YOU think small when you light one candle at a time to dispel darkness. Illac Diaz, who should one day be chief of the United Nations, and his friends and volunteers have been creating bottles of light – 350,000 as of last count – in more than 15 countries, each one-liter bottle designed to “light up remote communities using Filipino technology.”
Illac, famously known as a “crush ng bayan” at Ateneo de Manila, has been making those liters of light since he discovered he was happiest when he was helping other young people. He began by collecting empty bottles of cola and lighting them up with the power of the sun, a handful of bottles at a time, for distribution to schools and homes in farflung places in hard-to-reach barrios. Years later, in 2013 the technology was leveled up to convert the bottles into solar lanterns for Leyte and Samar after the region-wide blackout caused by supertyphoon Yolanda.
It has been years since I talked to Illac – with Illac, you’re always a good listener – but when I ran into his mother Silvana recently, she lost no time updating me on his latest achievements, apart from all those awards from international energy, environmental, and habitat groups (2014-15-16). I don’t know what the Italian-born Silvana and her husband, Ramon, fed Illac when he was a baby – pizza? – that he grew up to become such an altruistic, giving person.
Last December, instead of going on holiday, he chose to board a Japanese cruise ship called the Peace Boat on its 100th journey of bringing various advocacies around the world. The itinerary for Illac and his team of three included 19 ports of call. By the time the boat reached Mauritius, 20 cruise travelers who had volunteered to make the solar kits had grown to 200!
The liters of light are a delight, they are inexpensive and last five years. In French-speaking Madagascar, a trainee’s face lighted up when street lights constructed from the liters of light were switched on. “Electricity is very expensive here,” he said.
Simple, easy-to-make, Illac’s liters of light have been adopted for use in UN refugee camps.
