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Power 4 All, together with their partners Solar Hope and Sorroptomist International of Ortigas has just completed their distribution of minihub 2 solar home kits to two communities in Tanay, Rizal.
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The team started packing the solar home kits as early as 4:30am before meeting up with the rest of the group at Shell Boso-boso which was 20km or 1 and a half hours away from the city.
From there the group formed a convoy of 4 vehicles and headed to the first site at Sitio Caumbay, Barangay San Andres. The trip took around 45 minutes to get to from the meet up point.
The team then started unloading the items that will be given to 55 families of the community. We started the program with a short prayer followed by the national anthem, and then spent some time getting to know the community, their culture and their current struggles.
Some families have travelled over an hour by foot just to get to the covered court, but the long journey and humid weather did not dampen their spirits. As we engaged with the community and handed out the solar home kits, we could see the smiles on their faces knowing that they will not have to worry about lighting up their homes or charging their phones especially at night.
After giving out the minihub solar home kits, we also spent some time to show them how to use it, install it and make sure that they know how to take care of it so that they can enjoy the benefits of the systems for several years.
We ended the day with a group photo and headed out to our next stop.
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Our next stop was at Sitio Tuoy, Barangay Caumbay which was another 30 minute drive from Sitio Sitio Samlay. The journey took us through a narrow road heading down the mountain and into a school where 25 Dumagat families were patiently waiting for us.
We started unloading the rest of the minihub solar home kits and headed inside one of the classrooms. Sorroptomist Ortigas also donated a lot of school supplies from notebooks, printing paper and more to support the school’s activities.
We also got to meet a Dumagat Katutubo, who is also the tribal chief of the Dumagat tribe, and focuses on preserving the Dumagat culture.
The same program followed were we introduced ourselves with the community, understand who they are, the Dumagat culture and what other struggles they face in hopes that we could find a solution for them in the future.
After teaching them how to install, use and maintain the solar home kits, we bid our farewell to the community and thanked them for their hospitality as both communities provided us with warm food, fresh fruits and even suman or sweet sticky rice.
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The place was beautiful was dense forests, rolling mountains and fresh air. It is also a tough place to live as the remoteness of the area means they are far from the reaches of basic necessities such as power, water, healthcare and more. We will however continue our mission at Power 4 All to keep providing communities like these with access to basic necessities with innovative technologies that incorporate renewable energy and encourage sustainability.
We will continue to #beapower4good!
If you have any communities that you would like to help out or if you are an NGO that wants to collaborate for similar projects, please feel free to reach out to support@power4all.org or visit our website at www.power4all.org