Harbus

Issue date: 1/26/09 Section: Features

Tara Reeves (ND) and Sean Cameron (ND) outside the microhydro plant.

Three students volunteered on a service trip to the Philippines during the winter break. We recommended ways of using the country's hydropower efficiently to enhance rural electrification. One of our guides in the Philippines pulled me aside early on and said, "The Philippines is still a developing country with its flaws, but I wouldn't change a thing about my country". Given the difficulty of changing the mindset of people both frustrated and in love with certain aspects of their country, implementing change would prove more difficult than I imagined.

For three weeks over winter break, Tara Reeves (ND), Erica Harris (ND), and I worked on a research project sponsored by the United States Agency for International Development. Our study analyzed the strategy of micro hydropower electrification for rural households, and the establishment of community-based livelihood enterprises to be powered by the microhydro.

These communities are by American standards poor. They have a desire for electricity but are off of power grids. Many households operate LED lamps fashioned from disposable cigarette lighters, which provide illumination at night.

Electrification is something that most of us in America take for granted. But think of the meaningful advances that electrification brings to the development of emerging economies. For example, the potential benefits to human capital development are substantial. From as simple a thing as lighting a classroom, to enabling media and instructional aids such as desktop computers, internet access or overhead projectors, electrification brings significant benefits to schools. Lighting is also essential to helping children study at home, which is often considered neglected as secondary to outdoor working during daylight hours. And adult education is often only possible by working outside of core daylight hours - again, only possible with effective electricity.

Throughout our trip, we worked on our report for bringing about change to the energy infrastructure in rural Philippines. I found myself distracted at times by our immediate environment; the lack of wealth in rural Philippines is alarming. Many rural households in the Philippines put to work their children from an early age in the rice fields. Most of the rice is eaten at home rather than sold or traded. Houses are built locally and water is captured from local streams and rivers. Significant financial saving is not possible due to a lack of access to banks or credibility that the money will be returned after an investment is saved; this is part of a larger overall problem of enforcement of property rights.

Continued...

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