Today was an exciting day! We finally got to go shopping and spend some of the $1,841 that our friends and family have donated so far. We were pretty gutted that we can only take 20kg worth of baggage on the flight,which seems like a drop in the ocean, but at least its a start and we still have a huge amount of money left. Many of the things we still need to  can be bought in Tacloban and so the rest of the money will be spent locally, with the added benifit of stimulating the local economy.

Today we got some basic building and school supplies based on the wish list our volunteer agency IDVolunteers  gave us. We also have with us a few things generously donated by our family and friend back home such as pens, clothing, toys and art materials. We mentioned in an earlier post how we will be putting up photos and videos of what the donations have bought along with a dedication to those who donated the money. So here we go with the first dedications…

Donated by Selina and Jessy. Thanks to your donations we were able to purchase school and art supplies for several classes including over 300 coloured and lead pencils, 1000 sheets of paper, rulers, erasers, sharpeners, scissors, glue and a stapler!

Donated by Renee R. At first it might seem trivial but for many in the worst hit areas of the Philippines seeds are expensive and in short supply and growing vegetables is one of the most cost effective ways of providing healthy and nutritious food in the long run. Thanks to your donation we have obtained Pumpkin, Capsicum, Carrot, Cucumber, Tomato, Beans, Cabbage, Cauliflower and Peas. We will be flying to Tacloban tomorrow so 

We are flying to Tacloban tomorrow where we will officially  begin our journey as disaster volunteers. Things are about to start happening  so keep checking back here to get the latest!!!

If you haven’t already done so and would like to donate to this cause check out our donation page by clicking the link below.

http://www.youcaring.com/mission-trip-fundraiser/help-us-help-the-philippines/137424

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About us

We are a English/Australian couple travelling together for …erm um well…its complicated. We initially met in Vietnam in 2012 and travelled together for 3 weeks before I (Ruth) had to return home to the normality of my life in England. After 6 months of sporadic contact we decided we had still had enough interest in each other to travel together. During that 6 months Matt continued to travel through Asia, The middle East and then ended up in England. So it is now February and that was June. Our trip started with a £50 flight to Amsterdam and no plan whatsover, not even a bed for the night. That was pretty much how things went for the next 3 months. When in The Netherlands we hitched a ride and realised we had just travelled 100kms FOR FREE, so over the next few months we developed a mutual love for being tight arses through hitching lifts, couchsurfing, camping and cooking on what was little more than a trangia and living on a budget that averaged about €13 a day. Before we realised, we had made it all the way to Istanbul completing our 5000km hitch hiking journey.

The next leg of our trip took us back to the start where we met, Asia. This brought us to December and after 15 months of Matt travelling (with 2 short breaks in between ) it was time for him to ‘pop’ home to see the family and friends for Christmas before we started our road trip of the east coast of Australia.  During the road trip we stumbled upon a video made by a guy named Casey Neistat, an American film director, producer and youtube sensation. Casey was approached by 20th Century Fox to make a promotional video for one of their movies, instead he asked if he could take the entire budget to the philippines and use it for the relief efforts (check the vid here – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jU7rhVub0rU ). It was after watching this video that we decided we should do something more then just simply travel.

Fast forward a few weeks and on Sunday 16th February we’re heading to the Philippines to volunteer with the relief efforts. We will be arriving in Manilla on Monday morning then come Wednesday we fly to the devastated city of Tacloban where we will be spending the next 6 weeks. We have also started an online fundraising drive to raise money for the organisation who we will be volunteering with, which will be posted on this blog shortly. 

Hopefully we can find the time to keep this blog updated with our journey in the Philippines. If you would like more information on anything we’re doing, including how to donate to the cause don’t hesitate.