Barefoot College

The Swarovski Foundation partners with Barefoot College in Brazil to train illiterate and semi-literate women to become solar engineers, and electrify their rural communities.

Sustainable Development Goals Met

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Image Courtesy of Barefoot College

Barefoot College Int. has designed new ways to nurture and support a journey to self-empowerment, one woman at a time, one village at a time. By demystifying and decentralising technology and putting new tools in the hands of under-utilised rural communities Barefoot spreads resiliency and sustainability. With a geographic focus on the Least Developed Countries, they train women worldwide as solar engineers, entrepreneurs and educators, who then return to their villages to bring light and scalable, regionally specific livelihoods to their communities.

The Rainwater Harvesting project

Image Courtesy of Barefoot College

In 2020, the Rainwater Harvesting takes place in a remote mountainous area where digging through rocky ground for well access is not a solution to clean water and sanitation challenges. The communities selected all lack access to electricity, and their schools suffer from a lack of toilets, lack of connected water facilities save for limited hand pumps, and no gender appropriate facilities for girls.

Image Courtesy of Barefoot College - Rainwater Harvesting Project

Thanks to the project, by the end of 2021, the following goals will be reached:

Low cost construction of eight rooftop rainwater collection facilities, one in each school

Each in the form of waterproof 35,000+ litre capacity tanks built using local materials and labour

Installation of two toilets per school, one exclusively for girls and women

Image Courtesy of Barefoot College - Solar Project in Brazil

To date, the Swarovski Foundation have worked with Barefoot College on one solar project in Brazil, one solar project in India and two Rain Water Harvesting projects in India (one being which will be completed early March 2021).

Solar power has transformed our lives and our prospects for the future. Our children can do homework after dark and we have access to energy to start businesses and follow aspirations in a way we never did before. - Solar Beneficiary

To learn more visit barefootcollege.org

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