Heroism does not require losing one’s life. Some heroes even survive life-threatening diseases like cancer.

Israel Hans Golez, a boy scout from Iloilo City, was diagnosed with Stage 4 brain cancer when he was only two years old. He was cleared from the disease when he was eight.

A year after surviving brain cancer, his life was threatened anew by dengue. But again, the boy was able to survive.

Golez, 19, is one of the finalists of the 21st Ten Accomplished Youth Organizations (TAYO) Awards for leading the Iloilo National High School Boy Scout of the Philippines (BSP) Outfit 154 for a project that provides access to light and electricity to Sombrero Island in Concepcion, Iloilo —a five-hour trip from the city.

Golez said that when he led his high school’s BSP in 2022 as its president, they launched Project Kasanag.

Project Kasanag is part of the 20 finalists of TAYO Awards 21 from more than 700 entries that submitted their application for this year’s search.

Each year, TAYO Awards recognizes 10 youth organizations which projects contributed significant impacts to their communities.

“Kasanag in Ilonggo means to light up or to illuminate,” he said.

“We came up with the idea because I experienced a brownout during studying. So it started from empathy. I wonder how about those communities that really do not have access to electricity? This is where Project Kasanag sparks,” he added.

Project Kasanag has two phases. The first phase of the project provided 100 portable solar lights to 85 households in Sombrero Island, benefitting 400 residents. They also installed 10 street lights around the island.

For the second phase of the project, Golez’s group set up a centralized power station to provide electricity in the island powered by solar energy.

“We have a mixed source of funding from the LGU (local government unit) of Iloilo province and we also reach out to several private sectors,” he said, adding the two phases of the project cost around P300,000.

Golez cited four notable impacts of Project Kasanag to their beneficiaries in Sombrero Island.

First, students boosted their academic performance, improving their grades from 80 or 85 to as high as 95 after having access to light and electricity.

Second is more productivity as the households can work in the community for longer hours.

Third is visibility and mobility.

“Actually, Sombrero Island is known as the ‘ghost island’ of Concepcion because you can never see them in the evening. But because of the project, they became the brightest island in Concepcion and they are no longer a ghost island,” Golez said.

“They can now have activities in the evening, they can bond and celebrate things because they have light and electricity,” he added.

Lastly, the project has provided comfort and convenience to the residents of Sombrero Island, as the electricity allows them to connect to the public WiFi, giving them the access to information and communication.

As Golez already graduated from high school and is now taking up Political Science at University of the Philippines-Visayas, he is planning to establish his own organization that would continue this project.

Golez said he plans to implement the same concept in other areas in the province, and that will need more support both from the public and private sectors.

“I ought to live my life with a purpose because I [think] and I believe that I owe my life to the Lord and I need to give back this to people because I’m here today because of God’s blessing,” he said.

“We can actually maximize this opportunity to reach more communities and maybe to inspire more people also with our advocacy. As what I’ve said, our story does not end here. We hope that our story has brought light to everyone.”PNA