Established in 1972, the Barefoot College is a non-government organisation that has been providing basic services and solutions to problems in rural communities, with the objective of making them self-sufficient and sustainable. These ‘Barefoot solutions’ can be broadly categorised into solar energy, water, education, health care, rural handicrafts, people’s action, communication, women’s empowerment and wasteland development.
The College believes that for any rural development activity to be successful and sustainable, it must be based in the village as well as managed and owned by those whom it serves. Therefore, all Barefoot initiatives whether social, political or economic, are planned and implemented by a network of rural men and women who are known as ‘Barefoot Professionals’.
Rural men and women irrespective of age, who are barely literate or not at all, and have no hope of getting even the lowest government job, are being trained to work as day and night school teachers, doctors, midwives, dentists, health workers, balsevikas, solar engineers, solar cooker engineers, water drillers, hand pump mechanics, architects, artisans, designers, masons, communicators, water testers, phone operators, blacksmiths, carpenters, computer instructors, accountants and kabaad-se-jugaad professionals.
Since its inception, the long term objective of the Barefoot College has been to work with marginalized, exploited and impoverished rural poor, living on less than $1 a day, and lift them over the poverty line with dignity and self respect. The dream was to establish a rural college in India that was built by and exclusively for the poor.
What the rural, impoverished and marginalised think important is reflected and internalised in the beliefs of the College. The Barefoot College is one of the few places in India where Mahatma Gandhi’s spirit of service and thoughts on sustainability, are still alive and respected.
The College has adopted the Gandhian ideas into its lifestyle and work ethics, holding it true and relevant universally even in the 21st Century.
Why Barefoot?
It is symbolic of the recognition, respect and importance the College gives to the collective knowledge and skill that the poor have;
By calling it ‘barefoot’ we want to give its application a unique category of its own that is superior, sophisticated and enduring. Far more valuable than any other paper qualification.
Why College?
Because it is a Centre for learning, with a difference:-
A centre of learning and unlearning
Where the teacher is the learner and the learner a teacher;
Where everyone is expected to keep an open mind, try new and crazy ideas, make mistakes and try again;
Where even those who have no degrees are welcome to come, work and learn;
Where those are accepted who are not eligible for even the lowest government jobs;
Where tremendous value is placed on the dignity of labour, of sharing and those are willing to work with their hands;
Where no certificates, degrees or diplomas are given.
