Pinoy organization among Magsaysay awardees

MANILA, Philippines - A Filipino non-profit organization in Negros Occidental is among the recipients of this year’s Ramon Magsaysay Awards, for innovating technologies that improve and empower the lives and livelihoods of the rural poor in upland communities.

The Alternative Indigenous Development Foundation Inc., established

 in the 1990s, is a social enterprise that tackles the problem of rural poverty by designing, fabricating and promoting environment-friendly technology that is accessible and income-augmenting for the poor.

AIDFI redesigned an ancient and largely abandoned technology called the ram pump which uses the natural kinetic energy of flowing water from rivers or springs, to push water uphill without the use of gas or electricity.

As reinvented by AIDFI, the ram pump can lift water to an upland reservoir, with a volume of 1,500 to 72 liters of water per day.

AIDFI did not only introduce the machinery but a whole social package. Together with partner organizations and local governments, AIDFI included community consultation, training of village technicians, transfer of ownership of the water system to the community and the organization of local water associations to manage the water generation and distribution system in its program.

In introducing the ram pump system to upland communities that do not have easy access to water, AIDFI technicians are able to provide clean, cheap water for household use, livestock raising, aquaculture and small agriculture.

Since reinventing the ram pump technology, AIDFI has fabricated, installed and transferred 227 ram pumps that now benefit 184 upland communities in Negros Occidental and other provinces in the country. AIDFI is also now carrying out complete ram pump technology transfer in Afghanistan, Colombia and Nepal.

In the citation, the Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation said AIDFI is being recognized for “their collective vision, technological innovations and partnership practices to make appropriate technologies improve the lives and livelihoods of rural poor in upland Philippine communities and elsewhere in Asia.”

Also given the award was Harish Hande, an engineer from India, who established a solar power technology that brings customized, affordable and sustainable electricity to India’s poor.

Hasanain Juaini from Indonesia was cited for his “holistic, community-based approach to pesantren education in Indonesia, creatively promoting values of gender equality, religious harmony, environmental preservation, individual achievement and civic engagement among young students and their communities.”

Koul Panha from Cambodia was recognized for his efforts “to build an enlightened, organized and vigilant citizenry who will ensure fair and free elections - as well as demand accountable governance by their elected officials, in Cambodia’s nascent democracy.”

Nileema Mishra from India was cited “for her purpose-driven zeal to live and work tirelessly with poor villagers in Maharashtra, organizing them to successfully address both their aspirations and their adversities through collective action and heightened confidence in their potential to improve their own lives.”

Tri Mumpuni from Indonesia also received an award for promoting micro hydropower technology to bring electricity and the fruits of development to the rural areas of Indonesia.

RMAF president Carmencita Abella said the Magsaysay awardees of 2011 prove “how commitment, competence and collaborative leadership can truly transform individual lives and galvanize community action.”

“The awardees are five remarkable individuals and an exceptional organization, all deeply involved in harnessing technologies - both hard and soft - that can genuinely empower their countrymen and create waves of progressive change in Asia,” Abella said.

The awardees’ concerns are clearly quite diverse – affordable electricity, political reform, inclusive education, economic empowerment, access to water but one thing they share is greatness of spirit which infuses their leadership for change, she stressed.

“They all build collaboration and seek consensus wherever possible. They all refuse to give up, despite adversity and opposition,” Abella said.

She also added that three of the awardees are engaged in social enterprises, which present exciting new possibilities to address Asia’s pervasive poverty.

Established in 1957, the Ramon Magsaysay Award is widely regarded as the region’s equivalent of the Nobel Prize. The awards will be formally presented Aug. 31 at the Cultural Center of the Philippines.