NAME: Jane Coughlin
AGE: 24
Originally from: Winnipeg, Canada
Sweet Canadian Jane is very affable. Her eyes shine very bright when she talks about anything, to me it signifies that the cup of her life here on Earth runneth over. This All Hands volunteer who in her own words has "no hurry" to complete college genuinely loves our island town and even has intentions of living here sometime in the future. That is very good news for us and here’s why.
LL: Jane, thanks for agreeing to this interview. Could you please describe the place and vibe where you come from?
JC: It’s ridiculously cold where I come from, it goes to extremes of negative 50 degrees in the winter to plus 40 in the summer. Where I come from has a small town feel but it has 800 thousand people. It’s like at the cusp of being a big city, it has neat coffee shops, different restaurants, underground music scene, the art scene is cool but we are shut in (our houses) 6 months out of the year.
LL: What was your life like before you came?
JC: I was in school for my undergrad, my major is in Microbiology, I have been at it for six to seven years already because I am also working full time. I was in insurance for years, I also did bar tending. I decided to have fun jobs for a while.
LL: Are you completing college as a working student?
JC: That and I have bursary.
LL: What’s a bursary? Is it like grants for students?
JC: Yes, they are the same.
LL: Are you going to be a doctor?
JC: Yes, my sister who is practicing Naturopathic Medicine is already a doctor.
LL: Is Naturopathic Medicine like Homeopathy?
JC: It’s more than that, there are additional certifications for it.
LL: It would be great if you practiced medicine here.
JC: I was discussing this with my sister that if she wanted to extend her Naturopathic practice here like in an international capacity, that would be good.
LL: What's your impression of our place?
JC: I am absolutely in love with Tacloban, I love the people. (Like Rosie Alberio, Jane is working on a project with Street Lights in the Tagpuro area). We went to the sea side of the Tagpuro area there one time, we spent time with the people and other volunteers there and it went far as us having a had blood pact where we promised that we would come back to live here. We already have a panday (carpenter), a contractor and so on! One of the girls who were with us already opened up a Facebook Page about coming back to live here, she’s serious, it’s like, “This is really happening.” *laughs excitedly.
LL: How did you end up volunteering here?
JC: I was traveling and I met this girl in Cebu, I told her that I was going to Australia but I had no where to go for a few days before my flight. Then we got into volunteering, she encouraged me to go to Leyte, I was supposed to be here only for five working days, but by day two, I extended immediately. I have now forfeited my plane ticket to Australia.
LL: What pivotal moment made you choose to become a volunteer/aid worker?
JC: Back home I have already volunteered in several places. I have always volunteered because one does this in high school. My grandma was sick with cancer for 1 year and I took care of her. She was my best friend growing up. She was the hardest working woman in the community and to see her not to be able to do anything for herself was heartbreaking. I was so sad when she died so I volunteered in cancer centers, and I always wanted to do oversees volunteering.
LL: Has your experiences here affected or changed you as a person? And do you think that your experience here will be useful for you in the future?
JC: Yeah, I don’t think you can be here and do what we are doing and not be affected. People we work with, I actually have love for them, and people from Tacloban just open up to us. I was shown images from the typhoon (Haiyan), seeing the images, it’s one of the craziest things, there was so much to be done. The resiliency (of the people) is incredible.
LL: Do you consider yourself as an activist or an advocate?
JC: Advocate.
LL: Given all that has happened in the world, the news we see, the political and religious wars between countries, ideologies, terrorism and the natural disasters which we cannot control. Do you feel there is hope for the future of our planet?
JC: Yes, If you’ve been here and you see how people keep enduring, there’s hope. The human spirit is cool, when people keep trying that’s when you have something better for the future.
LL: Given an opportunity to resolve one global issue or conflict happening in the world right now, which one would you take a gander at?
JC: I don’ think I can pick one because it’s a chain reaction of everything. I think if you fix one, you'll fix everything.
LL: Apart from volunteer work or being an aid worker, what’s the next best thing that makes you eloquent or effusive with words?
JC: Animals, I love animals. Back home I foster cats, dogs and other animals. I get them when they are babies and when they open up their eyes, I am the first person they see, I am their mummy. I also love to travel, I am an "experience seeker" and I like the countries that have great cultural backgrounds like India, Africa.
