World Changing #3

Lauren Korany

In my previous post, China’s impact on the environment was a major issue when considering their upcoming placement in the world market. For this post, I want to focus on Abram’s description of The Barefoot College (pg 359). The Barefoot College was established in 1972, in Tilonia, an extremely poor state in Rajasthan, India. The Social Work Research Center planned to be created in the vacant buildings of the area. Urban Professionals and graduate students in India came in assuming that they would alleviate the property. They began to work with the locals to find out the best processes to handle the environment. The oral “uneducated” knowledge that the locals shared shocked the urban professionals. The combination of book-smarts and practical knowledge created a beneficial partnership. The SWRC was converted into The Barefoot College. Education for sustainability was the primary focus of the college.

Those who attend graduate to become solar engineers, hand-pump mechanics, groundwater experts, teachers, and midwives. An important component to the college is the fact that woman and children are able to get an education. Women are not limited to graduate as caregivers or midwives, but can become engineers. However, the trained midwives and health care workers have supplied 200 village health clinics in India with basic medicine that was previously unavailable. Children are able to attend school at night. Many of the children, especially girls, are unable to receive and education during the day due to their livestock and home care chores. The children learn practical knowledge about their daily chores as well as core classes (math, language) to learn to serve the community.

The college is run on solar power, biomass for renewable energy, water from rainwater, and a dripping irrigation system in the trees. This is a great example of how a sustainable structure was able to support itself and benefit the environment and communities. A wonderful part of this is the way the centers spread throughout 13 states in India. If China ever looked into this kind of sustainability, it would be a neutralizer and eventually a replacement for the practices they are partaking in now.