Imagine life without it. Difficult if not imposible. It holds pride of place in creation. Let there be light, and there was light. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day (Gen. 1: 3, 5).
So essential is it that we found a way to conquer darkness with light bulbs. Sadly, two millennia on, there still are dark spots in our suppposedly civilized earth. The motive? The usual suspect: poverty.
Thank God a way out of this darkness is being carved out.
Isang Litrong Liwanag (A Liter of Light), is a sustainable lighting project which aims to bring the eco-friendly Solar Bottle Bulb to disprivileged communities nationwide. Designed and developed by students from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the Solar Bottle Bulb is based on the principles of Appropriate Technologies – a concept that provides simple and easily replicable technologies that address basic needs in developing communities.
This project is the latest by My Shelter Foundation established by social entrepreneur Illac Diaz. The vision of Diaz is short of awesome.
Social enterprise. Business that use profits to alleviate poverty. Bring people with philanthropic capital together with people in need; invest in something where the former earn profit to invest in more business and the latter have their needs met.
Appropriate technologies. Invent machines that do labor-saving devices but with a twist. Instead of the patent being owned by a company, or it being manufactured only in special facilities, it can be done specifically for people in need, with materials they can access, with a design they can replicate.
Alternative housing. Simply, looking for alternative ways of doing things. The idea: to create strong, durable, steady houses out of indigenous materials or why not, even waste.
Illac Diaz installing a solar bulb in a test site, San Pedro Laguna
Hands-on social development through entrepreneurship. This time to light homes.
Isn’t that a bright idea?
