Solar lights extend weaving hours for Himamaylan artisans

NEGROS OCCIDENTAL, Philippines — As darkness falls over a mountain community in Himamaylan City, 15 tikog weavers can now continue working after daylight fades with the help of newly installed solar-powered lights.

The beneficiaries, members of the Madaja Handweavers Association, are from Sitio Madaja in Barangay Buenavista, where each of the 15 weavers received a 120-watt solar power system on Oct. 6.

The project team also provided a separate solar power system to Madaja Elementary School.

For the weavers, the intervention addresses a practical limitation because their work previously depended largely on daylight.

With the new solar systems, they can continue producing tikog products at night.

Anabelle Hermino, one of the beneficiary-weavers, said the assistance was significant because many of them could not afford to purchase solar equipment on their own.

“We are deeply grateful for this support. Honestly, we could not afford to buy a solar setup ourselves. We are already earning only from what we can make from weaving, so buying equipment like this would have been difficult for us,” Hermino said in Bisaya.

She said the solar lights give them something they previously lacked: the ability to keep weaving after dark.

“Before, when it became dark, we had to stop even if we still had work to finish. Now, we can continue weaving at night. We can finish more of our work, and that is a big help to us,” Hermino said.

The solar installations are part of the “Integrated Science and Technology Solutions for Inclusive Development and Peace Building in Sitio Madaja” project.

The initiative is implemented by Hope Builders Organization Negros Island Inc. with support from the Department of Science and Technology through its Community Empowerment through Science and Technology program.

The solar systems were fabricated and installed through HBONI’s partnership with engineer Giel Rex Besas of Giex Builders.

Besas said seeing the beneficiaries receive the solar systems gave the technical work deeper meaning.

“The joy in their faces is really apparent and can really warm your heart,” Besas said.

He also called for more initiatives that reach communities where basic needs remain a challenge.

“More projects addressing the basic needs of far-flung areas should be prioritized by the government or any entity that has the capacity to help,” Besas said.

Project Lead Reymund Titong said the initiative goes beyond bringing solar technology to a remote community.

He said the effort continues Project Tikang, which HBONI started in Madaja in 2022 to address concerns involving children’s education, literacy, numeracy and health.

“When we started Project Tikang in 2022, we were responding to very basic needs—children who needed help with reading and numeracy, families struggling with nutrition, and farmers trying to make a living from very limited resources,” Titong said.

Four years later, the initiative has expanded to livelihood, agriculture, environmental protection, and science and technology while maintaining the same community-centered approach.

“The needs have evolved, so our interventions have also evolved. But the principle remains the same: the community must remain at the center of the work,” Titong said.

The current project supports not only tikog weavers but also schoolchildren, farmers and Bantay Gubat volunteers.

The interventions link livelihood development and nutrition with environmental protection.

Titong said introducing technology must also respect the community’s cultural identity.

Residents consider themselves part of the Bukidnon-Magahat tribe, with traditions such as tikog weaving forming part of community life.

“Our goal is to harmonize technology and tradition. We don’t want technology to replace what the community already knows and values. We want it to strengthen those traditions,” Titong said.

“Their culture, their weaving and their relationship with the land are part of who they are. We have to be very careful that development does not become another way of exploiting that culture. If we introduce a machine, it should make the work easier without taking away the weavers’ knowledge. If we help them find markets, it should pay them fairly for their work and protect their identity. Technology should serve the people, not the other way around,” he said.

The project will continue through mid-2027, with HBONI and its partner agencies, including the barangay and Himamaylan city governments, sustaining science, technology, health, livelihood, education and environmental interventions in the community.