Alternative Indigenous Development Foundation, Inc. (AIDFI) of based in Bacolod City is one of the recipients of the prestigious 2011 Ramon Magsaysay Award. The award-giving body recognized AIDFI for “their collective vision, technological innovations, and partnership practices to make appropriate technologies improve the lives and livelihoods of the rural poor in upland Philippine communities and elsewhere in Asia.”
AID Foundation develops appropriate environment-friendly technologies which are transferred to poor rural communities as a holistic package. The foundation transfers the technology, trains local technicians, and organizes the community. The ram pump technology of AID Foundation has received various awards including the 2010 BBC World Challenge. The foundation has already fabricated, installed, and transferred 227 ram pumps to 184 upland communities in Negros Occidental and other provinces across the country, giving the poor access to clean and cheap water.
The prestigious Ramon Magsaysay Awards, considered the Nobel Prize of Asia was created in 1957 in honor of the late Presidet Ramon Magsaysay who died in a plane crash in the same year. Every year, the foundation gives awards to six categories to persons and organizations who address issues on poverty, malnutrition, disease, and violence.
Here’s the complete list of the 2011 Ramon Magsaysay Award are:
- AID Foundation – Philippines
- Harish Hande – India
- Hasanain Juaini – Indonesia
- Koul Panha – Cambodia.
- Nileema Mishra – India
- Tri Mumpuni – Indonesia.
Congratulations to Auke Idzenga and the whole AID Foundation team! Continue to serve and inspire the Negrenses!