Feature: Super typhoon Haiyan's victims in Philippines eye for renewable energy

by Xinhua writers Yan Jie, Yang Yunqi

MANILA, Nov. 8 (Xinhua) -- Antonio Miguel Omoto from Tacloban city in the Philippines could not hide his excitement when he saw, for the first time in his life, snowflakes melting down in his hands in the city of Jiuquan, northwest China's Gansu Province.

The Filipino high school graduate, who has lived in his tropical hometown for 18 years, moved in September to Gansu for further study under a scholarship program, and will stay at Jiuquan Vocational Technical College (JVTC) for the next three years for renewable energy technology studies.

The life-changing decision may be rooted in Omoto's nightmare memories of the super typhoon Haiyan, which blew away his home and hit the Philippines on Nov. 8, 2013, and left more than 7,300 people dead or missing as well as more than 5 million homeless or with damaged homes in the Southeast Asian country.

Omoto was among the natural disaster refugees. The teenager said Haiyan had a huge impact on his major choice in college and changed his perspective on the relationship between humanity and nature.

"Before Haiyan hit my hometown, I was carefree. But after witnessing its damage, I became very self-aware about what I do about nature, including how to dispose of my trash and the importance of saving electricity," he told Xinhua in a recent interview.

One decade after the fatal disaster, Omoto graduated with honors from Leyte National High School in Tacloban city, and was selected as one of 18 non-government scholarship recipients to continue his study in China on renewable energy technology.

"Humans and nature are interconnected and go hand in hand. If humans can help nature, then nature will help humans," Omoto explained his understanding of the relationship between humans and nature. He said he is looking forward to helping his family and friends in his hometown with advanced knowledges he learned in China.

Omoto's college in Jiuquan has been a pioneer in renewable energy engineering training in China. The campus, close to one of the world's largest wind and solar farms, has even its own solar power plant.

Omoto's career goals echoed with his classmate Princess Joy Agnila, who also chose green tech instead of nursing as her major in college.

"Being a renewable energy engineer can help humanity, so why not take this opportunity?" she said.

"Looking back now, I just realized that humans have contributed to Haiyan because human activities took advantage of nature. The new generation should help fix it," she added.

Aldim Roda, assistant principal for academics of Leyte National High School, expressed his pride in his students' choices for the future. He also pinned hope on them to help lower the school's electricity bill after their return from China.

As in other cities in the Philippines, the electricity rate in Tacloban remains a chronic headache for local residents, reaching 19 pesos (about 0.33 U.S. dollars) per kilowatt-hour.

"If they return and use what they have learned in China to build solar panels for the school, it will greatly help us," Roda said.