A Vancouver couple had to rethink their winter vacation to the Philippines last December when Typhoon Haiyan devastated the small island nation – leaving more than six thousand people dead and millions homeless.
Instead of cancelling their trip, Jenn Walter and Nils Gorseth planned a boots-on-the-ground relief effort that took them to the Philippines for five weeks.
“I don’t think we ever seriously considered not going,” said Walter. “We looked at it as a really unique opportunity to help people who really needed it.”
Through a mix of online crowd funding and individual donations, they raised over $10,000 that they were able to contribute to the recovery and rebuilding of isolated fishing communities in the western province of Palawan.
Gorseth, a Vancouver firefighter, already had some experience in disaster relief.
"At the end of the day, any bit of help that people in need get means the world to them,” said Gorseth. “If people have the ability to do that, and most of us have the ability to help in some way, then why don't we go ahead and do that?”
The couple says they were inspired by the resilience of the people they met and the joy they had despite the amount of loss they had experienced.
"Every time we were able to hand something over or give something to a family or a community or a child - the looks on their faces, it's pretty incredible; I don't think I'll ever forget that," said Walter.
