WUNRN
International Museum of Women
Economic Project - Women & the
Global Economy
INDIA - GRASSROOTS COMMUNITY
DEVELOPMENT - WOMEN
PROJECTS BY/FOR RURAL POOR -
BAREFOOT COLLEGE
Sumithra
Prasanna
Filmmaker Sumithra Prasanna visits a unique institution
in
Husain Akbar
A Solar engineer at work.
Husain Akbar
Shenaz assembles a solar cooker.
Husain Akbar
Women from
Husain Akbar
Women repairing a
hand pump.
Most
often, we cannot tackle one problem without addressing other related ones.
Social entrepreneurs working at the grassroots level recognize this. Empowering
women may be central to solving many of our world's problems, since women take
their learning back into their families and into their communities. But I keep
wondering if we can truly liberate, educate and empower women to wield more
social, economic and political power without at the same time altering male
perceptions and attitudes towards women? Are we pitting poor women against poor
men, forcing them to compete against one another for social status, jobs, and
authority? Are we looking towards women in a last-ditch effort to help
facilitate the process of transformative social changes?
When I got an opportunity to film
for a documentary about "The Barefoot College," a nonprofit situated
in Tilonia, in
At the heart of the
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.
The thing that you notice first as you enter the campus at Tilonia is that
there are so many women performing roles that challenge traditional notions.
There's Nandu, the caretaker, who greets you with a smile as you enter the
guest house, and makes sure you have a good room to stay in; there's Ghulab,
who started off as a hand pump mechanic, but is now a Barefoot Solar Engineer;
there's Naurthy, a wise old woman who has learnt to work on computers, and is
now training other women like herself; there's Shenaz, a very articulate solar
cooker engineer; there's Bhanwari and Kesar, the Barefoot dentists ... the list
is endless.
What's unique about these women? They are poor. They are illiterate or
semi-literate. Many among them are middle-aged. But they are tough, and
exceedingly smart. They are confident, articulate, and are always eager to
learn things that interest them.
The
Rajasthan is probably the driest state in
But by far the biggest achievement of Barefoot is its use of an alternative
energy source. Solar electricity powers its own campus as well as over 90,000
of the poorest households across
Each of the focus areas has a cumulative effect - availability of water has
lessened the work burden for women, and has allowed them to focus on crafts.
This has in turn provided them an additional source of income. Solar
electrification, apart from making night schools possible, is also eco-friendly
since it cuts down on, and gradually eliminates, the use of firewood, diesel
and kerosene for cooking, heating and lighting.
But the most important consequence of relevant, appropriate and meaningful
education here is the empowerment of rural women. I'm told that there is a visible
change in the attitudes of men towards women, and women towards men, and the
villagers' perceptions towards social issues.
Adapting to the Barefoot experience requires you to unlearn what you learnt,
and purge what you think you know. In fact, at Barefoot, you are faced with the
very antithesis of what you understand of education. When you see mothers and
grandmothers learning a new craft, and gaining expertise in a new technology,
you are amazed. Here are women who are charged by the power of possibilities,
and for whom old age is not an excuse to stop learning.
Barefoot gives me a lot of hope. It demonstrates that any systemic change has
to be rooted in local needs and aspirations. It shows that tackling people's
attitudes and cultural mindset is an important component of any development
agenda. People know best what they need. All they require is a window of
opportunity, and they can accomplish anything they want. If they will it, they
can.
================================================================
To contact the list administrator, or to leave the list, send an email to:
wunrn_listserve-request@lists.wunrn.com. Thank you.