On May 9-10, two volunteers, Ralph Uy from Artelia Philippines and Quan Nguyen from Artelia Vietnam, embarked on a trip to Access to Energy (ATE Co) in Rizal.
ATE Co is an NGO in Metro Manila, Rizal, Quezon, and Samar, where they provide solar home kits to communities that don’t have access to the electricity grid. Majority of ATE Co’s beneficiaries are vulnerable, earning less than $5 per day, and 65% are women. The solar home kits come with solar panels, batteries, and appliances for everyday household needs, such as lights, charges, TVs, and fridges. This helps the children to study after sunset and enables families to start micro-businesses such as hairdressers, karenderias, sari-sari stores, and others.
On the first day of the mission, the volunteers traveled to Brgy. Sta. Ines. Here the volunteers conducted interviews with households that utilize ATE Co’s solar home kits to understand their usage of it, and how it has brought positive impact to their lives. On the second day of the mission, the volunteers used the information shared during the interviews to conduct presentations targeted to ATE Co staff and beneficiaries.
The trainings provided by the volunteers included sustainability, circular practices, and maintenance and repair of solar technology and batteries. The volunteers shared some best practices on how to install and main solar panels and batteries to ensure a long lifespan of the equipment. To conclude the mission, volunteers also had the chance to provide training to beneficiaries with fun games.
Artelia Philippines is glad to contribute to development and social progress by sharing the expertise of our volunteers. Artelia Philippines extends its thanks to the volunteers for sharing time and knowledge with ATE Co and their beneficiaries and to Artelia Foundation for supporting and bringing the mission to life.