat was, only to find it beached. What to do? What to do? The boat wasn’t the size we were told, the captain looked like he’s been up all night, we have 14 50kg bags of rice along with boxes of hard boiled eggs, bags of food, tarps, building supplies, and 8 people not including the crew. Our heightened anticipation was starting to look grim. On a side note, we were able to see a beautiful sunrise while we waited, and debated what to do. Another boat came to the rescue being the same size as the beached one, so we were in a dilemma. Do we take our chances or do we wait another day? After deliberating, Jeff and I, along with Leven decided we were going regardless if the boat is sinking. Jeff told the couple back in the states it will be delivered and that it was. 
Everyone else decided to stay back, understandably. The boat was low, we weren’t sure exactly how long it would take to get there, but we had food, water, (maybe few adult beverages) and we set off for the Camotes. As soon as we got going, we could see the first island of Pacijan and Poro. It’s about an hour and half to two hours getting from Mactan, Cebu to Camotes, but passing the first two islands takes some time. What makes it easy to travel is being able to see all islands around you constantly so it’s not difficult to know where you’re going. 
When we parked up along side the rocks, the lady we were in touch with, Mira, came out to greet us. We unpacked the sacks of rice, along with the other supplies we brought for them, meeting some of the villagers. I understand the feeling I guess similar to John Smith and native Americans. I personally felt like I wasn’t doing a massive effort, just what needed to be done. Jeff, I know he was happy completing the task at hand, providing the village with what was intended for them, all from just a small fund raiser we put together, and getting a response from a couple in Utah.
She took us through the village and we could see the damage from the typhoon, from roofs completely blown off, to houses being knocked to the ground, school roofing, trees blown aside, etc. However, some homes were completely fine [having been made majority out of concrete} and some were wooden but managed to keep in tack. Mira offered to feed us lunch but we were on somewhat of a schedule to return to Cebu though we did pack for over night. There were many homes that were destroyed, no power and who knows when it would be restored. We are pretty adventurous with curiosity of a cat, but realistically speaking, you go to a village to bring aid, food, comfort, some tools to rebuild; the last thing you want to do is use any of it. Truly. She offered and expected to feed us lunch, but I really couldn’t eat any of it, not because I didn’t have the appetite to, but I felt it really wasn’t my place to. I think Jeff felt the same way and he was respectful with the way he declined.
Leven and I stood around for awhile taking photos, hanging with the people, watching them engulf their eggs, saying thank you. Jeff returned from his trip on the motorbike and saw the commotion of the egg fiesta in the DapDap chapel. We told them we had to go to head back to Cebu, so they walked us back to the pier to say their good byes. When we got to the pier, one of the crew members was attempting to push the boat, it was starting to get stuck. We really didn’t need the boat being beached at this time so a few of the guys began pushing it out and that was a task at hand.
The water was calm and we had a full moon so it was a pleasant ride sailing back to Cebu City, but long and exhausting. At one point, the captain seemed to be going the wrong way towards the city, despite being able to see the planes taking off and landing at Mactan/Cebu airport, he was sure going east towards Bohol was the right way. As much as it is disrespectful to question the captain, again, when it’s blatantly obvious to go towards the planes landing on the same island you set off from, someone has to mention something. Jeff and Leven were past out sleeping and I was awake making sure we get back in one piece.
We walked around the village some more meeting the brother of the wife of the couple who contacted us. Jeff went for a motorbike ride up and down the north side of the island taking photos of the damage along the concrete path they call a road. Leven and I were intending to join, but 1 minute into the ride, our bike died due to no gas. Jeff and Loloy [the brother] were so far ahead, of course they didn’t notice we weren’t following. It’s ok. We walked back to the village towards the chapel where the goods were stored and started taking pictures. The barangay counselors asked if they could open the hard boiled egg boxes and pass them out, and I said of course.
It didn’t take long for nearly the entire barangay to come and partake in the egg fiesta once word got out there were boxes of hard boiled eggs. They were beyond ecstatic and were keen to have their photo taken, saying thank you for the eggs. All I kept saying was no worries, it was our pleasure, it was a group effort because it really was. Everyone in our group, Bo, Sol, Marnie, Jeff and I put a bit of this and a bit of that in the donation run, so they are the unsung heroes in this. We did our part by buying the supplies that was intended and needed, making sure they get to where they need to go. Despite it not being no where near catastrophic as Tacloban or Ormoc, this village will need to rebuild and sustain.
