By Cassie Piccolo | Global Head of Communications
Beginning in December 2024, three women from the remote region of Jumla, Nepal, enrolled in our solar engineer training. The trainees are selected through a local village committee, which assists Barefoot College International's team by choosing the women they find are most suitable to embark on the solar training journey. Suitable attributes include but are not limited to: a sincere interest in receiving vocational training, displaying strong leadership characteristics, a driven passion for supporting their local communities and having free time available to ensure they can complete the multi-month training at one of our training centres.
Once their training is complete, these women will be fully competent in a hands-on capacity to assemble, install and maintain solar home lighting systems. Each of the trainees is then responsible for installing around 50 solar home lighting systems in their own villages, or communities close to theirs. They'll receive a stipend for each system they install and will receive a salary for managing the maintenance of the systems when reparations or replacement parts are needed. Villagers pay a small monthly fee to have panels installed on their homes and receive any reparations they'll require down the road. Any part of the systems can be replaced as needed, reducing waste materials and carbon emissions.
The solar program is an all-encompassing educational initiative; trainees also learn digital and financial literacy skills through the use of phones, tablets and laptops. They'll gain knowledge about topics such as budgeting, marketing, emails and opening their own bank accounts. This ensures that beyond the technical aspect of the curriculum, women gain useful work-relevant efficacy and the confidence to believe in their own abilities.
The ENRICH curriculum, a component of what we have developed into a program named "Life Skills", is geared toward the fostering of well-being and agency for women trainees. This introduces subjects including women's rights, sexual health, hygiene, sustainable living practises, planned parenthood, livelihoods and nutrition. We believe that these topics accelerate the empowerment of trainees and boost their confidence. Once they return home, this confidence aids them in taking on roles of leadership within their communities.
The three Nepali trainees will return to Jumla after they've graduated and will solar electrify about 150 homes. These homes are currently completely off-grid, relying on candles and kerosene lamps for light during the darkness of evenings. Light enables villagers to cook and work during the night. Children can study which is linked to them achieving better grades and staying in school longer. Safety is also an issue for both human residents and their livestock, with dangerous wild animals such as snow leopards and poisonous snakes. When brighter light is introduced, this risk is significantly reduced.
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By Cassie Piccolo | Global Head of Communications
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