DIY Soylent Arrives in the Philippines to Feed Malnourished Tribal Children

By Hank Pellissier

The following article below was originally published by the California-based think-tank Brighter Brains Institute:

A large shipment of “DIY Soylent” (19 packs weighing 2 kilos each – photo below) arrived in Calapan City, yesterday on the island of Mindoro in The Philippines. The powdered food was immediately trucked to the foothills of Mount Halcon, where an Alangan Mangyan indigenous community resides. At lunchtime it was mixed with water and fed in bowls to the 140 children who attend the “reservation school” (San Lorenzo Ruiz Academy). The director – Sally Melendres – thanked Brighter Brains Institute via email:

“The children like the food very much!!!”

Very gratefully,

Sally and SLR Schools Administration Faculty, Staff and Students

The DIY Soylent was obtained via a crowd funding campaign, conducted by Powderedfoods.com. Hundreds of dollars were donated by transhumanists and soylent enthusiasts.

Aleh Manchuliantsau, the the Byelorussian Founder & CEO of 100%Food, generously blended and packaged the nutritious ingredients of his company, pro bono. Brighter Brains Institute paid for the shipping via a “balikbayan box” company.

Four transhumanist publications helped publicize the drive: Hplusmagazine.com, ieet.org, SeriousWonder.com, Wave Chronicle. The campaign received special support from members of the Mormon Transhumanist Association.

Powderedfood.com’s generosity enabled the health of these disadvantaged children, and demonstrated the world-changing potential of Soylent.

The Alangan Mangyan live in the foothills and jungles of Mindoro. The tribe is often malnourished, largely illiterate, with frequent parasitical worms, tuberculosis, diarrhea, and measles, due to lack of clean water and sewage systems. In The Philippines, the Alangan Mangyan are “the poorest of the poor” – earning an average of $30/month.

The “reservation school” that’s drinking the powdered food offers K-8 education. Family members dwell on the school grounds, elevating the population to 300. The Alangan Mangyan subsist on root crops, snails, rats, insects, fruit, and neighbor’s rice left over on stalks after harvests. To squelch hunger they chew betel nut, an addictive substance that stains teeth black and leads to oral cancer. Healthy food is deeply appreciated here!

The Alangan Mangyan children were recently “de-wormed” via medicine provided by the Brighter Brains Institute. Brighter Brains also sponsors 35 of the children at the school; it pays the teacher salary and provides a daily lunch.