WEEK FOUR: MA Founders Volunteer with All Hands and Hearts
Thu 02 Jul 2026
Annie Gault, MA, Marketing Coordinator
Mark & Lynda Bridge, founders of Mark Antony Estates, are spending 6 weeks volunteering on the remote Philippine island of Catanduanes, helping to build a school for children in need. The island is frequently hit by typhoons, leaving communities reliant on disaster relief charities - like All Hands And Hearts - to rebuild their infrastructure. Working six days a week, their efforts highlight a meaningful commitment to supporting vulnerable communities despite challenging conditions.
CLICK HERE to read more about what inspired Mark & Lyn to dedicate themselves to this cause.
Week Four - Journal
Four weeks into this mission on Catanduanes Island, and the physical toll of communal volunteer life is matching the brutal reality of the construction site.Living conditions have reached an endurance testing peak. Between a bad bout of egg-induced camp tummy bugs and room swaps introducing roommates who snore like a chainsaw, sleep has been a rare commodity. The total lack of privacy, relying on bucket showers, and navigating bucket-flushed toilets is just standard daily life now. The physical strain is fully setting in; backs, wrists, and forearms are constantly screaming in pain. There is a very good reason the organisation mandates a three-day break every 25 days—and working a straight 30-day block to finish their time here is pushing our founders right to the absolute limit.
Yet, the sense of appreciation makes the sweat worth it. "When you’re sitting on a boulder completely exhausted, calculating drainage levels, and local kids walk past to give you a high-five and ask if you've worked too hard, the fatigue just melts away. We are deeply embedded in this community now, and knowing we are maximizing what we can complete before heading home keeps the tools moving."
Stop Press: The Great Motorbike Rescue!
The week's most dramatic moment happened entirely off-site. Lyn went out for a 5km run heading north from base when she was suddenly targeted and chased by a pack of highly aggressive local dogs. Trapped and completely freaked out, she was in a seriously tight spot. Fortunately, Mark had just borrowed a motorbike from one of the team members and was riding out to meet her. He managed to roar in and perfectly position the bike as a moving shield between Lyn and the pack until they finally lost interest. Disaster averted, they celebrated the escape by riding out to a deserted pebble beach to enjoy the sun and a nice sea breeze.
Thursday: High-flying roofers and monster doors.
The morning started with the usual 5:30 AM rooster alarm and their collective, leader-led sunrise stretch routine—though there were a few distinctly sore heads following a local birthday party the night before!
The Build: Lilian and Mark pushed hard on the internal partitions for the canteen, wrapping up another 5 stud walls despite battling twisted wood and an endless reliance on hand-nailing instead of screws. The canteen is a serious, typhoon-proof structure designed with a 20-year lifespan to feed 30 kids, featuring a massive food prep zone and two of the largest custom timber doors on the entire island.
The Reality Check: An external roofing contractor chose to ignore site safety protocols and took a very nasty fall from the roof. Luckily, nothing was broken and there was no concussion, but it was a sobering reminder for the volunteers of how unforgiving a construction site can be.
The Win: Mark & Lyn officially won Fundraiser of the Week for the second week running! Lyn was awarded an official cap, and they are now just $26 away from hitting the $1,000 milestone to unlock the hoodie.
Friday: The camp bug and beer pong.
A rough day across the board. A batch of unrotated fresh eggs sitting in the tropical heat triggered a wave of bad guts across the camp. Lyn was hit hard with the tummy bug, leaving her entirely drained of energy and forcing her to sit out the day. Mark didn't fare much better, running on terrible sleep and fighting the bug himself whilst delivering back-to-back, one-hour power tool safety inductions for five new arrivals. Despite feeling completely empty, Lilian and Mark still managed to notch up 3 more stud walls.
The Highlight: The evening was saved by an epic camp beer pong tournament (Strict rules: elbows behind the line, one re-rack only!). Five teams of three, no phones, just total presence, massive laughs, and a brilliant distraction before the weekend mosquito fumigation locked down base camp to ward off Dengue fever.
Saturday: Snake clearance and island bonfires.
