The Other Heroes of Sikat II

Many stories have been published and read about the Team Solar Philippines' experience in the 23rd World Solar Car Challenge but there is a side story to all of these!

I was there, saw how the teens and students and professors worked their assess off to bring Sikat II to Australia, pass the "Scrutineering", get Sikat II on its way to Stuart Highway and fix it when the battery over-heated. I saw how determined the team was when Sikat II burned its battery. The team ,a t least those who are in-charge and those who are in the electrical, mechanical and ECE team , worked all night to bring Sikat II back on the road and qualify again to race down Stuart Highway!! I was there, helpless in a way, I was no technical person and all we can do was to make the team more comfortable and probably make sure they  have something to eat. At best all we can do , is get out of their way! It was really hard ,to say the least, to stand by and watch these "kids" work all night and all you can do is offer food and ask if they needed anything.  But in my heart of hearts, this is a familiar thing, this "working so hard" thing, maybe I know they are up to it, they can do this. Remember , I have seen how these guys are during the survival training. They can be playful but  they take everything to heart and they have the passion, so it has never occurred to me that they will not bounce back and vote  to give up the race. There was no doubt... So there they are, working all night long, in the morning SIkat II is up and running as if nothing happened.... it run the length and breadth of Stuart Highway from Tennant Creek until the next control stop ......

But the story of Team Solar Philippines is not just about the heroic deeds of  the students and professors, the brilliant strategy of the Team Manager/Team Leader or the endurance and fighting spirit of  these young people. The other story is the story of the Philippine nation , of the Filipino community in every town , in every nook and cranny in Australia who unselfishly  gave their support in every way they can to bring Sikat II to Adelaide, to the finish line.

That story  is the stories  of the Darwin Filipino community , of the members of the Filipino community who cooked food, visited the team, gave them encouraging words, treated them like stars, lent us rice cooker and fans, helped them when they needed help like the mechanics of Toyota Darwin, the Pinoy merchandisers and cashiers in Coles and Woolies who out of their  pride of being Pinoys, helped the crew (us) get the things we needed. The waiters and waitresses in the different restos who made us feel at home , the Exec Asst . of the Chief Minister who gave us a private tour of the office , so proud of the team and so proud of being a Pinay, the Pinay Radio personality,  the FX lady who brought her journalist husband at the start of the race, the Katherine Filipino and Australian Association  of Northern Territory  (KFAANT) who  greeted us with the Philippine flag , prepared food for the team and gave us an air-conditioned place to stay during the first night of the race! The KFAANT members who adopted 2, 3 or 4 members and took us home so we could take a bath and who again adopted 2 members of the crew who arrived the day after. And the guy who just took me to a gas station where I can have the LPG refilled?  And how could I forget Noel , an Australian who took pains in looking for my  shades  when I thought I have lost it ( he said I will not survive outback without it), the cashier cum gas station manager who without hesitation and brought us to the leaders of the community in Tennant Creek when we needed a place to stay,  his Ate who never thought twice when we ask her where  we can stay and her Australian  business partner who gave us the keys to the Showground in an instant. !!!! And when the battery burned down, they were again there. This time the husband who offered his compressor, blower and vacuum  for the team to use when they were repairing Sikat II and putting on the new battery, making sure there are no toxic materials in Sikat II. The Tennant Creek Filipino Community who stayed until the wee hours of the morning to give support to those not sleeping the night , giving them coffee and cookies . And who would forget the the nurse or hospital worker who brought breakfast the following day , straight from her duty at the hospital and her friend who even  made coffee and sandwiches for the boys who worked non-stop all night? The journey of Sikat II is full of  Pinoys lending their hands , gathering around the team . In all the towns in Australia that there is a Pinoy,  WE ARE AT HOME! In Alice Spring , the people who took time out from their work to cook for the team , In Coober Pedy , the Pinay cashier who gave us water to take along and who gave free coffee to the students, we are at home on the road because of the Pinoys and Pinays who made us feel that way!! Our lives in the Outback has been made so much easier by the Pinoy community who all the way from Darwin down to Adelaide gave their best , the best of themselves to Team Solar Philippines....

And when we were in Adelaide..the Pinoy community who gathered at Victoria Square , patiently awaiting the team and who burst into jubilation when they saw the team walking the ceremonial finish line with its solar car, Sikat II.... and then another Lunch reception given by the Honorary Consul General  and again the Pinoy community brought food, glorious Dinuguan ( my fave), kutsinta, pansit and the works, pinoy food  cooked in Adelaide!!!

And when it was time to go, they again  went out of their way to get up early just so I would not take  a taxi going to the airport, how do you thank people who do this out of their love for their countrymen in a foreign land!!!

In the words of Lorie Tan of  WWF, the Sikat II Team Solar Philippines includes  the  WHOLE PINOY COMMUNITY IN AUSTRALIA!   And I say Amen to that!