Millions of Filipino Families still live in the dark. Currently, there are about 33% of Filipinos living below the poverty line. With the Philippines having the most expensive electricity in Asia and hundreds of communities that are isolated and are difficult to reach, it would be almost a privilege to have access to this commodity.

Fashion One Foundation teams up with Local Government Units in the Philippines to give “light” to as many communities as possible by providing Solar Lamps to more than a thousand isolated households in the mountain communities of Cebu and Palawan. This would be a start with the aim to provide light to a million homes in the country so that no Filipino family will live in the dark any longer.

“Cebu City’s mountain barangays alone has about 1,000++ isolated households that are difficult to reach. Using these SOLAR lamps will make a huge difference in their lives especially for children struggling with their studies as they read their assignments in the dark” – Philippine Congressman, Tomas Osmeña

Why Solar Lamps?

About 1.3 billion people (International Energy Agency) around the world do not have access to electricity. 20 million of them are from the Philippines. Most of these households use candles or kerosene lamps for their lighting needs. Using kerosene lamp and candles not only strain their eyes and noses but also her pocket. Aside being poor light sources, they are the main causes of house fires.

Kerosene and other forms of fuel-based light also release significant quantities of CO2 into the atmosphere and the inflammatory agents in kerosene have been cited as a cause of everything from cancer to behavioral deficits.

Solution to this problem is to use alternative and renewable source of energy such as solar lamps. Solar-powered LEDs produce light that is 100 times brighter than kerosene-fueled light. This means that on top of having savings on fuel bills, solar lamps provide a safer, brighter, cheaper and more environmentally sustainable form of light. Moreover, the amount of sun the country gets on a daily basis is sufficient to cover its daily requirements making it sustainable.