Light is Might
When Italian-born Sergio
Boero was six years old, he lost his sight due to a debilitating virus. He had to stop going to school and became totally dependent on his mother to feed him, clothe him and bring him around. During the day, his mother would put blinders on little Sergio’s eyes to protect them.
His parents were told that if Sergio did not regain his eyesight, despite treatment after a year, he would go completely blind.
He was too young to make any vows or promises to God in exchange for his sight, but Sergio spent a lot of time wondering when he would play like a normal child again.
Then one day, little Sergio woke up and he could see the trees outside his window! Since then, he found himself, “always focusing on the light.”
Now a successful design consultant for many companies in Asia (he advises and assists Italian and Filipino companies in business ventures), Sergio had another lightbulb moment when he worked with a Bacolod-based company called Hacienda Crafts.
“I have been all around the country, seen a lot of places without electricity, especially the rural communities. When I worked with them I saw that the workers finished working at around 4 or 5 p.m. because there was no electricity. As a result, they earned less,” recalls Sergio, who also once was a consultant for respected local designer Lulu Tan-Gan and for GKonomics, a non-stock, non-profit organization engaged in enterprise development to alleviate poverty in the Philippines.
Another reality flashed like lightning in his mind in the aftermath of typhoon Yolanda in 2013, when entire cities were crippled by blackouts for months.
According to Sergio, this was when the idea of the Sunny Sonny Story came to light.
So when he chanced upon a portable rechargeable lantern at a trade fair in China, he immediately thought of bringing it to the Philippines to help empower the poor. He set up Sunny Sonny Story, a social enterprise accredited by the UNHCR, whose only target “is to give the light to people who don’t have access to the electricity.”
Sergio reveals that in the Philippines, some 30 million people don’t have access to electricity. Worldwide, about a billion people are in the same predicament. In the past three years, some 6,000 of these lanterns have been sold in the Philippines, which Sergio finds to be quite miniscule.
He hopes that more philanthropists would buy these lanterns and give them away because light is might, especially in a developing country.
The lanterns are inflatable, waterproof PVC cubes with 10 LED lights powered by solar panels. (Ironically, in prosperous Europe, they use these lanterns to hang on boats and float in pools.)
“Charge it under the sun for six to seven hours and it can be utilized for eight to 12 hours. It has a dim, bright and emergency light mode beneficial for fishermen, or men in search and rescue,” Sergio explains. To demonstrate how it works, he blew air into a sample lantern that had previously been charged under the sun. In less than a minute, voila!
And then there was light.
A Sunny Sonny Lantern, which costs P700, is a safe, clean and cost-efficient alternative to candles or kerosene lamps, says Sergio. “This solar-powered, inflatable, and shatterproof lantern is designed around a waterproof PVC enclosure, which makes for a dependable and renewable source of light. A must-have for emergencies such as climate disasters and power outages, Sunny Sonny lanterns are also great for outdoor activities and even everyday use.”
“This humble project aims to nurture hope in the hearts of all those communities around the world, who live without electricity by providing solar-powered inflatable lanterns that can help them in their day-to-day lives,” adds Sergio.
He recently launched the “Adopt-a-Light campaign,” which aims to provide light to the people in remote areas who do not have access to electricity.
The project has three aspects: “Buy,” which enables Sunny Sonny Story to donate lanterns to vulnerable communities in remote parts of the archipelago. Ten percent of the proceeds will go to the campaign.
The second aspect is, “Donate,” which directly involves the donation of lanterns to the campaign (and get Sunny’s premium glow in the dark shirt!).
Then there is “Wholesale,” which is for lighting up your business location or to support your company’s CSR projects, according to Sergio.
And finally, “Adopt-a-Light” encourages people to “Nominate” beneficiaries.
“Contact us if you know any community that deserves to be a recipient,” Sergio exhorts friends.
After all, the Sunny Sonny Story is the story of a little boy who lost the light and regained it.
It is the story of Sergio himself, and he wants to share the light of his recovery and success to those who still live in the dark.