Three years after Typhoon Yolanda struck, thirty families from the fishing community of Costa Brava in Barangay 88, Tacloban City received solar kits for their basic electricity needs.
Costa Brava remains to be one of the few communities with no access to electricity after the devastation of the super typhoon destroying thousands of households.
The project was a partnership between the Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities (ICSC), Urban Poor Associates, and the Costa Brava Homeowners Association. The three groups gave 30 NIWA solar home systems – consisting of three 300 – lumen LED lamps, a nine-inch table fan, a solar panel and battery.
The homeowners association inked a payment deal with the civil society groups for the solar kids. Costa Brava will pay P85 a week for two years for the kits that cost P8,700, ICSC project coordinator Arturo Tahup said.
“Their payments will go to their solidarity fund. Part of the money will be used to run solar street lights, assemble new solar TekPaks, and launch new Solar Scholars training,” Tahup said.
Elma, 19, was one of the thirty who received the solar kits. She has a one-year-old daughter who had to make do with a gas lamp and an old solar lamp when they left Pangasinan to join her fisherman husband in Costa Brava.
“We found it hard to adjust when we came here because we weren’t used to living without electricity,” Elma said.
ICSC is a policy group in the Philippines that promotes low-carbon development strategies, sustainable energy solutions and fair climate policy in vulnerable countries.