Barefoot College Teaching Grandmothers To Be Solar Engineers

It may seem an incredible idea, but Barefoot College has trained hundreds of semi-literate and illiterate women - many of them grandmothers - from developing and least developed countries to be solar engineers. And they have gone back home to install solar panels and batteries, maintain and repair them and change life in their remote villages forever. More than that, they have trained others in neighboring villages to do the same. How did it all start?

There are myriads of remote villages in India that can only be reached after days travelling on hard dirt roads in rugged vehicles followed by long treks on foot. Photovoltaic (PV) systems offer the only source of electricity to populations in these remote areas. Access to electricity through simple effective solutions such as the Barefoot approach can dramatically improve the lives of villagers and contributes to development. It lowers lighting costs, enables income-generation and supports educational activities as well as reducing the fire hazards and indoor pollution generated by traditional kerosene lighting.

Barefoot College in Tilonia, India, is the brainchild of Bunker Roy. He founded the College in 1972 with the conviction that the solutions to the problems of the rural poor lie within the community, in their traditional heritage and in new technologies that simply require some adapting to their situation. The 7,430 square meters (80,000 square feet) college complex stands as a testimony to this potential - it was designed and built with locally-sourced materials by villagers using traditional knowledge passed down from one generation to the next, but its energy needs are taken care of by modern technology: solar panels.

Barefoot College started training young people and semi-literate and illiterate rural women to be solar engineers in the 1990s. The trainees came from all over India but language was not a barrier; trainees learned to identify parts by shape and color, to develop the skills required by following mimed instructions, and to execute technical tasks by example. But the College soon realized the best candidates were middle-aged women, most of whom were grandmothers. Speaking at the 3 rd International Conference on Appropriate Technologies (see box) held in November in Rwanda, Mr. Roy explained, "Illiterate grandmothers are humble and easy to teach. Grandmothers have a vested interest in the village and have no desire to leave. Give a youth a piece of paper and he is off to the city...