Enriche Bazaar 2020

Story shared with us by our Enriche Barefoot team in Tilonia, Rajasthan.

Bird’s eye view of the Bazaar’s attendees

“It takes a village to raise a child” at Barefoot College, it takes many such villages from all across the globe to create a Bazaar. On the morning of 31st January 2020, Enriche Bazaar was organized in Tilonia Campus. With the efforts of many hands, the idea was to establish a space for women entrepreneurs to create and promote their business competence. The preparation for the Bazaar began about a month ago from the day of the bazaar. Women would take out time in the evening, after their training and workshops and prepare for it. They would all work in their groups to make their products to be sold in the bazaar.

Botswana Solar Mamas showcase their wares, made from recycled broomsticks and other foraged materials

Some would weave intricate designs embracing their culture, while the other participants gave a local touch to the products by using materials that are locally available and could generate local demand. On the day of the Bazaar, the humdrum started early morning, one could hear the energy and excitement of the mamas setting up their stalls and displaying the beautiful variety of their products at the bazaar. And once all the stalls were up, the bazaar began!

Thailand Solar Mamas display their homemade banana chips, which sold out quickly

The Bazaar was filled with people enjoying the colours of different countries, adorning the colours from Botswana, Syria, Egypt, Mali, Cameroon, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, Colombia, Paraguay and Thailand. Celebrating the global diversity at our campus, our Mamas used locally available materials such as raw banana for banana chips from Thailand, while mamas from Indonesia made baskets out of date leaves using shredded local chips packet to make the baskets. Whereas another stall had Mexican Empanadas or Cameroon Hotpot.

Mamas from Cameroon using Puppetry to attract customers for their native dish called Potato Hotpot

In a span of two to three hours, the shops sold off all their products. The Bazaar was over with many smiling faces feeling thrilled with the experience of selling products that were created with effort and hard work. As they leave, this bazaar would become a beautiful memory in their journey of becoming Solar Engineers.

Delicious Mexican empanadas