Fossil Fuels- Let’s Make Them a Thing of the Past
We have launched a campaign aimed at providing more remote communities of the Global South with solar energy, to reduce fossil fuel emissions, by and through women- “Train Solar Mamas to Electrify Communities“. Visit our campaign on Global Giving’s platform to learn more about our goals.
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Let’s help remote communities bypass fossil fuels and spread the benefits of renewable energy!
The Barefoot Solar Program
Our solar engineering program increases the number of hours available in a day for the world’s most marginalized communities by giving them access to clean energy and reducing kerosene use by 97%. We replace their kerosene oil-fueled lamps with solar lights, and more importantly, we train women from within the community as informal solar engineers.
Hinged on this sustainability-driven approach, the Barefoot Solar and Livelihoods program aims to uplift remote communities of the Global South through access to solar electricity. Each new household installation offsets xxxkg of fossil fuel carbon emissions during the system’s lifetime. The reduction in kerosene and oil lamps reduces smoke-induced illness and infection and the risk of accidental fires.
4 in 5 people in sub-Saharan Africa live without electricity.
Our Solar Mama training program has brought light to 175,000 households, reducing the impact of fossil fuels and improving health indicators.
How Communities Bypass Fossil Fuels
Since 2015, we have pledged to offer more women the opportunity to study with our solar engineering program. We have trained more than 3,500 women in more than 90 countries worldwide. Following their studies, the women return to their villages confident and capable of installing and maintaining the solar systems independently. Each Solar Mama is in charge of making solar energy accessible to an average of 400 direct beneficiaries.
The curriculum is tailored to illiterate and semi-literate trainees who can have little- or no- formal education, ensuring that the program is available to all women of any age and any background. The community owns the knowledge and technical skills, and thus can continue maintaining and operating the sustainable solutions on their own. It is the Solar Mamas who assume roles of leadership to train others and sustain technological autonomy at the grassroots level.
Paired with the ENRICH curriculum, each trainee receives holistic training in subjects that promote agency and technological competency, enabling the teachings of the solar program to flourish. They gain knowledge and entrepreneurial insight that complement the technical aspects of their training.
Any contribution helps- Support our Campaign today and be part of the change to make fossil fuels obsolete!
Thank you!
-The Barefoot College International Team
