Founded by Bunker Roy in 1972, the Barefoot College believes that for any rural development activity to be successful and sustainable, it must be based in the village as well as managed and owned by those whom it serves. Therefore, all Barefoot initiatives whether social, political or economic, are planned and implemented by a network of rural men and women who are known as ‘Barefoot Professionals’.
Finalist in the 2010 Buckminster Fuller Challenge, the College is a non-government organisation that has been providing basic services and solutions to problems in rural communities, with the objective of making them self-sufficient and sustainable. These ‘Barefoot solutions’ can be broadly categorised into solar energy, water, education, health care, rural handicrafts, people’s action, communication, women’s empowerment and wasteland development.
The College promotes direct action for change through a very powerful women’s movement – groups of women (Mahila Samiti) from neighboring villages come together to jointly discuss and share information on women’s rights, health and legal issues, and political practices and policies that affect them. There are no leaders here. There is no one-upmanship. At best, there are coordinators from Barefoot who help facilitate the process. It’s democratic. It’s decentralized. It is participative problem solving and decision making.
It is now a policy of the Barefoot College ONLY to train illiterate/semi-literate middle aged mothers and grandmothers from villages all over the world. Illiterate grandmothers have shown they are capable of fabricating, installing and maintaining solar lighting systems after undergoing six months of hands-on training without written materials, tutored by unschooled Indian women who have been able to transmit the same skills.
Nearly 110 rural grandmothers have solar electrified 5,500 remote rural houses in 15 African countries. An extraordinary story because grandmothers are considered useless in rural African society and after their return they have become role models for other women. As a result they have managed to save 30,000 litres of kerosene per month from polluting the atmosphere all over Africa.
See more pictures of the work of the Barefoot College from this BBC site.
