Area of work:
The Barefoot College in India is training villagers to install solar lighting systems in the Himalayas.
Burdened by temperatures of -40 degrees centigrade in winter and with only six hours of daylight, local communities in the Himalayas often lack the funds needed to buy kerosene for lighting and heating. The Barefoot College’s answer is not short-term subsidy, but practical solutions and training.
Local communities in the Himalayas often lack the funds needed to buy kerosene for lighting and heating. The Barefoot College’s answer is not short-term subsidy, but practical solutions and training. Barefoot engineers from the poorest communities are trained over a period of three to six months in the installation and maintenance of solar lighting systems developed by the college.
The College encourages the communities to take responsibility for their energy needs. Each community must form an Energy Committee and chose its own candidates for training. At least 30% of the committee members must be women. The Committee is responsible for deciding how much each family must pay for the system and for administering the system once it is up and running. Like the system itself, responsibility is a long-term investment.
Success can be measured by numbers: 20,000 solar lighting systems and 65 heating systems in 753 villages by 2009, not only in India but in other parts of Asia and Africa. However, in a less-polluted environment offering greater job opportunities, success can be measured as much by improved lives.
The Barefoot College was established in 1972 with the aim of encouraging people to gain practical knowledge and skills rather than achieving paper qualifications. It runs housing, environment, health, education and income generation projects. Training, equipment and other project costs are funded by grants from national and local governments, and international donors.
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