Miriam Weinstein, author

  • Home
  • About Miriam
  • Books
  • Films
  • Blog
  • Contact

Category Archives: barefoot college

Barefoot Grandmothers Light Their World

Posted on November 17, 2014 by Miriam Weinstein

Bunker Roy, the Indian social activist, has a well-deserved reputation for turning assumptions on their heads.

One of his goals has been to introduce solar electricity to poor and rural villages. But when he brought village men to his Barefoot Colleges to learn solar engineering, he called the men untrainable. He said they were “…restless, compulsively mobile, and they all want a certificate and the moment you give them a certificate they leave the village and go to the cities looking for jobs”  So, he thought,  “…why not invest in women, older women, mature women, gutsy women who have roots in the village and train them.”

He brings grandmothers from many different countries to spend six months together learning to install and maintain solar lighting and power. Many of these women have never left home before. Oh, and did we mention that many are illiterate? The training is done primarily with sign language and color-coded circuits.

“We have shown that solar-electrified villages can be technically and financially self-sufficient,” says Roy. He also says, “Every grandmother is a walking, talking Barefoot College.”

 

Posted in barefoot college, barefoot grandmother, bunker roy | Leave a comment |

Recent Posts

  • China cracks down on dancing grannies
  • Grandmother Cells
  • Do Maternal Grandparents Have More Fun?
  • Grandmothers Against Gun Violence
  • Grandma Goes to Butterflyland

Recent Comments

    Archives

    • January 2019
    • October 2018
    • May 2018
    • March 2018
    • January 2018
    • December 2017
    • September 2017
    • July 2017
    • June 2017
    • April 2017
    • February 2017
    • December 2016
    • October 2016
    • September 2016
    • August 2016
    • June 2016
    • May 2016
    • April 2016
    • March 2016
    • February 2016
    • January 2016
    • December 2015
    • November 2015
    • September 2015
    • August 2015
    • June 2015
    • May 2015
    • April 2015
    • March 2015
    • February 2015
    • January 2015
    • December 2014
    • November 2014
    • October 2014
    • September 2014
    • August 2014
    • July 2014
    • June 2014
    • May 2014
    • April 2014

    Categories

    • activist grandmothers
    • advice
    • against gun violence
    • AIDS in Africa
    • AIDS orphans
    • alzheimers
    • apples
    • australia
    • barefoot college
    • barefoot grandmother
    • bedtime rituals
    • bridesmaid
    • bunker roy
    • Carole Middleton
    • Chelsea Clinton
    • china repression
    • dancing grannies
    • deaf children
    • dementia
    • diet challenge
    • domestic violence
    • elephant genocide
    • elephant grandmothers
    • elephant matriarch
    • essay writing
    • family relations
    • female friendships
    • female genital mutilation
    • female scientists
    • feminism
    • food challenge
    • foster grandparents
    • foster grandparents
    • fundraising
    • grandmother education
    • grandmother friends
    • grandmother friendships
    • grandmother hiker
    • grandmother hypothesis
    • grandmother jewelry
    • grandmother poem
    • grandmother shower
    • grandmothers
    • grandmothers and orphans
    • grandmothers and orphans
    • granny Smith apples
    • Hilary Clinton
    • kids poetry
    • life long learning
    • Marian Robinson
    • Marian Robinson
    • maternal grandmother advantage
    • me too
    • menopause
    • Michelle Obama's mother
    • prayer for Mother Earth
    • punk grandson
    • raging grannies
    • saving Mother Earth
    • sibling rivalry
    • The Grandmother Project
    • third wave feminism
    • thirteen indigenous grandmothers
    • times style section
    • Uncategorized
    • vaccination
    • vaccination
    • wedding rituals
    • welfare reform
    • whooping cough
    • women in science
    • women in STEM

    Meta

    • Log in
    • Entries RSS
    • Comments RSS
    • WordPress.org

    CyberChimps WordPress Themes

    © Miriam Weinstein...