There are 13 barangays on this island which faces Leyte Island, smaller then Poro and Pacijan of the Camotes. Pacijan and Poro are considered more so due to their diving and tranquility. Ponson is really, as far as we were concerned, as remote as you can get without being miles away from other islands. The small village of DapDap truly is isolated from the rest of the country despite it being nearly the center mark. If you don’t leave the village, you may never leave the island.
Places like DapDap would never receive the legitimate needs and supplies to rebuild after Yolanda. They really aren’t aware of the severity of the damage that occurred in places like Tacloban, Malapascua, Bantayan, Ilo-Ilo, Aklan, Samar Island due to where they are. It’s not even a fishing town, they have small canoes, a bamboo raft, and one municipality truck. So you have to think to yourself, who would come? Leven and I stood around for awhile taking photos, hanging with the people, watching them engulf their eggs, saying thank you. Jeff returned from his trip on the motorbike and saw the commotion of the egg fiesta in the DapDap chapel. We told them we had to go to head back to Cebu, so they walked us back to the pier to say their good byes. When we got to the pier, one of the crew members was attempting to push the boat, it was starting to get stuck. We really didn’t need the boat being beached at this time so a few of the guys began pushing it out and that was a task at hand.
The boat didn’t move as fast as the water was rising. Then, I look out on the pier to see the municipality truck pulling up with about 15 Filipino guys in the back, ready to help. In basketball shorts, shorts or no shorts, flips or no flip flops these guys all walked through the knee high waters to help push the boat out. About 45 minutes later the boat was out in deeper water and all we were missing was our captain and his right hand man. He was in town getting crude oil, having a meal, doing his thing as the sun was slowly beginning to make it’s way west. Finally, he came back, in underwear, walking through the water to get on the boat. I think I saw all of our crew members in their underwear at this point.
Eventually the captain seemed to realize he had kind of, maybe, evidently, obviously cruised the boat a little easterly then needed. He steered the boat towards the massive glow in the distance what would be, Cebu City.
We got home around 10:30pm, took showers and laid in bed. The following morning, I didn’t think I would be up so early, but I was starting to write this blog and go through photos. During the day, Jeff had left meeting up with Bo again discussing another trip. Jeff and I talked about which day we would be able to return but our slots were limited due to us returning back to the US. As well as making sure the people who donated money knew their contribution was being used and as transparent with photos, receipts of the big purchases, the location of where it would going and what would be going. We had intended to make a trip later in the week to give us some time to do some shopping, but luckily other people were interested in making another trip to Ponson sooner.
When Jeff returned he mentioned to me they were possibly going the following day, but nothing was set in stone as they were trying to get organized as quickly as they could. Another person apart from Ale involved in the coordination was a girl named Sally who I found out later is fluent in Welsh. Jeff mentioned it was a group of good people going and asked me if I wanted to go along. SAlly rang Jeff saying the trip is a go for Tuesday morning, I was on the fence, it was sooner then what I originally had energy for, so I said I would think about it. Later on I decided to go since I knew what the journey would be like already, I did intend to go again during the week, so there was no reason for me not to go. Plus with the money we received from people, we were able to purchase more goods and it would be going with the next batch of deliveries. I text Sally letting her know I would be going along the following morning.
When we started approaching the first island, the water became a little less choppy, slightly smoother ride. We went around the right side of the islands instead of the left this time around and as we were slowly making our way towards the south tip of Ponson, everyone around were starting to get their energy up again, taking photos. We could see Leyte off into the distance and C130 planes fly over us. It wasn’t too long now before we pull up to DapDap.
We had to park further away this time so people in canoes and rafts were coming from shore. As I stated before, I really felt I could relate to a modern day John Smith. You have a boat full of people from all over the world, a massive amount of supplies to drop off to a remote village in the central region of the Philippines. I imagine everyone else felt similar who were on the boat.
Finally arriving back on Mactan Island, we made it and successfully carried out a small mission to bring aid to a small barangay who yes did get hit, but not as bad as other places. They have man groves which protect the city and had they not had the man groves to deplete the force of the winds, surely the town would be in much deeper situation then what it was. Grabbing our gear from the boat at the dock, paying out the boat, we hailed a cab and headed back into the city.
