Education for building resilient communities

Barefoot College International uses vocational training programs to demystify and decentralize technology and entrepreneurial efficacy. Through Solar, livelihood and Women Prosper curriculums, we are fostering a better planet for everyone. We take education a step further and disseminate women’s rights and advocacy training paired with business and savings acumen. Workshops on digital literacy through smartphone courses keep women connected to both trainers and fellow trainees, offering a lifelong support system once they return to their respective communities. 

Carefully tailored curriculums focus on locally relevant livelihood training, such as coffee, sewing and mushroom farming. Often for the first time, graduated trainees, fully equipped with necessary materials and tools, can gain income, thus providing for their families. Our Solar initiative is a two-tiered application that ensures the bypassing and reduction of fossil fuels for remote, non-electrified villages. This enables them to be self-sufficient and sustainable, to live with greater dignity. It also encourages women to take on leadership roles and receive beneficial training opportunities that last a lifetime. Grown from our inaugural Indian training centre, our Africa Barefoot Vocational centres in Zanzibar, Senegal, Burkina Faso and Madagascar have helped us decentralize our schools and reduce carbon footprints.

Operating in 93 countries worldwide and serving more than 2000 remote villages, Barefoot College International is rippling the benefits of its programs worldwide. Our direct training and livelihood opportunities have impacted over a million people, by providing resources such as clean water, renewable energy, job opportunities and digital device access. In turn, we continue to learn and unlearn by connecting with the brilliant wisdom of the rural women we serve.

From the ground up, just as we were founded, we keep rural communities at the epicentre of everything we do. We amplify our message and the wisdom of rural women through our network of Swiss supporters and partners who resonate with our vision of global equity. There are many ways today that people can “Go Barefoot”.