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Philippine Ram Pump in top 3 of BBC World Challenge

The Philippines’ entry to the BBC World Challenge 2010 – an indigenous hydraulic ram pump – has been voted as one of the top three projects among 12 finalists worldwide.

Auke Idzenga, the founder and executive director of the Negros-based Alternative Indigenous Development Foundation, Inc. (AIDFI), broke the news in an email to the Manila Bulletin, disclosing that the Philippine invention received over 167,000 votes from all over the world to earn a spot in the top three projects.

“We thank all the people who cast their vote for AIDFI, the only Philippine entry in the Challenge and the support given during the campaign,” Idzenga wrote.

The awarding ceremony for the winner and two runners-up of the BBC World Challenge 2010 will be held in Amsterdam on November 29.

The awards ceremony will be broadcast on December 4 on BBC World News and announced on the website on the same day and profiled in Newsweek magazine in the December 21 issue which will be on sale starting December 14, 2010.

The hydraulic ram pump project, called “The Only Way is Up,” does not use fuel to spur it into action but uses instead the kinetic energy of the river. Custom-made from door hinges, car tires, pipes, and steel, the AIDFI pump model which was invented by Idzenga could raise 20 to 40 liters of water directly to elevated communities. The pump can last up to three years if properly maintained.

The pump, according to Idzenga, has already supplied water to about 170 villages, giving relief to some 50,000 beneficiaries all over the country.

A Dutchman who has made Negros Occidental his home for 25 years now, Idzenga, 42, said he invented the pump out of necessity seeing that the province lacked water supply.

“Before we introduced