The Barefoot College is a non-government organization established by by Sanjit(Bunker) Roy in a small village called Tilonia in Ajmer District Rajasthan in India. The Barefoot College provides 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 categorized into solar energy, water, education, health care, rural handicrafts, people’s action, communication, women’s empowerment and wasteland development.
The 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’.
Mission and Objectives:
Barefoot College aims to:
• Provide sustainable solutions to improve the quality of life in poor, rural communities;
• Reduce migration by generating employment within villages;
• Provide vocational training to semi-literate and illiterate men and women through the process of learning-by-doing;
• Reduce drudgery of rural women and girls by providing them access to education, vocational training, health care;
• Empower rural women socially, economically and politically;
• Encourage community based, owned and managed initiatives;
• Demystify technologies and decentralize their uses to improve their quality of living;
• Use and promote traditional knowledge and skills that have been passed on through generations.
Approach: Rural men and women irrespective of age, who are barely literate or not at all, are trained by the Barefoot College professionals to work as school teachers, doctors, midwives, dentists, health workers, balsevikas, solar engineers, solar cooker engineers, water testers, phone operators etc. After the training they come back in their communities, offer their service and guarantee the sustainability of the project with their expertise shared with the communities to ultimately improve the living conditions of the villagers.
Impact to date: Over the last 38 years both men and women “barefoot” teachers, water and solar engineers, doctors, communicators, architects, designers and lawyers are served nearly 100,000 people over 500 square miles in 100 villages around Tilonia alone. There are 23 Barefoot Colleges in 15 different States all over India reaching basic services like drinking water, health, education, employment, and lighting to nearly 1 million people living below poverty line.
Sustainability: The Barefoot College draws on a mix of resources, such as the Government of India, International funding agencies, private foundations, as well as corporate and individual sponsors, for applying cost-effective and self-sustainable Barefoot solutions in remote, rural villages of India and abroad.
The project presented to Giving Women:Back to Schoolat Barefoot College. Zanzibar Women’sempowerment Initiative
The project presented to Giving Women is “Back to School at Barefoot College. Zanzibar Women’s empowerment Initiative”. The project was designed by Meagan Carnahan a Giving Women member and will be implemented by the Giving Women Project Circle. The purpose of the project is the training of 2 women selected by the village elders in Zanzibar to be “Barefoot Architects”, who will design, direct and construct the first underground rainwater holding tanks to increase the water supply to their villages and to train 4 other women as “Barefoot Solar Engineers”. These women will master all the skills necessary for the construction, installation and maintenance of solar panels, solar fixed wall lighting and solar charged lanterns for 50-100 households. They will have a mandate to “train-on” a further 2 sets of women on the Island.
Specific needs expressed to Giving Women Members:
- Expertise and commitment for the project managment: project design, estimation of costs, implementation activities and follow up;
- Fundraising for:
o Airfares for Bunker Roy and the 6 women (back and forth);
o Solar units material (which the women will put together during the training);
o Rainwater harvesting tank material.
How can Giving Women members support the Project?
- Join the Project Circle and provide expertise in the project management, coordination and follow up;
- Support the funding needs of the project.
Should you be interested in joining the circle of members who support this project, please contact us: contactinfo@givingwomen.ch.
See also: edition.cnn.com/video/
Document attached with further details for download :
