A Year of Volunteering & Raising Awareness - 2023-2024 - All Hands and Hearts - EarthThreads Project

 In 2023, I spent two months volunteering for the All Hands and Hearts Natural Disaster Relief Team, in Fort Myers, Florida, and in Cabot, Vermont, and a few weeks in Nepal's Earthquake Disaster Relief Program.

(Worksite in Cabot, Vermont)

It was like living in an action movie. All of the volunteers would meet in the morning, with the sun rising, and have their coffee and breakfast, and check their phones (if they were the seasoned volunteers) for weather reports, natural disaster reports, and other national survey sites. It was like being a part of a secret heroes association.

(Selfie of me in front of the waterfall at the wedding venue we helped clear their barn in Vermont)

We visit all kinds of places, as volunteers, always in teams set up by our staff. After ur morning meetings, we would get the gears needed for that team's assignment, whetehr it was Mucking and Gutting, or Scrubbing and Vacuuming for the Sanitation Crew, we were preparing homes for rebuild after the flooding that took place in recent storms. From historical wedding venues, to community pantries, All Hands and Hearts gave me the opportunity to see my beautiful country, and meet her lovely inhabitants, as a public servant no less.

(Outside of the basement filled with mud that we were bucketing out, communing with nature via a snail)

The work was difficult. Often it was just crude manual labor. Tensions would flare, stomachs would growl, but we always loved the time together assessing the needs of the site, getting snacks, coffee and breakfast during the drives to the site, and taking small breaks to hang out with one another and spend time with nature. We were bucketing mud out of the basements that were affected by recent floods in the Vermont Valley, and these homes had basements with stone boulder foundations that were over 100 years old.

(Our team for the day in Vermont, scrubbing and vacuuming timbers before sanitizing)

Many of the home owners were very grateful, and claimed that had it not been for the AHAH Angels, from the DART and Assessment Teams, to the Cleaning and Sani-crews, removing damaged furniture, debris, and earth, that they would not have even known where to start. 

AHAH are proud first responders, with kind and skilled individuals willinga dn ready to help out in any way.

(action waterfall pic)

I loved the opporunity I had to work with so many like-minded, strong, intelligent, and helpful people, as well as to have the opporunity to explore the country, visiting beautiful areas and natural preserves, and discovery the important parts about life on this amazing adventure with AHAH.

(On the school building worksite in Tinkuna, Sinduli, Nepal, in 2023, after the 2015 Nepal Earthquake)

After sharing my story with some of the volunteers in Florida, I was given a donation to my EarthThreads platform to travel to Nepal and help with the natural disaster relief program. I came to Nepal, and found even more epic members of the AHAH family, from the wonderful staff that were so kind, communicative, and helpful, to the great volunteers dedicating their lives to traveling around the world and serving the Earth Community.

(At the base site in Tinkuna Village, Sinduli, Nepal, in front of the mess area)

The base site was standard, and so cool. At every site, there is a mess area for us to hang out and eat, and a kitchen for us to prepare our breakfasts and lunches, with three meals a day provided by the AHAH Program, and a rest day. I loved the style of meetings in the morning and afternoon, recapping our volunteers experiences and the day of work we were to have!

(Group photo of Vermont volunteer team that cleared a historic barn for this waterfall wedding venue, after it flooded in the 2023 Summer Storms in Vermont)

Our teams brought a diversity of interests and skills, and people from all over the world bringing their ideas together for the growth and development of small, affected communties.

(After the work day, going for ice cream at Sun Harvest in Fort Myers, Florida)

The other volunteers became fmailiar faces after weeks on the base, and some became life long friends. The moments of healing, connection, community were so powerful for me, it brought me back to a wonderful and childlike way of life. I would not have changed my experience for the world.

(At the disaster site in Fort Myers, Florida, after Hurricane Ian)

At times, the reality of being on disaster sites, seeing families displaced and living next to their homes in mobile homes was humbling, and a moment of silence would befall me, where I would realize what it meant to do humanitarian work. What was important in life became clear.

(Resting on a weekend with my best buddy on the base in Fort Myers, Florida)

I'll never forget this life with AHAH, it was a dream come true, with many rewarding and magical moments, borderlining mystical, and I know that I am a different person now than when I started. I have always wanted to help others, and AHAH gave me the avenue to take my skills and my developing platform to a whole new level.

Thank you, AHAH, and until next time!