land rover’s “light” brigade

The Tanging Tanglaw Project is a rural electrification project led by DIWATA – Women in Resource Development, the Philippine Mine Safety and Environment Association, and The Land Rover Club of the Philippines. It’s unique because it involves hand-picking determined grandmothers from the Philippines’ indigenous Aeta tribe who, despite not being able to read nor write, are willing to go to a revolutionary school in India, to learn how to become solar technicians.

This school is called The Barefoot College of India – a renowned organization with alternative methods for teaching the rural poor and illiterate. The course is six months long, and the idea is to have these solar grandmothers return to their native land in Bamban, Tarlac after having acquired the technical skills, to assemble, install, maintain and repair solar-powered lamps in their electricity-free communities.

While some, more fortunate Aeta barangays

do have electricity, with an installation fee of P3,000, most Aeta families could not even afford the initial cost. Meanwhile, other more remote barangays do not have the option of electricity at all. The prospect of solar energy has thus become largely attractive—not only is it free, it’s also sustainable.

In cooperation with the Indian Government thru its ITEC Programme – the first batch of Aeta scholars, fondly dubbed “Solar Lolas,” graduated from the Barefoot College and returned to the Philippines in 2015. And months after this amazing milestone, the

STAR and Wheels got the priceless opportunity to join some members of the Land Rover Club of the Philippines and DIWATA, to transport to the Solar Lolas some 20 sets of solar equipment that were shipped from India (the cost of which, was paid for, through donations), so they can begin lighting up their communities.

DIWATA is a local NGO that advocates the responsible development of the country’s resources in the fields of mining, oil & gas, and quarrying, among others. The Land Rover Club of the Philippines is an enthusiast group who has gone far beyond simply congregating, exchanging parts and driving places. They have turned their Rover passion into a lifestyle— one that includes pro-actively responding to disasters, and lending a helping hand— or should I say, wheels—especially in places where no ordinary vehicle can go.

Needless to say, it was a power combination of organizations and groups that shared their resources in amazing ways that made this one-of-a-kind project possible. The Barefoot College of India, by itself, is quite phenomenal with its non-conventional ways of equipping the illiterate and semi-illiterate rural poor, with technical skills.

Getting to the heart of the impoverished Aeta villages in Bamban, Tarlac was not a walk in the park. The paved road soon faded into a tough, dirt road that, after the torrential rains, transformed into peanut butter goo that made it quite difficult to traverse. Saying that nothing less than the prodding power of a Land Rover could make it through was not an exaggeration. The off-road skills and enthusiasm of the Land Rover Club members, were indispensable to the success of the project.

Finally, after an exciting drive through unrelenting turf, we reached Sitio Kaging—our first destination.

Sita and Magda are among a handful of selected Aeta grandmothers, who bravely flew to India, studied at the Barefoot College, and graduated with fl ying colors after six months. It was the first time they ever traveled anywhere outside of their province. It was their first time to sit in a plane. They have now returned to their villages in Bamban as empowered lady light- bearers, slowly lighting their communities with clean energy, one household at a time.

It takes about one hour for the Solar Lolas to install a simple, solar lighting system in one household. And if the delivered electronic parts malfunction, the Aeta grandmothers can repair them on the spot. Every single installation, the villagers are very excited. They always watch in awe, admiring their matriarch heroines in action.

We may take the gift of light for granted, but for some people, they have, for too long, been kept in the dark. Literally. Let us do what we can to support their story. It is a story of empowerment, of hope, of harnessing clean energy. A story that shows that one should never stop learning.

And no matter how little you have, or how old you are, one should never stop helping.