A new beginning for a remote Maguindanao community

“This is a new beginning for us.”

Thus uttered one resident of Barangay Maridagao in the municipality of Datu Montawal in Maguindanao. His joy over the newly installed solar-powered fluorescent lights in his house could not be contained. Finally, he and his family became free from darkness and despondency. Twenty-nine other households in the village experienced the same thing when AMORE installed solar home systems (SHSs) in their houses.

Barangay Maridagao is 10 kilometers away from the nearest power grid, on a wide expanse of land near the Maridagao River . Due to its remote location, villagers abandoned long ago their hopes of having electric lights in their homes. They resigned themselves to using kerosene wick lamps for the rest of their lives.

With the entry of AMORE, however, things totally changed. Since the installation of SHSs in their village, people are finding more and more time to gather and meet even at night. The members of the AMORE-established Barangay Renewable Energy and Community Development Association (BRECDA) in the barangay are so happy with this development that they actively participate in all the activities of their association.

“We want to succeed because we want to improve our lives. This is the first time a development program in our village turned out to be real and the impacts of which we can really see and enjoy,” says another BRECDA member. “We involve everyone in the activities of our BRECDA, even women. Our association will also try to help the rest of our community by initiating other projects in our village.”