An Edinburgh man has sold all his belongings to travel the world – helping those affected by natural and man-made disasters.
Hamish Urquhart, 26, who worked as a bartender, left with his tool bag to help people hit by tornadoes, hurricanes, and flash floods across the world.
At the start of the year, Hamish was in Poland where he spent a month reconstructing abandoned soviet homes for Ukrainian refugees.
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Hamish, who lived in Dalry, is currently constructing homes on Florida’s west coast, where Hurricane Ian displaced tens of thousands of Americans in 2022
The hurricane claimed the lives of 161 innocent people with some sources claiming over $65 billion worth of damage was caused by the horrific disaster to properties in only one week.
Speaking from a building site at Fort Myers, Hamish said: “I really needed a change from just working as a barman and I wanted to make a difference by helping people who had been by no fault of their own affected by disasters.
“Being on the right side of history is really important to me and when I got to spend time in Poland, helping former Ukrainian residents I got the chance to improve people’s lives by reconstructing homes for them.
“I am now in Florida, helping people who were affected by Hurricane Ian in 2022. The news in general moves so fast and there are so many people who think communities recover and rebuild homes in a matter of months but towns out here are still suffering from that natural disaster 18 months ago.
Hamish works with All Hands and Heart, an American non-profit aiding people affected by natural disasters.
His journey has not ended yet, he is planning to head off to Mexico in September to rebuild schools where he will have to endure boiling conditions.
He continued on: “I’ve already met some amazing people from these past few months and while I am not on-site working hard I do get to explore outside the areas that have not been destroyed and get to experience the incredible cultures that we have in the world.”
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You can donate to Hamish’s fundraiser, by clicking here.
