From Furnace to Freedom: Women Barefood Solar Engineers Association of Hyderabad

Chennamma, Yelamma, Kalavati and Zayda are four women in their thirties. Trained by National Institute for Rural Development (NIRD), Hyderabad, they constitute the Women Barefoot Solar Engineers Association of Hyderabad, an organisation that installs solar power plants across India and trains underprivileged women in solar technology. These four women manufacture solar lamps and travel throughout India with the purpose of installing solar power generators.

“These women with no education previously worked as stone crushers earning meagre wages in South India’s quarries. They are now engaged in a highly rewarding job which has transformed their lives,” says Rural Technology Park Project Director, Dr Senthil Vinayakam. As a result of the training, they gained freedom and respect from people besides being able to earn better livelihood.

It all started in 2002, when Bunker Roy, founder of the Barefoot College and the Social Work and Research Centre in Tilonia, Rajasthan, suggested that NIRD should teach village women how to assemble solar lanterns. The four women were picked up by Roy and NIRD as the first batch of trainees. The women travelled several times to Rajasthan to learn solar engineering.

Dr Vinayakam says, “The main stumbling blocks during the training were that these women were illiterate and didn’t even know Rajasthan’s local language. A bilingual team at the Barefoot College taught them how to assemble solar lanterns and fix solar units through color-coding and sign language. It was their personal interest and aptitude that helped them throughout their training.”

“The module was tough and it seemed almost impossible that we would be able to complete the course. I would often lose heart and cry endlessly. But the constant encouragement of the college helped us overcome difficulties,” says Kalavati who has been able to send her three daughters to school with her increased income.

The women formed Women Barefoot Solar Engineers Association on June 9, 2005 after completing the training. They installed a five-kilowatt solar power plant at the Rural Technology Park of NIRD. They travelled to Paderu Mandal in Vishakhapatnam to help 124 village households get access to solar power and establish a one-kilowatt powerhouse for street lighting. They were also called by the Andhra Pradesh Tribal Power Company to provide solar energy to the tribal hamlets of Pusalapalem and Thamingula. The solar power generated in these households can power two 40 watt bulbs, a fan and a TV set for five hours a day.

They now run a production, training and maintenance unit at NIRD. They produce solar lanterns, home lighting systems, streetlights and water pumps.

This article was written by Sharon Huda and was published in the Solar Energy Review - http://serindiaonline.com