We got home around 10:30pm, took showers and laid in bed. The following morning, I didn’t think I would be up so early, but I was starting to write this blog and go through photos. During the day, Jeff had left meeting up with Bo again discussing another trip. Jeff and I talked about which day we would be able to return but our slots were limited due to us returning back to the US. As well as making sure the people who donated money knew their contribution was being used and as transparent with photos, receipts of the big purchases, the location of where it would going and what would be going. We had intended to make a trip later in the week to give us some time to do some shopping, but luckily other people were interested in making another trip to Ponson sooner. 
While meeting with Bo, Jeff had been introduced to a NGO volunteer who has been living in the Philippines for awhile studying whale sharks. His name was Alessandro from Rome, who was a vet by profession but whale shark and dolphin chaser by passionately volunteering. Jeff had more money to buy bags of bags of food from the Cebu Relief Coordination to bring back to DapDap. Ale was involved getting a boat, other supplies, along with people from all over who happen to be in Cebu.
When Jeff returned he mentioned to me they were possibly going the following day, but nothing was set in stone as they were trying to get organized as quickly as they could. Another person apart from Ale involved in the coordination was a girl named Sally who I found out later is fluent in Welsh. Jeff mentioned it was a group of good people going and asked me if I wanted to go along. SAlly rang Jeff saying the trip is a go for Tuesday morning, I was on the fence, it was sooner then what I originally had energy for, so I said I would think about it. Later on I decided to go since I knew what the journey would be like already, I did intend to go again during the week, so there was no reason for me not to go. Plus with the money we received from people, we were able to purchase more goods and it would be going with the next batch of deliveries. I text Sally letting her know I would be going along the following morning.
Tuesday morning, I got up, ate breakfast and headed to Mactan to meet up with the crew. There were people this time from all over, Belgium, Italy, Spain, Hong Kong, England, Ireland, Wales and a much bigger boat with more relief goods. We waited for awhile to board the boat, while Sally still hadn’t arrived yet as she was still doing some final preparations for the journey. I sat around talking to some of the crew as we all waited for a camera crew and Sally. There were two people from a Welsh news channel who were covering Tacloban and just flew in that morning to help pay for the journey and come along to record footage for a documentary back in Wales. As soon as they arrived, I couldn’t quite pick up on the language they were speaking as majority was Welsh and some English. I didn’t know at the time until I asked just after hearing it. I have never heard Welsh before so my eyes lit up trying to guess what it was. Shortly after they arrived, we all jumped on the boat and headed off around 10:30am. When Jeff and I left on Sunday, we left around 7:30 in the morning, this time it was later and I told them it would take roughly four and half hours to get there and hoping the weather would be good.
The waters weren’t as calm as Sunday, everyone was getting soaked on the boat. I brought a rain coat and put it on hoping to prevent some water logged clothing, but that idea fizzled after about 30 minutes. Everyone was having a good time, especially in the beginning because it was an adventure to go on, a handful of people all came together to make something happen for people who needed it. Let’s keep in mind Jeff, Bo, and everyone else so it was a joint effort in making this journey possible with all the donations being given. Whether it was monetary, clothing, food, diapers, eggs, cooking oil, boat, transport, down to the dried milk and formula, everyone had their hand in seeing this through.
When we started approaching the first island, the water became a little less choppy, slightly smoother ride. We went around the right side of the islands instead of the left this time around and as we were slowly making our way towards the south tip of Ponson, everyone around were starting to get their energy up again, taking photos. We could see Leyte off into the distance and C130 planes fly over us. It wasn’t too long now before we pull up to DapDap.
DapDap has a small pier they use and I let them know of our situation on Sunday where it literally took a village to help get the boat into deeper waters away from the pier. I told everyone expect people to be on the pier waiting as they were anticipating our arrival. One of the passengers, Steve had his camera out with the long lens and I had asked if he could see anyone on the pier from a distance. When he took the photo, he mentioned how many kids were already there, waiting, excited.
We had to park further away this time so people in canoes and rafts were coming from shore. As I stated before, I really felt I could relate to a modern day John Smith. You have a boat full of people from all over the world, a massive amount of supplies to drop off to a remote village in the central region of the Philippines. I imagine everyone else felt similar who were on the boat.
