Our Impact
Learn moreWe work across seven impact areas
Barefoot College is a 50-year-old community-based grassroots organisation founded by Sanjit “Bunker” Roy, aiming to make the most marginalised communities sustainable and self-sufficient. We believe in the Gandhian philosophy that knowledge, skills, and wisdom found in the villages should be used for their own development.
Barefoot College: Programmes for Impact
Water
When we started this journey, we knew it
would test our staying power, commitment and
ingenuity. We had no strategic plan but grew
organically, always responsive to the ideas and
strengths of a people who depended on the
effectiveness of their ideas if they were to survive
and meet their own basic human needs.
At first water, food and shelter were the most
pressing of these. But slowly, as people made the
connection between illness and contaminated
water, their needs shifted from ‘water’ to ‘safe
drinking water’.
Environment
The Barefoot College works with communities to create clean and healthy environments. Our work focuses on ecological restoration and sustainable waste management.Greening the countryside For almost 50 years, Barefoot College has been establishing drought-resistant...
Solar
“Powering up last-mile communities by demystifying technology and decentralising control through a network of rural women.” Barefoot College trains marginalised illiterate and semi-literate women from the Global South to become Solar Engineers, providing access to...
Education
Barefoot College has been meeting the specific educational needs of remote rural communities for over 50 years. Our programmes include the Solar Digital Night School, the Children’s Parliament, Day School, Bridge Schools, Digital Village Learning Centres for girls and...
Livelihoods
The Gandhian approach to life aims for greater equity, or “distributive justice”, by promoting simple technology that helps meet basic human needs such as food, clothing, shelter, health and education. Artisans such as leather workers, potters, weavers, block...
Health
“Delivering quality diagnostic and preventive health care services at last-mile settings through trained grassroots health workers.” Barefoot College Tilonia works with Barefoot-trained doctors, dentists, pathologists, health workers and midwives who combine...
Communications
The Communications section is one of the most well-known in Barefoot College. Tilonia’s skilled puppeteers regularly mount street performances on themes such as water conservation, the importance of the environment and education (especially for girls), land ownership,...