We settled into
our hotel in Ajmer close to 3:30 in the morning. From the neon framed
gate, Mat described this place as "looking like a Vegas casino with 4 slot
machines and 1 prostitute." Tushar explained that this hotel is commonly
booked as a vacation place or by couples honeymooning; though the gate might
seem lit like a Vegas sideshow, inside is quite beautifully decorated.
The 8:30 wake up call arrived quickly, and after breakfast we
drove an hour and a half to the Barefoot College.
Founded by
Bunker Roy, the Barefoot College teaches skills to those who lack a formal,
traditional education. Skills include building solar cookers, transistors for
LED lighting and also offering training to the women to become medical or
dental technicians. Arun Gandhi mentioned this particular organization when he
visited Rollins this past fall. Roy, who was an engineer by trade, told
his parents he felt compelled to spend his first post-college year helping the
impoverished people of India. He has never left India; instead, he has expanded
his school into parts of Africa, Mexico and beyond -- bringing over 600
impoverished women to this college to learn skills to take back to their own
villages.
On campus, our
tour group was treated to a puppet show and learned that they use traditionally
created puppets to help spread social understanding and inform
villagers of government schemes. I purchased two hand puppets from
the gift shop on campus. I named the female "Raja" and the
male puppet "Stanley" --as they are from the area of Rajasthan. These
two characters are gifts for Eve and Landon upon our return; I'm taking
photos with them for the remainder of the trip to share "Adventures with
Raja and Stan" along the way. After the puppet informational, we
toured other parts of the 2 campuses. From dental technicians to
acupuncturists, this school focuses on empowering women to take many
valuable skills back to their villages.
As we entered
the second campus, our tour group was welcomed by a group of Indian women who
are building both solar powered cookers and heaters. We observed the process of
them cutting the metal, hammering sheets into place, welding the edges
together-- even the teachers of this craft were once impoverished women who've
now "graduated" from this program. "Graduated" means that
the Barefoot College believes that these skills speak for themselves; this is
about practical training, not a piece of paper or certification. We were
then led to the "Solar Mamas" -- a large boardroom-like area covered
in circuit boards, wiring, instruction books, and women representing at
least 8 different countries including Micronesia, Senegal, Madagascar and
Mexico. They learn how to assemble circuit boards here for LED lanterns, light
panels, and solar electricity. Of course there are many different
languages and cultures working together, so a lot of the instruction is through
photos and color codes. These innovators stay in a hostel on
campus for 6 months learning their trade and then commit to utilizing this
skill back in the village they call home.
On a personal note, so far I have managed to stay relatively
healthy; however, Mat (along with many of our fellow tour mates) is suffering
from congestion. We've run out of cough drops and most of our decongestant
supply has dried up (pun intended). As our group sat to discuss the events of
the day, I began feeling my health steadily weaken; my throat is scratchy and
I'm on what I call "on the verge of the edge" of getting sick. This
is a tireless journey both physically and emotionally with very little downtime
-- and yet, I wouldn't trade this experience for the world.
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