Slowly we began stacking the bags up on the deck in an assembly line, while the barangay counselors and a few men from the village made their way to our boat on small canoes and bamboo rafts. Mira came onto our boat and showed me the national high school made a sign that said “Jeff Maher and Desiree and company” saying thank you to the family back home and us. Unfortunately Jeff wasn’t around to see the banner, but I took photos to make sure he saw.
I jumped on a raft heading towards the beach, and started taking photos of the boat and then of the beach where pretty much the whole village was out to greet us. After I got on land, I took my camera and walked around, showing Sally and Welsh news crew where to go and helped them a bit finding the right footage for their segment. All of the donations were put into a small office this time rather then the chapel. I pulled Mira aside at one point telling her we trust her barangay will distribute fairly around to the others up and down their side of the island.
The time we left Mactan, it didn’t give us much time nor sunlight to see the entire village. The Welsh were looking for a person or family who lost their home completely, wanting to get some footage along with an interview with Sally. Mira, is the only one in the village that speaks ok English, some people can but majority don’t. This is the first place in the Philippines, that I’ve been to, where English isn’t a dominate language. Local dialect, Tagalog, Visaya, English, they speak 3-4 languages just sleep walking alone in this country. When I was here four years ago, I was amazed by how widely used English is.
Anyway, we walked around the village for a bit, a stroll through this hidden village covered and protected by man groves. Many of the trees were knocked down, mango, coconut, palm. We got to see another part of the village where more homes were wiped away, just leaving nothing but debris in it’s original foundation. They really need concrete to rebuild here, the spirits are resilient despite feeling isolated from the rest of the country. If you live in a village of 240 families with only one computer and make contact only text, you would have no clue of the calamity around you just on the next island or surrounding islands.
The sun was starting to make it’s way down as we were walking back to the boat. We all got to the dock, rode canoes and rafts back to the boat, waived our good byes and left DapDap pier. Everyone was happy and pleased with the adventure, coming together and doing a good deed. When we were heading back around the islands, we could see a lightening storm over the hills of Cebu. The group of us, sitting on the middle ledge, looking out into the sky and watching the flickering lights dabbling around amidst the thick clouds. The show helped in creating light for us to see where we were going as we had no lights nor GPS on the boat. Nobody seemed to mind, nobody was nervous traveling back and the flow of the water kept it smooth sailing. Behind us half way during the trip back, the full moon finally started creeping out over the hills on Pacijan island and we could see Cebu City light up a patch in the sky. We still had quite a ways to go, flashing lights on other fishing boats, making sure we weren’t hitting anything along the way. Slowly and slowly, the lights of the city were becoming more visible, and the planes were lining up at Mactan Cebu International, and as long as you can see the planes, you know where to steer your boat. It’s difficult to get lost when you can see Cebu island the whole time of the journey. But you never know the distance unless you really make an effort to travel. 
Four hours later [the fastest leg of both journeys] we arrived back at Movenpick Pier, said our thank you’s to the captain, piled into the back of a small pick up truck, driving into city. We were all tired so conversation wasn’t that lively amongst us but there were a few laughs shared about where we were from, how we knew someone in the group, etc.... You spend a whole day with these people not really knowing their names, and for me personally, I have learned it’s ok to not know someone so well, you do what you need to get done and go on. They were all really cool, happy, eager, bright eye’d bushy tailed, and now zombies ready for a cocoon nap. Long day.
We did it, we managed to make it home in one piece across the Cebu sea, delivered goods, worked together, made people happy, and sitting in the back of a pick up wasn’t too shabby either. I was the first to get dropped off at my place shortly after 10pm, I said my good byes to everyone and headed inside to meet Jeff. When I got in, I told him about the day and showed him photos of the sign that was made with his name on it. Everyone contributed dearly to this small project of relief, Jeff and I couldn’t be more thankful.
When I was on the island, many people asked if we would be returning, and I told them I didn’t know since Jeff and I were to head back to the US a few days later. I hope we visit the island and village again, it was a great experience.
To end this blog and entry of the expedition, we want to first off thank Bob and Susan Haws of Utah and their church, all the donors from around the world who contributed in the relief funds of getting supplies, boats, food, fuel, the over all capability to make this happen. Bo, Sol, Marnie for their hard work and support, Alessandro and Sally for organizing the second journey out along with all the NGO volunteers who came that day. Thank you, with your contribution, we were able to help families rebuild and a town rebuild, honoring the trust Bob and Susan Haws bestowed on us to get the job done, and it was.
Thank You!