LL: What’s next for you?
JC: Australia.
LL: Wanna play one-word-answer questions and Bonus Q?
JC: Sure.
Moon or Sun? Sun
Monochrome or Colored? Color
Iceland or Australia? Iceland
Fútbol or Football? Soccer
Coffee or Tea? Tea
Eagle or Dolphin? Eagle
Bonus Q: If you were given the power to spend 2 hours with someone who has passed on, who would it be and why?
JC: My grandma Lina (pronounced Lye-na), I want to chat with her about so many things. There are also a few people I want her to meet.
As we finish, Jane with her co-volunteer friend Rosie say goodbye and I feel that we are blessed to have everyone that has ever come to help us not only to rebuild, but also that they immersed themselves with our lives here in Leyte. I hope we have a great and positive impact on them just as they have done with us.
Name: Rosie Alberio
AGE: 26
Originally from: Minnesota, USA
We might not see it outright but Rosie is part Puerto Rican and of course very American. Rosie has been here in our island for three months now as a volunteer for All Hands. All Hands as we all know has been instrumental helping to rebuild out community post Typhoon Haiyan and Ruby. Rosie has been a part of an All Hands' project in collaboration with another NGO called "Street Lights." The projects they are currently working on right now are in Tagpuro, Leyte, and she is helping in the realization of four large buildings.
LL: Hi Rosie, can you describe the place and vibe where you come from?
RA: I was living in Portland Oregon where there’s good food, extreme types of people, nature lovers, vegan-ism, animal lovers; it’s set in the mountains. It has stunning nature and I worked as a delivery girl as well in a farmers market.
LL: What was your life like before you came?
RA: I had a great time in Portland, sometimes I’d do deliveries, but I knew it was a temporary thing. I have been also traveling, I love to travel.
LL: What's your impression of our place?
RA: I love it so much, the most friendliest people, I have traveled around, I always meet people who invite us into their houses, offer us food. I feel completely safe, I walk around the street and everyone is my friend.
LL: What pivotal moment made you choose to become a volunteer/aid worker?
RA: I’ve always been interested in humanitarian efforts, I volunteered after Hurricane Sandy. This summer I am going back to school, I am looking into disaster relief or medicine as a major. I want to volunteer more.
LL: Has your experiences here affected or changed you as a person? And do you think that your experience here will be useful for you in the future?
RA: Absolutely, I definitely want to be part of disaster relief efforts, I am just going to volunteer.
LL: Given all that has happened in the world, the news we see, the political and religious upheavals between countries an ideologies, there’s terrorism and the natural disasters which we cannot control. Do you feel there is hope for the future of our planet?
RA: I think that absolutely, bad things are going to continue to happen, but there are people who step up and you see more and more of that. People going out of their ways to help and give to people in need.
LL: Given an opportunity to resolve one global issue or conflict happening in the world right now, which one would you take a gander at?
RA: World hunger, everyone should have something to eat.
LL: Apart from volunteer work or being an aid worker, what’s the next best thing that makes you eloquent or effusive with words?
RA: traveling that’s my biggest passion. I also like mountaineering; I’ve already traveled to india, Sri Lanka and Africa, I like places that has great culture.
LL: What’s next for you?
RA: The holidays, I am going home but I am hoping to come back.
LL: Wanna play one-word-answer questions and Bonus Q?
RA: OK.
Moon or Sun? Moon
Monochrome or Colored? Colored
Iceland or Australia? Iceland
Fútbol or Football? Soccer
Coffee or Tea? Coffee
Eagle or Dolphin? Eagle
Bonus Q: If you were given the power to spend 2 hours with someone who has passed on, who would it be and why?
RA: Jimi Hendrix, because he is the sexiest man that ever lived.
Thank you for those great answers and thanks for being a part of our community Rosie.
Hassan Adebayo Bello FB: Bayo Hassan Bello
AGE: 22
Originally from: Osun State, Nigeria, Currently lives in Dubai.
When I met Hassan, he was with his friend Costa in a coffee shop. The positive spirit that flowed from Hassan was obvious the moment he walked inside the room. His story as a volunteer is an atypical one. He visited Leyte without any intentions of becoming a volunteer at first, but after getting to know some of the other All Hands volunteers and learning about the need for helpers to build a structure somewhere in the Tagpuro area, Hassan rose up to the challenge. One really has to admire that.
