The Barefoot Women Solar Engineers of Africa has been selected as a finalist in World Challenge 09, the worldwide competition seeking to identify and reward sustainability-related projects. The Barefoot Women Solar Engineers of Africa aims to improve the lives of people living away from any electricity supply in rural parts of Africa – giving them clean, renewable and low cost sources of energy. Transforming the lives of over 2000 families, they are helping to reduce the impact of forest depletion in local communities and their dependence on kerosene and diesel.
So, what’s the Indian connection in this?
Since 2005, over 75 women, often illiterate, have trained as solar engineers at the Barefoot College in India – learning how to fabricate, install and maintain solar lighting systems in their villages in Africa. The Barefoot College is already well-known in India for the innovative method by which they made solar energy reach the poor villagers in India
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