Philomene Nitcheu

"Our village has too many problems because of the absence of electricity. People there use only oil lamps and that is expensive to us. There are no nocturnal activities due to the lack of light. By 7:30-8 pm, every one is already in bed or near the fire side in his small house and the children cannot even go through their lessons at night because oil is expensive to buy."

"...with the light in my village, one will not have the oil lamp any more and there will be many activities during the night. The children will be able to study during the night and the mums will be able to meet, while the young people of the village will be able to meet and tell their stories in the night too."

Meet Philomene Nitcheu of Batcheu village in Cameroon >

Jeanne d'Arc Pouatcha

"Our village will be lit right up to the bottom of our beds, because it is not nice to be living in darkness. Before, when one lived in darkness, one could do nothing in the night, but now that I will learn how to put up light, I will have to make sure that my village is up to date. What I used to do in the morning, I will start doing it in the night in order to finalize it the morning. That brings much advantage to us."

"We came here to learn, we go back to teach others what we have learned. There are many villages in Cameroon without electricity; what I am learning is not only for my village's benefit."

Meet Jeanne d'Arc Pouatcha of Batcheu village in Cameroon >

Aminatou Abdoul Aziz

Aminatou belongs to the Tamashak people of Mali. She is a 44 year old widow who has been raising her three children on her own ever since her husband was killed 6 years ago. She lives with her father and her brother, and to get by she washes other people's clothes and does a little bit of commerce.

Her community chose her to become a barefoot solar engineer because they knew that she would benefit from the income of repairing and maintaining the community's solar systems. "Besides, I am good with my hands. I have always liked to work with my hands and was always interested in learning more" she says.

Meet Aminatou Abdoul Aziz of Tinjamba village in Mali >

Francoise Douhou

"I was born from a poor family. I lost my father at the age of 8 years and my mother continued to bring me up in this misery where one had to work so much on the farm for survival."

"When I return, I shall make my village a well planned place....The inhabitants of my island will be very happy because they will profit from the availability of electricity to carry out activities at night; our children will be able to review their school notes in the evening after classes, women and fishermen can continue to smoke their fish at any time they need to. In that way, we shall live like the whites in Marseille."

Meet Francoise Douhou of Mbwape village in Cameroon >

Visit the Solar Engineering Workshop in Tilonia to meet more Barefoot Solar Engineers>

Solar Electrification and Rainwater Harvesting in Ethiopia

"We are more than delighted to cooperate with all who are interested with rainwater harvesting and solar electrification. Mekelle University along with REST, DF and Barefoot College were the pioneers to validate the technologies in Tukul and to my delight and satisfaction it is working.

Rainwater harvesting is becoming a movement in Tigray and the first RAINWATER HARVESTING ASSOCIATION OF TIGRAY is now a registered body and will be officially inagurated on the 19th of June by the Regional President. We are committed to be a flagship of success in this endeavour."

- Dr. Mitiku Hailu, Vice Chancellor of Mekele University

For 6 months, these engineering students work side by side with their Indian counter-parts, mastering technology needed to assemble and maintain solar power systems, or build rooftop rainwater harvesting. With the technology de- mystified, they return to Ethiopia to solar electrify their own communities.

Barefoot Solar Engineers of Ethiopia was produced by the Barefoot College and Roughcut Productions with support from a Skoll Foundation grant.
(DVD, 20 minutes, 2006)

Purchase the DVD and learn more about the Barefoot Solar Engineers of Ethiopia >

This year, more than 60 semi-literate, middle-aged women are being trained by the Barefoot College to become barefoot solar engineers. These engineers will solar electrify over 50 rural communities in 9 countries:

- 23 heritage villages in Bhutan funded by the Asian Development Bank;
- 16 villages in 8 countries with support from the Skoll Foundation (US), Fondation Ensemble (France), and Stiftung Het Groene Woudt (Netherlands).

Communities in Afghanistan, Bolivia, Ethiopia, Mali, Sierra Leone and The Gambia will also be able to construct rooftop rainwater harvesting systems and toilets for girls in 20 schools with support from Art Venture (Singapore), Fondation Ensemble (France) and the Skoll Foundation (US).

NGO partners in these barefoot initiatives include: AMADE (Mali), ACAPES (Senegal), ASAFE (Cameroon), Green Senegal (Senegal), IRUPANA (Bolivia), NCA (Afghanistan, Mali), Riders for Health (The Gambia), Safer Future (Sierra Leone). Barefoot water engineers from Safer Future will also be providing technical assistance for construction of rooftop rainwater harvesting systems in schools in Mali, Mauritania and The Gambia.

Since beginning the barefoot approach to providing solar power in poor rural communities, the Barefoot College has trained over 340 semi-literate men and women from 16 states in India and 9 other countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America. Nearly 11,000 solar household systems and over 5,000 solar lanterns provide clean energy and light to more than 125,000 people. Over 1.67 million tons of carbon emissions are saved annually as a result -- and each of these communities enjoys light instead of darkness every night.

Solar Electrification December 2006 Summary >

Solar Electrification June 2007 Summary >