The Filipino army arrived on site to handle the heavy earthworks and dirt-shoveling, giving the volunteers a massively welcome physical break. They were joined by a local community group who cleared out overgrown weeds across the site to reduce the risk of venomous snakes, which are a deadly hazard in this specific area. Lilian was unfortunately isolated with suspected Dengue fever, so Enrico stepped in to assist Mark on the final canteen partitions before his scheduled departure.
Following the shift, 15 volunteers headed back to their favorite basic 2-star escape at Emmalyn’s Resort. "The luxury of a functioning toilet seat was a spiritual experience." Emmalyn closed the venue to day visitors just for them, treating the volunteers to a massive beach bonfire under a flawless starry sky and a spectacular moonrise. They shared fresh coconut water after a near-miss where a rogue coconut slammed into the sand inches behind one of their chairs!
Sunday: A well needed rest!
As they approach the final push of their journey, Mark & Lyn took their day off to completely switch off and recover from the physical and mental exhaustion. They spent a phone-free morning admiring one of the most beautiful sunrises they have ever seen. "Some days all you need is a great sunrise, and then it's a great day!"
Monday: The concrete slab pour.
With Lilian back and Enrico on his final day, Mark left them to tackle the canteen concrete panels whilst he shifted to an entirely new role: surveying and setting out the site drainage layout alongside Sam. Mark quickly realized designing drains means digging drains. Calculating a precise 2% fall using nothing but a notepad, stakes, and a clear hosepipe in the blistering sun was brutal... "especially when tropical downpours ruined my hand-drawn scale sketches twice!"
In the afternoon, the entire camp organized for a massive, manual concrete slab pour. With no machinery or delivery trucks on the island, all 24 volunteers formed a human assembly line: sifting aggregate, hauling gravel buckets (Mark's job), and manually mixing and shifting the wet concrete (Lyn’s job). They worked straight through a driving storm until they were soaked to the bone with sweat and rain. "A bucket shower never felt so good."
Tuesday: No lasers, just sweat!
Lyn spent a punishing day acting as the primary runner for the roof masons, hoisting heavy concrete boards up the scaffolding before moving onto manual sand sifting and plaster watering. Mark spent the day calculating excavation depths and marking out the main drainage lines across the entire site. With no lasers or advanced surveying tools, it was pure brainpower, stakes, and a lump hammer. Mark was assigned three helpers, including two eager office staff members who couldn’t wait to get their hands on a shovel. "The culture here is spectacular; project managers and executives dig trenches right alongside everyone else."
The Downside: Base camp just received a satellite internet upgrade. Suddenly, the magic of a phone-free, tight-knit community vanished as everyone glued their eyes back to their screens. "I'd honestly rather it hadn't happened."
Wednesday: Digging in the heat and an approaching storm.
Mark moved back to the canteen alongside Luca to supervise a five-person team digging out the drainage trenches to his exact hand-calculated levels. "I am praying my hosepipe surveying math was correct, or a lot of very tired volunteers are going to be incredibly mad at me!"
Disrupted tool access slowed things down, as the camp’s aging equipment is in desperate need of maintenance that simply doesn't exist on this island.
Lyn had an equally grueling day manually filling structural bamboo with wet mortar, leaving her hands completely raw and soaked inside her gloves for hours. Before tool down, the volunteers heavily boarded up and secured all the canteen windows and doors. A monster typhoon is currently tracking just off the eastern coast; while it won't hit Catanduanes directly, it's dragging a massive wall of wild weather behind it. Mark & Lyn took a bike out for a two-hour evening escape to capture the changing sky. The sea is turning incredibly choppy, and the waves are starting to roll in. The storm is definitely on its way.
"Mark and Lyn, what an incredible thing to be taking part of and what an amazing achievement. Your dedication is truly inspiring and you are doing a great job at giving to the communities that need help. Keep doing what you’re doing!"
- Chloe Porter, Admin Team
How can YOU help?
If you can spare anything at all, please donate by clicking the banner below.You can rest assured that every single penny donated through Mark & Lyn's official fundraiser page goes directly to the project. Even just a couple of pounds buys essential building materials like bags of plaster or nails that simply aren't available otherwise.
It's support from back home that keeps volunteers going through the heat and hard work!
