Mandate eNewsletter, 2007 No. 1

TURNING BANANAS INTO ELECTRICITY
by Malu Garcia and Dr. Russell Mask

Among the many struggles faced by tribal people in the mountains of Mindoro, Philippines, the lack of electricity has negative repercussions on many aspects of their lives. The children have to study before sundown, or they will go to school the next day without having finished their homework. Emergency sicknesses must be treated in the dark or by kerosene lantern. But sixteen families have been able to work together to turn bananas into electricity!

Rather than requiring a mechanical engineer and thousands of dollars in imported technology, the families decided to work together to use the natural resources that God had given to them. Every week each of the sixteen families simply went out to their banana trees and harvested a bunch of bananas. Each family brought its bunch to their weekly meeting, and one family took the entire pile of bananas to the market and sold them for a higher price than they would have received on their own. The larger quantity of bananas gave them much more bargaining power with buyers than the families would have received with a small amount of bananas. The next week this process was repeated with a different family. When every family had taken one turn getting the pile of bananas, the rotating banana savings fund was finished. This unusual rotating savings fund enabled these people to use their resources to save for the needs of their household. For some it was the first time they had ever been able to save any money. But what about the electricity?

The banana savings fund worked so well that the families decided to take on a bit larger project. Why not use the trust they had developed in each other to save together to buy a generator that they could install in the village? Using their newly-found confidence and mutual trust, the families approached a Christian non-governmental organization (NGO) working in the community and requested a loan to purchase a generator. Seeing the abilities of the families to save and to work together, the NGO approved the loan. The children in the community can now study in the evening with their new electricity. The families are honoring their obligation to repay the loan to the NGO.

This all started when a staff of the NGO trained the families in how to start their own small savings programs. In fact, staff of this NGO trained many communities, and now over 30 small savings groups have been started that serve an estimated 600 people, as there are about 20 people on average per group. The Chalmers Center is blessed to have been a part of this ministry, as the NGO director started these savings groups as a result of attending an intensive, two-week class taught by the Chalmers Center at Alliance Graduate School in Manila. Who could have predicted that a class would result in upland tribal people turning bananas into electricity?

The NGO director reports that the reality of the love of Christ is now more real for these people. She says that they are able to experience God the Provider of their needs and the Light of their lives. They are also able to care for each other in their tribe by their commitment to pay regularly their contributions to the savings group. The people now have a sense of fulfillment because they are members of the group that owns the power generator. From this small beginning, they know that with God’s enabling, they can do even more and grow as productive individuals and as a community.

For more information about the Chalmers Center, visit us at www.chalmers.org.