A country comprised of thousands of islands, the Philippines is home to various indigenous groups, many of whom live in small villages with limited access to water or electricity. Often women and children must clamor down steep hillsides to fetch water daily. Our involvement began with the creation of a micro hydro project that was completed in partnership with local NGO Yamog, which brought electricity to 150 families. Since then, we have continued to take on new projects with Yamog, and we have formed more recent relationships with organizations SIBAT and AIDFI to expand our work on the archipelago. Our projects in the Philippines include installation of hydraulic ram pumps that deliver water straight to villages, technical trainings that teach local communities to build solar water pumps, watershed restoration, and the construction of micro hydro projects for remote villages. Many of Green Empowerment’s projects in the Philippines are linked to business enterprises, such as power for a lemongrass essential oil distiller, energy for a grain mill or light that allows women to weave at night. These opportunities fit into our belief that renewable energy can provide increased, sustainable sources of income which can be locally maintained by villagers. Powering a corn mill and lighting 60 homes in the Philippines: Green Empowerment, in conjunction with local partner SIBAT, are working to establish a community-based micro-hydro power (MHP) project. The power enterprise for Sitio Datalnay and Dlumay in the Philippines will consist of an 11kW micro-hydro power generating system providing off -grid electricity to at least 60 households and powering a community owned and managed 7kw corn mill facility. The establishment of the corn mill will be coupled with a marketing activity to collect, transport, and sell both the milled and un-milled corn. Click here to find out more . Green Empowerment and Yamog team up to win GVEP Grant!  Green Empowerment's partner Yamog won the highly selective GVEP Action Programs Fund in 2006. Only 18 proposals were selected out of 150 applicants. Year-long funding will be invested in capacity building and implementation of renewable energy for income generation and pumping of potable water. Specific projects implemented in 2007 include: - 2 micro hydropower projects
- 2 agricultural processing facilities supported by hydropower
- 1 solar water pump. See the Amgu-o final report
- Watershed protection and rehabilitation plans in each of the 3 communities
Alternative Indigenous Development Foundation, Inc., based on the Negros Islands is dedicated to Appropriate Technologies and Sustainable Agriculture. Their flagship activity is making and installing ram pump to bring water to uphill villages. In 2008, AIDFI is implementing a regional plan for 12 villages. These water distribution systems which will help preserve a forest reserve. Read more about AIDFI and their Ram Pump Project. If you wish to contribute to this Clean Water and Conservation project, please go to our donate page and at the question "How Should We Use Your Donation? " select that you want your gift to go to Water for Villages. 100 Villages Campaign: In 2006, 3 NGOs in the Philippines came together with Green Empowerment to launch the 100 Village Campaign which envisions bringing light, water and watershed conservation to 100 villages in the Philippines over the next 5 to 10 years. The NGOs, Yamog , SIBAT and AIDFI have years of experience working with communities to build renewable energy projects (micro-hydro and solar) and water systems (ram pumps and solar water pumps) and conservation (reforestation and sustainable agriculture). We are excited to see this replication of successful projects at a national level. This campaign will serve approximately 100,000 villagers in integrated water, energy and watershed conservation systems. Contact us for more information at
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Yamog Renewable Energy Development Group, based in Davao City, completed a flagship micro hydro project with 150 families in the community of Saloy. See Pictures and Read more about YAMOG and the Project in Saloy .Now, they are working with communities across Mindanao on micro hydropower, solar community centers and water distribution projects (ram pump, solar pump and gravity fed). Solar Water Pump Training In January 2004, Green Empowerment held a solar water pump training for 9 participants from 3 NGOs in Davao City, Philippines. Participants learned the technical design and community development aspects of a solar water pumping project, with classroom exercises and hands-on field work. With the help of Volunteers, Green Empowerment developed a Solar Water Pumping Guide, which you can download here. | 
