Barefoot College. The people that you meet in your neighbourhood.

So much work too little time. So we may have outlined our project -but of course things here change daily, because there are just so many interesting things to work on as we keep meeting others who have also come to “share, design, learn”.

Our new make shift design studio.

Definitely an adjustment working on the floor.

Beyond it’s social agenda, educating and skill training the rural poor, Barefoot is laboratory for ideas, and the people who visit and stay are quite a bunch. We’ve met solar engineers, educators, some come for 3 months, others are fellows who come for a year, and some just can’t quite bring themselves to leave. The work is never done.

So far, besides our ambitious textile project, we’ve been drawn into (upon Bunker Roy’s request) looking at the casing for a solar projector. The solar projector is just that. A data projector which is powered by stored solar energy. It is used in rural villages where educators travel as much as 10 km carrying a clumsy over sized heavy aluminum box. The criteria makes in a very interesting and challenging project. I’m not sure it can entirely solved in our remaining time -but it’s so inspiring we will contribute whatever we can.

Some of the like minded people we have met are -the lovely Ramisha, now working with us, is a textile designer from IICD. She’s helping us with surface designs in appliqué, translation and who’s enjoying our approach (and I hope company :). Dhruv and Shreya , two product engineers that work as teachers in the south, working on educational toys to teach practical engineering concepts. The engineer, Kamlesh… who’s been here for 3 years working on the aforementioned solar projector. And Aditi, a grade 12 student volunteering here working with Allen, who did his masters in Dubai, on the solar cookers -something we still have to return to see!

And last -but certainly not least Nishit (left) -the linchpin to our visit here. He was our contact before arriving and has been our guide during our time here. He is incredibly kind, supportive and patient. He’s put up with our (at times) ridiculous requests and questions. He is laid back with a good sense of humour. A Barefoot fellow, he sponsored is by an indian bank to be here for a year. Though an engineer, he saw a need within the crafts produced at the college and the surrounding villages. Quality control, standardization and managing the supply chain have become his objectives. All these things in support of the primary goal of providing more jobs.