A Celebration of Hope

AMORE joins communities in Mindanao as they celebrate Laylatul Qadr

In a show of oneness with the Muslim world, the Alliance for Mindanao Off-grid Renewable Energy Program held for the third consecutive year a Mindanao-wide Light Festival on the feast of Laylatul Qadr, three days before the end of Ramadan, on 27 September 2008. On this holy night believed to be when an angel first descended to the prophet Muhammad to bestow on him the Divine Knowledge that is now in the Quran, all 12,000 household beneficiaries of the AMORE Program simultaneously switched on their solar-powered lights as they broke their fast.

Broadcasted all over Mindano through DXMS Cotabato, DXSM Sulu and DXGD Tawi-Tawi in a one-hour radio program were the stories of AMORE communities.A home owner, teacher and a religious leader talked about how light and rural electrification have provided the impetus that would spur the community’s development, and how that development is hoped to lead to long-lasting peace. The promise of energizing additional 100 villages in the coming months was reiterated by rural electrification stakeholders led by US Ambassador Kristie Kenney and Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes in their Laylatul Qadr message to the people of Mindanao.

"As light brings us blessings and hope during the Lailatul Qadr, the American people will continue to work with you, to bring light to even more remote communities, and to promote peace and development," Kenney said.  

AMORE has energized at least 400 villages in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao since the US-assisted program began the program six years ago in the provinces of Maguindanao, Shariff Kabunsuan, Sultan Kudarat, Lanao del Sur, Sulu, Basilan, Tawi-Tawi and Zamboanga peninsula.

"It's been a challenging month for so many of us. But as we look at them, let us look at the light and at the hope that we bring, at the joy we can bring to families, at the difference we can make in lives, at the way we can work together," she added. 

Secretary Angelo Reyes of the Department of Energy and newly-appointed Undersecretary Zamzamin Ampatuan, a Muslim, extended their warm greetings to Muslims in Mindanao. They also expressed commitment to working for the electrification of remote, off-grid communities in the troubled southern Philippines through the AMORE program.

Techie Cruz-Capellan, AMORE chief of party, also sent her wishes to AMORE beneficiaries during Ramadan. “This is why we are calling this event the Light Festival. On this night, our communities celebrated all together the coming of light.”

Esmail Dimaren, a Muslim cleric from a conflict-torn village of Rumidas in Maguindanao, described how the absence of light had made it difficult for people to perform basic activities, especially during the month of Ramadan. They did their prayers in the dark; but the solar-powered lights changed everything. In June 2007, renewable energy technology saved the day for Rumidas and solved the villagers' problem. At least 30 households no longer grappled in the dark as 20 watt-peak solar panels lighted homes – including Dimaren’s – and ran radio and television sets. Through the intensification efforts of the community association called BRECDA, the village mosque is now brimming with lights. Young and old in the village can now study the Holy Quran in the evening. Imam Dimaren thanked Allah and those who made this miracle possible. The solar power has not only opened livelihood opportunities for the villagers. It has also opened opportunities for spiritual growth, he said.

Another beneficiary, Saakina Dimaren, a mother of three children, detailed the many benefits her family has received from solar energy. Having electricity is new to many Mindanaons in remote areas. Not only does light make life easier, it allows them to use radio and TV to stay connected to news and information about their government. She acknowledged, however, that many are still lightless in remote communities in Mindanao.

Marivic Ariston, a public teacher of elementary school in the village of Sedem, a coastal village in Datu Blah Sinsuat town, described how the school faced a number of obstacles before AMORE installed the solar power on the school’s rooftop.

Most families in their community cannot afford to purchase educational supplies, even uniforms. Mostly children from the Maguindanan and T'duray minority group, they had to walk almost two miles a day or cross the sea, often hungry. Many kids have stopped going to school in order to help their families till the farm so that their family has food to eat. She admitted that the most hindering challenge for education was the absence of electricity.

When AMORE brought solar energy and a 50-kilowatt solar photovoltaic system last year, their school was able to power distance education facilities that resulted in improved learning among the nearly 300 school-graders packed in the two-building school. Today, despite the everyday hurdles of life in Sedem, parents are determined to send their children to school.
The simultaneous switching on of lights highlighted ARMM's continuous effort in the aspect of electrification. Today, more and more villages in the Muslim Mindanao especially in areas that are too far to be connected to the power grid are now being energized with stand-alone solar and microhydro power systems under the AMORE Program.