ARVO'S MESSAGE
Hi, Two years ago I was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Bougabou, Togo - an impoverished village in West Africa. I was teaching english at the middle school. My mother had mailed me an article about Barefoot College,
a school in India. They train illiterate grandmothers to become solar engineers and send them back to their village to supply the village with solar power. This 6 month long program would teach 2 of our women to build. install and repair the solar systems required to light up our village of 67 homes. They would learn by doing, the women could not read or write. My students and I made videos about our plan. Once we completed a certain video campaign, we traveled to the local capital and posted it onYouTube. My mother sent them to Bunker Roy and Barefoot College
Barefoot College saw videos I had made and sent us two invitations to its solar training. This was amazing. Two community women, Mami & Rahama, were elected to go, and for the first time ever they left Togo. They spoke some French, and the local dialect, Coticoli. They flew to Tilonia, India, where Barefoot College housed and fed them for 6 months as they learned the trade of solar engineering.
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(images: Mami & Rahama on the right in both, at Barefoot College)
As our Obama Rap goes:
"Now they're back, and ready to
Power all of, Bougabou
We are so close, we just need funds
Indiegogo, dot com come on!"
Help us raise monies for the solar panels, for 67 homes!!
PS here's my Blog
WHAT WE NEED
The $25,000 wil go straight to Barefoot College who has provided solar power to over 1,100 villages around the world. Every home will receive 3-20w solar panels. The money will also provide the Rural Electronic Workshop, where the new engineers will maintain and repair the panels and equipment and teach others. The village committee will collect money from each household which would have been spent on wood, kerosene and candles. Rahama and Mami will receive a salary.
Watch the interview
after their training.
All donations are tax deductible. Friends of Tilonia, Inc. is a registered US 501(c)3 non-profit organization and accepts donations on behalf of the Barefoot College.
LIMITED EDITION PERK FOR 100. DONATION
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Rahama and Mami photographed by Arvo. Color archival set of images, 4"x 6" unframed.
THE IMPACT
The village currently relies on a combination of wood, kerosene and candles to provide energy for their homes. Once the panels are installed, the villagers will have access to radios, televisions, phones, and internet. They will have lights to continue studies and activities after the sun sets. They will power stoves for cooking and pumps for water.
The community will develop local programming that empowers women and villages to begin sustainable projects that fight global poverty. The entire process will be managed by the Village Solar Committee with an emphasis on women's roles.
Be a part of a project that supports women's empowerment, equal education, sustainable green technology and promotes the end of global poverty.
- Please forward this to friends and neighbors
- Keep Barefoot College in mind for future gifts
- Use the Indiegogo share tools!
- A copy of the latest annual report of Friends of Tilonia, Inc. may be obtained on request from: Friends of TIlonia, Inc., 134 Lincoln Place No 2, Brooklyn, NY 11217 or the New York State Attorney General's Charities Bureau, 120 Broadway, 3rd floor, New York, NY 10271 or the New York State Attorney General's Charities Bureau online registry
www.charitiesnys.com.
