Visit the Barefoot College Latin America at https://www.barefootcollege-guatemala.org/
Barefoot College International trains opportunity-seeking women from rural villages to
become solar engineers. In partnership with local and national organizations, the
Barefoot team establishes relationships with village elders, who help identify trainees
and implement community support.
Trainees are often illiterate or semi-literate grandmothers who maintain strong roots in
their villages and play a major role in community development, bringing sustainable
electricity to remote, inaccessible villages. Solar electrification reduces the risk of indoor
fires, slows the negative impacts of deforestation and decreases indoor air pollution
from burning firewood and kerosene.
BAREFOOT COLLEGE LATIN AMERICA
Partnering with local organizations, we identify off-grid unelectrified, preferably
indigenous, last-mile communities who are interested in Barefoot College International’s
initiatives. We work together with these communities to establish solar committees and
select eligible women based on our criteria: between the ages of 19-69, illiterate or
semi-literate, with minimal or no formal education, and with a desire to change their
communities for the better. These brave women then become our “Women Solar
Engineers”, making the long journey from their villages to our campus, to enroll with us
and embark on a learning journey that lasts about 3 months. Their room and board are
fully included, enabling them to completely immerse themselves in our locally tailored
programs.
Despite the complex nature of solar engineering, the Barefoot methodology is uniquely
tailored for women without traditional education- some who have never stepped foot
inside a classroom. Through a system of colour coding, repetition, hands-on learning,
and support from Solar Master Trainers with similar rural backgrounds, every woman is
able to champion the skills. There are no shortcuts- the trainees can successfully
calculate resistance, fabricate circuits, assemble full systems and lanterns, and install
and maintain them themselves. They are fully equipped with the skills to bring
sustainable energy to their remote communities, and keep the lights on for years to
come.
The extended time away from their domestic responsibilities is also an opportunity for
the participants to share a safe space with other women. At our centre, the women
exchange experiences and ideas and build key skills in leadership, self-confidence and
public speaking, as well as technical solar engineering skills.
Once women are fully trained through our Solar Programme, they return home and we
organize a community meeting to discuss how the new solar engineers will be
compensated and supported for the installation and maintenance of home lighting
systems.
As with the Solar Programme, our ENRICH Programme provides practical, visual and
play-based activities specifically designed for non -formally educated women with
limited literacy skills. The impact areas include financial literacy, digital,
entrepreneurship and leadership skills, as well as health and wellbeing, sustainable
livelihoods and social equity.
Our theory of change is grounded in the vision of women as catalysis for change who
build thriving and resilience rural communities and ecosystems.
Amongst the expected results of this project are: use of clean energy source to meet
daily lighting and electric charging needs; reduction in the burning of kerosene and
paraffin and related improvements in health outcomes; reduction of gender inequality in
the community through building rural women’s leadership, critical thinking, decision-
making and entrepreneurial skills and financial, digital and climate literacy.