Do you think this is participatory development at its best? I definitely see the power of local knowledge, representation, a people-centered approach, and local as well as global partnerships coming together under one solar panel covered roof!
Bunker Roy on the "Barefoot College"
http://youtu.be/6qqqVwM6bMM
Bunker Roy on the "Barefoot College"
http://youtu.be/6qqqVwM6bMM
This is a true testiment of how participatory development can change a community on a multitude of levels, what an inspirational story.
ReplyDeleteWow Rudy, thank you for this video! I keep telling myself I need to subscribe to the TED channel and I still haven’t. This time I'm going to have to totally overcome my laziness and get on it! They have such a wealth of information, and so many videos that make me proud of humanity.
ReplyDeleteThis man puts a whole new meaning to development from within, without leaning on the wisdom from outside; after all no particular group of people can ever claim to be wisdom’s sole depositary! Like a proverb in Ghana aptly says, “knowledge is like the baobab tree, (it’s a HUGE tree!) and no one person can embrace it all alone.”
To answer your question, I do totally agree that this is participatory development at its best, Rudy. It’s so beautiful to hear him talk about the confidence and strength the community members have gained from their experiences in the barefoot college, it’s amazing what being appreciated and recognized can do for one’s self-esteem!
I am also very impressed by the principles that guide their actions and outputs, by how emphasis is placed more on working with the hands and showing a dignity of labor. Like Mr. Roy said, value is more based on competence, confidence and belief, as well as knowledge and skills, which they deem universal and relevant. Obviously, these principles are derived from the value system of the community itself, and thus would help make the project a more personal and sustainable one.
One portion that really impressed me was the dichotomy between the local knowledge of the elderly men of the village, and the ‘experts’ who were brought in to determine the usefulness of the soil.
This is obviously not the case of someone who does not believe in the value of education, as we know it, as seen in his institution of the night school for the children. Obviously, he depends on the untapped and underutilized local knowledge of the people. It is not about elevating ‘school gained proficiencies’ above all others, the value lies in one being able to access all kinds of expertise and skills that there is, to be able to achieve and maintain the best results.
This is a great video, Rudy, thanks for sharing it. Here is another Youtube video that shows the experiece of the women in particular. This video was made by Barefoot College... enjoy!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_RT8pngx1A&feature=related
Risa
Thank you for your comments Moriah, Betty, and Risa. I especially agree with Betty's statement that a person should have the right to access, utilize, and choose between all sorts of knowledge, expertise, and skills. No knowledge should be deemed superior to another, and likewise no knowledge, local or otherwise, should be deemed inferior. I personally think there is no harm in combining local/indigenous knowledge with external forms of knowledge, especially because in modern times, it has become very hard to distinguish between local, indigenous, external, and global knowledge. All categories inform one another and are constantly evolving.
ReplyDeleteThis talk by Bunker Roy inspires me so much. I agree with everything he says about education, development and women.
ReplyDeleteRoy firstly talked about the response of his mother when he decided to initiate the barefoot program. His mother considered his highly qualified educational background was useless if he did not work at good companies with very good salaries. I think Roy's mother's notion on the considered successful education represented the common understanding of the success persons in most of our current communities. We often blindly follow the global conception of success, and continue the traditions of world unequal economic structure through educations that are aimed merely as responses to the demands of the global markets. Freirians consider this form of education (education as responses to economic and market demands) as dehumanizing process of our human resources.
It is also amazing to see how women themselves create the solar lamps. Although they are illiterate they could produce the technology based solutions for their community problems of lighting. This is in my opinion, is another form of empowering women, having new skills and new experiences make those women feel more confident on themselves, so that they do not feel inferiority towards their male counterparts.