We are not a special interest group. We are the future.

Few kilometers away, Apo Island rose above in isolation on the vast ‘southern sea’ of the Visayas. Two years ago, SolarGeneration and Greenpeace helped installed solar panels at the island’s elementary school library for them to tap ‘clean and renewable energy’ from the sun to run the school’s audio-visual system being used to show environmental education programs. It was part of the community’s thrust for the protection of the environment.

 

Day 1

One late afternoon last month, three SolarGeneration teams – from Bacolod , Dumaguete, and Iloilo – convened in Dauin, Negros Oriental for the SolarCamp – Skill Share activity – the first convention of SolarGeneration teams in the Visayas.

 “The camp aimed to solidify the efforts of the different SolarGeneration teams in the Visayas and served as a capacity-building activity for the members as it’s the first time they get to meet in person as well,” said Albert Lozada, SG Negros Coordinator.

As the afternoon sun created longer shadows and the untiring waves kept on crashing on the rocks along the shore, the team gathered on a shaded area of the Yanson’s beach house for the lectures and workshop.

 The workshop started with several environmental video showing followed by a refresher of the organization’s mission and a brief update on the climate change issue. The study of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change  – a Nobel Prize winner – revealed that the abrupt climate change in the world is ‘human-induced’ due to burning of dirty fossil fuels – oil, coal, and natural gas. Together with other developing countries, the Philippines is included in the list of ‘climate hotspots’ in the world.

 Portia Nillos-Kleiven, a marine biologist at Silliman University, shared her expertise through her substantive lecture on “Climate Change Impacts on the Marine Biodiversity.”

Her presentation made it clear how global warming threatens the marine environment specifically the bleaching of the coral reefs due to too much heat that warms the surface of the ocean. She was a featured marine biologist for SolarGeneration Hotspot video taken at Campomanes Bay last 2005.

She cited the vulnerability of the country’s marine biodiversity to climate change and pointed out how such event also threatens the ‘eco-tourism’ activity of a certain coastal community that fuels the local economy through tourist visits.

After the day’s workshop, SolGen members relaxed for a period in the company of crickets, listening to their harmonious orchestration as the moon rose from the eastern horizon above the mountains of the island of Siquijor.

 

The different teams (Vophi Pendon for Iloilo; Inake Amazarray and Jeffrey Lazaro for Bacolod; Fiona Lim and Lyde Villanueva for Dumaguete) prepared for group presentations held right after dinner. They shared with the group the sundry of activities they have done for the first three months in the year.

 

Day 2

 

The Cool morning sea breeze greeted the group on the second day. Albert has taken an early morning run along the coast that stretched more than a kilometer distance. He passed through the several Marine Protected Areas among the nine MPAs the municipality and the different barangays, with the support of the Bantay Dagat folks, have established.

The morning workshop session was handled and facilitated by the team coordinators. The session focused on Lobbying and Media Strategy and the challenge to win a campaign. I worked in tandem with Albert in explaining the practical ways of how the organization works in both aspects of environmental campaigns and the challenge to convey the message clearly and effectively to the public.

It was also actually a “challenge to all Philippine media (and all media worldwide) to cover or highlight news or features on environmental protection and conservation and highlighting solutions for sustainability,” said  Lyde, a journalism graduate and member of SG-Dumaguete.

And for the members to get at ease in lobbying, three individuals assumed characters as senators. It was an enactment for the three different teams to strategize on how to convince the three senators to join the campaign.

Three campaign-advocacies were highlighted -  ‘Simple Lang’, Save the Climate campaign in different academic institutions;   campaign to stop the establishment of a coal-powered plant in La Paz , Iloilo ; and the issue on the drilling in the Tañon Strait .

In reality, the SolarGeneration youth of the Philippines with Greenpeace and other environmental organizations demand ‘for the swift passage of the Renewable Energy Bill.

Right after lunch, Jeffrey made a presentation on renewable energy sources and highlighted on how the Solar Photovoltaic works. They brought small devices, like an LED lamp powered by solar PV, showing a glimpse of light the RE sources can provide humanity. It was a short course on Renewable Energy 101.  Albert shared his experience on the solar PV installation conducted during the Solar Camp in Cudrefin, Switzerland. He joined the rest of the SolarGen members from Germany, Switzerland, France, Indonesia, Thailand and Russia.

