Barefoot College in Tilonia, Rajasthan is modelled on Gandhian thought. Barefoot is meant only for the illiterate poor. The best-known of Barefoot’s programmes is one in which women on the wrong side of 40, many of them grandmothers, are trained to be solar engineers. Once young people learn a skill they want to leave the village whereas grandmoms are rooted there and can pass on the skill to others. The criteria for these courses are these women should be, of course, indigent and uneducated, and come from remote, inaccessible villages sans electricity.
The six-month programme is not restricted to Indian rural women folk. Since 2004, Barefoot has, with the help of the ministry of external affairs, trained 150 women from 27 countries. About 10,000 houses have been electrified and 1.8 million litres of kerosene saved. 3 million rural folk educated by Barefoot. When the trained folk goes back to her village she will be using what she learnt there to introduce solar chargers and lanterns to the people there.
Most women face resistance when they are offered the chance of undergoing training. A committee in the village nominates names. It takes a while to convince the families but we keep in regular touch with them even after the women come back.
Besides solar energy, Barefoot’s focus areas include water conservation, healthcare and crafts. Barefoot, which thrives on grants from government agencies and philanthropists other than sale of handicraft, does not accept literate volunteers, especially from cities. Only an illiterate can teach another illiterate. The training happens in sign language. Barefoot's current focus is to ensure that villages all over the world have drinking water and light, which are the most important needs.