LL: Hassan, can you describe the place and vibe where you come from?
HAB: I have been living in Dubai for some years now. Dubai is like a playground for young dreamers, because it’s a young country, the things that Dubai has achieved there within 10 years is amazing. Dubai as we know is rich in oil, however, it has diversified on to other ventures because in 10 years the oil will run out. It has become a tourist place, an important port around the region and a place of enterprise. Dubai has it’s flaws but it’s a nice city; the only way you can know it is by visiting it.
LL: My impression of Dubai is that no one can go there unless you have an exorbitant amount of money or unless you enter as a worker. But as a tourist, don’t they check if you have money to be able to afford your visit?
HAB: No, you need money to travel but they don’t check your level of income or something, you’ll be OK there. There are places for the working class or low income earning people too and they are just as nice as the ones for the upper class. Like cute cafés or restaurants.
LL: What was you life like before you came?
HAB: I am a software programmer, our clients are those that need enterprise solutions and so on.
LL: What's your impression of our place?
HAB: To be honest, I barely knew about Tacloban before I came. I only knew from the news about the typhoon (Haiyan), I saw the news and I just had to get here. I just hooked up with All Hands when I arrived here. I was at the Yellow Doors (hostel) and a lady there Marielle Trixie suggested that we volunteer. I started to volunteer for just half a day but it ended up to be more. I saw the site where we worked and I saw buildings that were pretty new.
LL: What pivotal moment made you choose to become a volunteer/aid worker?
HAB: I saw the initiative of the other volunteers from All Hands. It’s very gratifying to see how the locals are and you can really see the gratitude by the people we do this for.
LL: Has your experiences here affected or changed you as a person? And do you think that your experience here will be useful for you in the future?
HAB: Certainly, I was looking at the videos and they are educating us about the typhoon and how the death casualty was really not just 6,000. We saw a video about this shop owner whose warehouse was looted and how she just allowed the people who were in need to go ahead and get what they needed. She also allowed her warehouse to be used for charitable purposes.
LL: Do you consider yourself as an activist or an advocate?
HAB: I am an activist because I put action into my words.
LL: Given all that has happened in the world, the news we see, the political and religious upheavals between countries an ideologies, there’s terrorism and the natural disasters which we cannot control. Do you feel there is hope for the future of our planet?
HAB: I do. I was in Magallanes St. and I saw shoes and stuff instead of corals on the sea shores but because of the things for example that All Hands that has done, there’s improvement, simple things that they have been done inspires you.
LL: Given an opportunity to resolve one global issue or conflict happening in the world right now, which one would you take a gander at?
HAB: The problem of generalization.
LL: You mean prejudice or lack of education?
HAB: No, its generalization, for example, when people think that all Muslims are bad. I am reading a book right now called "Black Swan," in the book there is a black swan, it exists but is rare, just because you only mostly see white swans, that doesn’t mean black swans don’t exist. Another example is the typhoon; before the typhoon nobody knew that a typhoon of Yolanda’s magnitude would happen but it happened and because it did, it can bring about change. This can apply to religion and so on.
LL: Apart from volunteer work or being an aid worker, what’s the next best thing that makes you eloquent or effusive with words?
HAB: Extreme sports, mountain climbing, skydiving even though I cannot swim. And also BoSfit videos (extreme workout videos).
LL: What’s next for you?
HAB: I’ll go back to Dubai to my work, I still have one more subject to finish at university.
LL: Wanna play one-word-answer questions and Bonus Q?
HAB: Sure.
Moon or Sun? Sun
Monochrome or Colored? Colored
Iceland or Australia? Iceland
Fútbol or Football? Soccer
Coffee or Tea? Tea
Eagle or Dolphin? Eagle
Bonus Q: If you were given the power to spend 2 hours with someone who has passed on, who would it be and why?
HAB: Anne Frank. She was only 8 years old when the events in her diary happened and for her to think like that, I mean other kids were only perhaps thinking about hula hoops. She is one I could easily identify with. The hardships she experienced.
The interview has now come to a close and it was admirable to see Hassan and Costa because they were both open and very enterprising. Indeed I may not see them again but I know I will not forget this encounter or this kindness given to us by these gents that they would volunteer their efforts for people they don't know.
