Streetlight Site Overview

Streetlight is the name of the All Hands Philippines construction site where we are building a dormitory, office, study center, and clinic for an organization called Streetlight. This organization works with children living on the streets of Tacloban, Philippines and helps them create a better future for themselves. The dormitory will be used as a shelter for children living on the streets either due to homelessness or unhealthy family life, and the office will be used by the organization for administrative purposes. The study center will help the children develop skills to sustain themselves, and the clinic is needed because of need for medical care that many of these children experience coming from the streets.

Streetlight focuses on developing five aspects of a child’s life: social, emotional, psychological, physical, and spiritual. The goal of the organization is for the children it takes in to be able to return to society as productive members of the community with skills to sustain themselves.

While I’ve only been at this site for a few days (most of my time here was spent working at Camansihay), the work we are doing here is incredible. With this construction site, we are also working with about 70 local carpenters, masons, steelmen, and laborers from around the area. Each have their own stories to tell and are incredibly friendly and open with the volunteers, making the site a completely unique experience. Laughing and talking with these locals, many of whom were hit by the typhoon, you can feel the impact we are making. We are not only rebuilding structures, but our presence in this country even after two years have passed is rebuilding hope. Whoever came up with the tagline “We are still here” was definitely on to something, and the most I’ve felt it was at this site.

Here are some pictures of the Streetlight project. It is scheduled to be completed in early 2016.

Sign detailing all of the different parts of site

So much sand and gravel bagged, vital when you pour concrete most days

Sand pile behind bags of sand. Also a first look at the office

This is the “mock up,” a building that is used to test different materials and designs before actual implementation on the active site structures

Path to the warehouse

Homemade site Christmas tree!

The office from one side

The office from another side

Path to the site entrance

Study center from one side

Study center from another side

Dormitory with scaffolding. One difference between Streetlight and Camansihay is that Streetlight doesn’t use concrete blocks, but instead pours layers of concrete in form boxes (reinforced with rebar) to build the walls

The clinic, which is designed and started, but does not currently have funding to complete

One of the workers sitting by the office during our break