The journey was adventure and the destination was Dansalan College in Iligan, where students and faculty, mostly evacuees from Marawi, have since relocated due to the devastating six-month war that occupied, burned, and left the College in Marawi unusable.
Our mission was to respond to an expressed need that clean drinking water was a health concern on the relocated Dansalan College campus just outside Iligan City.
Dansalan College President Dr. Fedelinda Tawagon wrote to Silliman University President Dr. Ben Malayang III, inquiring about Silliman’s SolarPure, a mobile solar-powered water purifier constructed and produced by Silliman Water, a ministry of the SU Extension Program. The request was met with a positive response, with Silliman offering to donate and deliver a unit of SolarPure to Dansalan College-Iligan.
Early in the morning of March 2, the SolarPure was packed on to the Silliman Water truck which boarded on to a roll-on-roll-off ferry to Dapitan. And thus began the journey over the calm sea toward Mindanao.The advice was for us to take the southern route over the mountains, and around the bottom of Iligan Bay. Unpredictable as Philippine weather can be, the skies in the mountains soon turned dark grey, as an intense rainstorm pounded our truck, soaking through the protective cover, forcing us to repack, and dry our valuable cargo, and the back-riding members of the Silliman Water team.
With Martial Law in effect in Mindanao, you can imagine the unusual cargo of a solar water purifier was always a questionable item at every military check point. Negotiating our way through became an art form which, despite the delays, never derailed our purpose. By 4:30 pm, we finally pulled into the campus grounds of Dansalan College after a 10-hour journey from our campus by the sea along the shores of Dumaguete.
The turnover was a beautiful (and stressful) moment early the next morning of March 3. Beautiful was to be received so warmly by President Tawagon and the kind students and staff of Dansalan College. Beautiful was to be welcomed by Silliman alumni and the Iligan City UCCP who also journeyed over to the Dansalan campus to witness the turnover. Dr. Michele Naranjo, representing Silliman, gave an inspiring message about the University’s commitment to stand with our neighbor in times of hardship and offer the gift of life and hope.
The situation became stressful, however, when President Tawagon requested the Silliman Water team to immediately turn on and start using the SolarPure so all could witness the Silliman creation. Pointing to a water well nearby, she asked us to drop the intake hose of the purifier so that all those present could witness and actually taste the clean water.
But of course, due to the shortness of preparation time, and the early morning turnover, we did not believe the SolarPure was ready for use. No way! And yet, we could do nothing more but oblige. And so it was with great fear and trembling that without the proper preparation, we had to turn on the SolarPure and present real drinkable water. We dropped the hose into the water well. Our hearts were beating nervously and earnestly for success. The SolarPure was turned on, and much to our surprise and with great relief, clean potable water flowed abundantly from the well, through the purifier, and out into the waiting bottles and glasses. Everyone had a taste of clean potable water.
Indeed, God always makes a way even out of no way!
Our gratitude is extended to the Highland Presbyterian Church of Louisville Kentucky for their financial support to the construction of SolarPure, and to the SU Calamity Fund for enabling us to personally deliver the SolarPure water purifier to Mindanao. (Carlton Palm/Silliman Water Ministry)
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