Ilaw Ng Paglinaw – Lighting Up Lives

This article was taken from the Philippine Daily Inquirer http://lifestyle.inquirer.net/128803/lighting-up-lives

The Ilaw Ng Paglinaw Team

In line with the celebration of Peace One Day Sept. 21, the “Ilaw ng Paglinaw” (Light of Enlightenment) team, composed of five high-school students from Xavier School, went to Payatas to bring light to impoverished homes.

The team’s vision is to help eradicate darkness in the homes of Filipinos who have access to only minimal source of light and as a result, only have the daytime to function. The Ilaw ng Paglinaw initiative was formed with this vision.

By providing rechargeable, cost-efficient and environment-friendly LED lights to families, the project will help people be productive even at night.

The Ilaw ng Paglinaw project started out a year ago when the team won the Indie Engineering Competition of the University of the Philippines-Diliman on April 8. As a result, it secured funding from the Ninoy and Cory Aquino and Tanging Yaman Foundations as part of its prize.

With a strong desire to give back to the community and help out in our own simple way, the team decided to carry out its first major operation by visiting Payatas and lighting up their homes.