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Rotalight: The Answer to Pamilacan Island's Lighting Needs

The RCMC Pamilacan Light-An-Island Project

 

Rotary Club of Metro Cebu is providing residents of Pamilacan Island Rechargeable LED Lamps that could illuminate a household for more than two weeks on full battery charge.

 

Pamilacan is an islet in the Island Province of Bohol which is inhabited by about 300 families.  The inhabitants of the island alternate as fishers at night and farmers by day.  During calm weather, the island can be reached by boat in about 30 to 45 minutes from the town of Luay where most island-inhabitants’ basic needs are sourced including supply of potable water.  During the rainy season, the islanders harvest rain for their water supply. 

 

But despite the abundance of rain, water from rain harvest is not dependable due to the limited means of storage and rain water harvest methodology.  So every person’s rain harvest is depleted soon after the rainy season is over.  Water supply is one major concern of the islanders which the RC Metro Cebu wants to address including sanitation and reliable light source at night.

 

Currently, RC Metro Cebu is focused on the islanders’ need of reliable source of illumination at night – specifically those who are without electrical service connection.  These people who represent majority of the islands population rely on kerosene lamps for their nightly lightning needs.

 

But a liter of kerosene can sustain an average family’s light needs for a week at 2 hours use every night.

 

Kerosene lamps are vulnerable to winds and study shows that it emits toxic fumes that are unhealthy particularly to the children.  But kerosene lamps are lighting implements that the islanders cannot do without.  Imagine now a family in Pamilacan island with a tiny kerosene lamp during evenings of heavy rains and howling winds.. How will the children study? How are the evening meals prepared?

 

RC Metro Cebu came up with a solution  :  Rotalight  - a rechargeable L.E.D. torch – that brightly illuminates a house hold for more than 2 weeks with one full charge.  So despite the rain and howling winds, yes, the children can study and they can eat well-prepared evening meals!

 

How to recharge a Rotalight battery when there is no electricity?  Simple.  Past President Wyben R. Briones has a very brilliant idea – a pedal powered re-charger that powers every rechargeable battery in a zap!  And it has splendidly worked.

 

So why not join the ride to the joy of giving?  For only P1,750.00 you can buy yourself a Rotalight and donate one for a resident in Pamilacan Island.  Who knows, the child who studies with your donated Rotalight will just be the next Ramon Magsaysay?

 

For more information on how to donate, contact any RCMC member or call Mimi S. Acasio at 0908-6706980 or 0922-4892950.

 

CLICK THE "PLAY" SIGN TO WATCH THE LIGHT AN ISLAND PROJECT PRESENTATION:

August 2009

My fellow Rotarians:

I have always thought it important to bear in mind that Rotary is a voluntary organization, composed of people who are all themselves leaders. When addressing such an audience, I have never thought it fitting to exhort or demand. Every Rotary club is and must be autonomous: The leadership of Rotary International exists not to control, but to motivate and guide.

And so when we in Rotary speak about the importance of membership, I believe it of the utmost importance to bear in mind that the primary experience of Rotary, for the overwhelming majority of Rotarians, is of the club: of club meetings, club projects, and fellow club members.

When Paul Harris began the first Rotary club 104 years ago, he did not initially think of service. Instead, he had in mind a place where people of good character, intelligence, and morals could enjoy each other’s fellowship and friendship. The service came later, as a natural outgrowth of the gathering of such people.

Every good Rotarian, every member who shares our core values, will make a club that much stronger, and that much more attractive for others to join. Unfortunately, it is also the case that bringing in the wrong person can have the opposite effect. Rotarians are and must be people of a certain caliber – people with the capacity to do great deeds, the sense to do them wisely, and the strength of character to do them honestly and well.

In the end, I believe that the best way to bring new members into Rotary is the way it has been done for generations: One member invites a carefully chosen friend, client, or colleague to a meeting and, if the match is a good one, proposes that individual for membership. This is the way that our clubs remain harmonious; it is the way that new clubs become old clubs, and new members become Rotarians for life.

The membership challenges that we face today are considerable, and in many ways new. There is no denying the difficulties posed by the current global financial situation. But in the words of Henry Ford, “If money is your hope for independence you will never have it. The only real security that a man will have in this world is a reserve of knowledge, experience, and ability.” And as long as we all do our jobs well, and bring in new members carefully, this is a security we in Rotary will never lack.

John Kenny
President, Rotary International