23 November 2013
More locally-assembled portable solar night lights will soon be available to light up areas devastated by typhoon Yolanda.
Technical-vocational graduates, trainers and volunteers target to initially produce as many as 1,300 units of the solar lights under a joint project of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) and My Shelter Foundation called the "Liter of Light."
Most of these will go to Tacloban City in Leyte, which was among the hardest hit by the typhoon. The rest will be distributed to other heavily-affected areas.
A total of 50 units were earlier given to TESDA employees affected by the typhoon.
Storm surge triggered by strong wind and heavy rain swept away houses, flattened structures and toppled trees and electric posts in a number of provinces in the Visayas region, resulting in the deaths of over 4,000 people and damage to agriculture and infrastructure.
The Department of Energy said a number of areas, including Tacloban City, would be in total darkness at night until before Christmas day.
"These lights can help bring a sense of normalcy to families, who lost every material possession, and some, even their loved ones," Secretary Joel Villanueva, TESDA director general, said.
The solar lights will also make families save whatever little money they have because they do not have to purchase kerosene, Villanueva said.
Ilac Diaz, executive director of My Shelter Foundation, said the country is now embarking on a new revolution -- green revolution-- with the project.
In time with the country's commemoration of the 150th birth anniversary of Andres Bonifacio, who began the revolution for independence, TESDA and My Shelter Foundation will distribute some units on November 30.
The original solar bulb was "retrofitted" with solar-powered LED with a very simple design using locally available materials that can be easily fabricated and repaired. The light uses solar energy to power the lamp that will illuminate the bottle at night.
The US Embassy gave the initial funding of US$10,000 for the project, which was augmented by money from TESDA.
Villanueva said he hopes the agency could secure more funding to produce more solar lights for the typhoon victims.
The agency, he said, has also expanded its training-cum-production approach for the solar lights through the TESDA Technology Institutions in the Bicol Region so that units could be transported to the typhoon victims in Samar and Leyte through the ports in Matnog and Bulan towns in Sorsogon.
"We shall be tapping donors and sponsors for this project in partnership with My Shelter Foundation. As more funds come in, more can be produced," Villanueva said.
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