After all the discussions, what followed was the most awaited part of the day’s event – the Amazing Solar Race prepared by Inake – the course setter of the game. Four teams with three members each competed in Great Spirit and enthusiasm.

The teams were brought back to their childhood  for starters as they were asked to make pin wheels representing the wind turbines in Bangui Bay, Locos Norte – the first wind turbine installed in Southeast Asia – a promising source of energy aside from solar in the country.

The course made them run around the area looking for clues or made them dip into the seawater for three minutes as penalty. They were made to shoot a ball by kicking it on the right answer among the three possible answers. Another challenge was to fill a 1.5 liter of water bottle with seawater by scooping seawater with their hands and carrying it to the bottle three meters from the water’s edge. Some were wise enough to sip saltwater into their mouth and pour it into the bottle...sneakers!

The final push was to take a dive into the pool – to dive and search for coins with attached words that will complete the statements they have selected like “Quit Coal Now! Don’t Burn Our Future!” or “Join the Energy [R]evolution!”

After they have completed collecting the right words and formed the correct statement, the teams were asked to ‘creatively’ make a yell as a signal for triumph over the challenge. Obviously, all the questions prepared were in tandem with the lectures given earlier in the day.

The game didn’t end right after diving into the pool. The group still played football as darkness enveloped the celestial sphere and bright stellars began appearing in their brilliance.

Indeed, a Solar Fun! It’s one of the main ingredients of SolarGeneration aside from Solar Action and Solar Projects.

Songs from the Live Earth Concert hyped up the social gathering night. It was a historical simultaneous concert in 9 cities, 7 continents on July 7, 2007 (7-7-07). We were all drawn with the spirit on the crowd in the concert. After the song of Melissa Etheridge, singer-songwriter of the Academy Award-winning song, “I Need to Wake Up,” we had a moment of silence in darkness and a bit later, the tribal sound began to vibrate and made us enter into the rhythm of Earth Hour.

The tribal musical group Asiano – with Nikki, Jishnu, Otwing and Daphne – joined us in our Earth Hour celebration. They have led us to the rhythm of Earthly sound vibe as their music resonates into the night that harmoniously echoes to the ocean in time for the rising gibbous moon. Asiano advocates environmental protection and conservation and recently had a benefit concert of which the proceed aims to support a student for a college education. Nikki has enthralled the group with his own hand-made instruments like the bird charmer, rainmaker, devil’s bell, and his dance.

That evening, everyone radiated greater enthusiasm to be a ‘light’ for the next generation. The three teams made fun presentations and have observed the Earth Hour movement which happened globally on March 29.

Day 3

As the camp drew to a close, the morning session tackled activities the organization wanted to work on especially highlighting Earth Day celebration on April 22 with a brief information shared about this year’s World Environment Day theme: CO2: Kick the Habit! Toward a Low-carbon Economy.

Vophi Pendon of SG-Iloilo underscored that  “the fight against the planned coal-powered plant in Iloilo is a way ‘to kick the habit’. Coal is not climate-friendly and definitely not a solution to combat ‘human-induced’ climate change.”

And before parting ways, the SolarGeneration members were asked to create a short message for a video clip that will be used for the advocacy campaign.

Messages like: Bike. Walk. Carpool. Use energy-efficient bulbs and appliances; Reduce CO2 by supporting alternative energy solutions like solar and wind; Increase level of awareness on Climate Education in schools and communities.

“ Negros must also embrace clean energy solutions that works hand-in-hand with energy-efficiency programs to help save the climate,” added Albert.

We all left the camp with ‘burning sense of passion to speak for the planet.’

And we were grateful with the support of individuals that made the camp possible and through the generosity of the family of our fellow SolarGeneration campaigner, Carissa Dumancas, for offering their space as a ‘nest’ for the convention of the three SolarGeneration teams in the Visayas.

One of the members, Berna Lou Lopez of SG-Dumaguete, expressed, “the camp was not just hyperactive with activities, it was a great learning experience for someone like and is willing to learn more to help me activate my friends to join the green revolution.”

Yes. We are all in this fight together. Let us embrace the dawning of the Solar Age and ‘take the future into our hands.’

As the world around us further warms, we are comforted by these words that remind us why we should take good care of our environment: “Life is good in every case and my Heart is as open as the sky.” - Elle (in ‘Extending Love and Light Eternally’).

 Again, we are not a special interest group. We are the future

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