Hassan and Costa, thanks for all your efforts.
NAME: Sian Mackey
AGE: 30
Originally from: Brighton, UK
Position held prior to doing volunteer work: Traveler
Sian, is at times called “The Duchess”, and because of her larger than life presence, we’ll call her that. The Duchess has a constant smile on her face and that joie de vivre that we only wish we have for ourselves. I bet, everyone wants to be her friend and us Taclobanons are most grateful for her advocacy and her efforts for gracing us with her hard work and efforts in helping to rebuild our community.
LL: Sian, (pronounced ‘Sean') you have an unusual name, where does it come from?
SM: It’s Welsh.
LL: And your last name?
SM: It’s Scottish.
LL: Those two heritage of yours are pretty strong.
SM: Yeah, yes they are!
LL: Can you describe where you come from?
SM: I come from Brighton, it's like London by the sea, it’s young, vibrant, lots of clubs, bars. It’s a fun place to be. There’s no place I’d rather live in England.
LL: What was your life like before you came?
SM: I’ve been traveling for 2 years now, I worked in farms in Australia, a banana farm, worked in a cattle station and in a farm for beans where I washed the green beans.
LL: So, what’s your impression of our place?
SM: I love Tacloban, I love the Philippines, people are friendly and loving all the time, I feel like I’m Lady Gaga (laughs), because there’s not a lot of white people here. After the horrible disaster, people are still very happy, they have managed to build up.
LL: What pivotal moment made you choose to become a volunteer/aid worker?
SM: I’ve volunteered for charities in the past in England. Helping out elderly people, there is a program there where they pair you with old people who cannot go out and you spend time with them. I have this older woman I visited and we have become best friends she’s so lovely I’d sit and talk to her, she would love it. I’ve been away for 2 years now so I e-mail her and her son reads the letters to her. A friend of mine introduced me to All Hands and that’s how I got to volunteer.
LL: Has your experiences here affected or changed you as a person? And do you think that your experience here will be useful for you in the future?
SM: In the western world we are just all consumers and we waste too much, we don’t need all the things that we have, yet, people here don’t even have a bathroom or a bed, but are still happy. The kids play this game where they hit cans with their flip flops and they are more happy. Kids in the west have things like iPhones, video games and so on.
LL: I am happy that we have that impression on foreigners, and since nobody is perfect, what are the ways you think we can improve? I myself realize that a lot of garbage is thrown all over the place.
SM: Yeah, there are trash all around.
LL: Are you an activist or an advocate?
SM: Activist, yeah.
LL: Given all that has happened in the world, the news we see, the political and religious wars between countries, ideologies, there’s terrorism and the natural disasters which we cannot control. Do you feel there is hope for the future of our planet?
SM: Yeah! we always come back, I mean look at this place, this is an example.
LL: Given an opportunity to resolve one global issue or conflict happening in the world right now, which one would you take a gander at?
SM: Terrorism, it’s a big problem. I mean why would you kill?
LL: Apart from volunteer work or being an aid worker, what’s the next best thing that makes you eloquent or effusive with words?
SM: Fiction stories mainly, I write fiction stories, mostly about dreams. I write a journal at times, my dreams give me ideas for things to write.
LL: What’s next for you?
SM: I will keep traveling, I am going to Hong Kong, and I want to go back to Australia. I also want to help with all Hands in Detroit (Michigan), there has been bad flooding there. Next year I plan to live in Germany.
LL: I have a few one-word-answer questions I want to ask you, you must choose one answer from the choices and you are not allowed to explain why. Shall we have a go at it?
SM: Yeah!
FEMALE:
Moon or Sun? Sun
Monochrome or Colored? Colored
Flats or Heels? Flats
London, New York or Paris? London
Beach or Shopping? Beach
Coffee or Tea? Dahling, I drink nothing but tea!
Eagle or Dolphin? Dolphin
Obviously, The Duchess is the quintessential modern English girl, she has claimed royalty, awesome hair, loves tea and has a free spirit. As Sian heads to her succeeding adventure beginning tomorrow, we are thankful for all that she has done for us, we are touched by that exuberant life that emanates from her. I can also see that her life may be more interesting than so many of the fiction books we read.
Sian, from all of us, thank you.
