THE BASE

The base is where you will live, eat and play during your time on the program! It is communal living at its finest. Some call it rustic, others call it home.  The base is usually co-ed bunk-style dorm rooms with assorted common areas for eating and relaxing. You’ll live together, work together and eat together with your fellow volunteers — moments of privacy are rare.

Laundry: The team usually engages community members to provide personal laundry service a couple of times a week. Volunteers must cover that cost themselves. There is also a locally owned business that is within walking distance from base. They charge 150PHP for 8 kilos (wash, dry & fold) and 130PHP for self-service.

Communal space: We have a dedicated common space at the base where you will be able to spend time with other volunteers, attend daily meetings, eat your meals, and participate in events. We will also have a designated well-being space for anyone who wants to spend time in a more quiet environment. Please note that consumption of alcohol, loud behavior, and loud music are not allowed in the well-being space.  

Please feel free to bring along some board games, footballs, volleyballs, or any other kind of entertainment. We encourage you to consider bringing indoor activities for those times when we need to keep inside. Although we will do our best to provide some items to help you enjoy your free time, we need to prioritize sourcing basics because of the tight program budget. 

Kitchen facilities: The kitchen at our base will be equipped with basic cooking equipment such as pots, frying pans, basic utensils, cutlery, plates, cups, glasses etc. It will be available for you to use in the morning so that you can prepare your breakfast. You can also use it on your days off and in the evening if you wish to prepare your own dinner instead of the one provided. Please note that during working days, the kitchen will be occupied by local cooks who will be preparing lunch and dinner, so you will have limited or no access to the kitchen throughout the day. 

We will have a designated storage space where you can keep your food, but we ask that all food is stored in sealed containers. We highly recommend bringing a sharpie/marker to mark your items. We do not anticipate having a refrigerator or freezer at the base for public use, so please don’t bring anything that needs to be stored at a low temperature. 

We do not provide WiFi on base. Most resorts around here offer wifi and that is where we tend to spend most of our time off!

If you need to use a computer or phone for personal purposes, we recommend bringing your own. Please make sure your phone is unlocked. Otherwise, a local sim card will not work on your phone.  

If you require regular internet access, by purchasing the local SIM card you can also gain data - data plans upon purchase of the sim normally range from 300PHP-600PHP. Sim cards can be bought before your arrival at the base. Mainly at the airport - in Manila, Cebu, Tacloban, in some local resellers (kiosks, grocery stores), or at SIM card provider stores - they will also be able to register your sim card for you.

7/11 stores also sells sim cards that you can buy at 40 - 50 php but you might have to buy the data plan separately and register them yourself.

A line of technology stores in the mall is another option. What they offer is the same as what 7/11 has but since it's usually less busy and has better internet access, they might be able to help you register your sim card should you need help doing so.

There are several SIM card providers in the country, but Globe and Smart provide the best coverage. 

Here you can read an extensive guide to getting a SIM card in the Philippines. 

In the Philippines, the power sockets are of type A and B. The standard voltage is 220V, and the standard frequency is 60Hz. We have occasional power outages. If necessary, please ensure you purchase a power adapter to charge your electrical items. Power outlets are limited, and we currently have 2 or 3 sockets per room. Solar chargers and power banks are ideal.

We provide three meals a day, six days per week - on each working day. There will be no meals provided on your day off. Although the menu can vary depending on the availability of products in the local area, the typical meals at the AHAH base are the following: 

• Breakfast: Oats, Peanut Butter, Jam, Bread, Eggs, Fruits, Tea and Instant Coffee. Products will be available for you, but you will be responsible for preparing your own breakfast before going to the worksite. 

• Lunch: Local Filipino food with vegetarian options available for volunteers who request it. Rice is usually served with every meal in the Philippines. Some of the most popular Filipino dishes that you can expect to have frequently are: pancit, chicken adobo, sinigang, kare kare, bulalo, lumpia, sisig, torta. Most of those are originally prepared with meat but can be adjusted to be vegetarian.

• Dinner:  Local Filipino food. In the Philippines, there is little distinction between the lunch and dinner menu. We will try to provide a different menu throughout the day, but generally, please expect similar types of dishes to be served for lunch and dinner. 

Vegetarian diets can be accommodated, but vegans, celiacs and other dietary requirements will have to supplement what we can provide with items they bring or source and purchase themselves.  You can store personal food items on the shelves, but there is no refrigerated personal space. You will be able to use the kitchen whenever local staff are not cooking meals for the base.

In the area where we live, you can find small shops, locally known as a sari-sari stores, that sell snacks, drinks, and fruits. Local eateries can also be found selling home-cooked Filipino meals.