We are partnering with Barefoot College International to support the training of 10 rural indigenous Guatemalan women to become solar engineers and their participation in their Enriche curriculum aimed at nurturing their self-esteem and entrepreneurialism.

Barefoot College International's mission is focused on increasing the economic mobility of women and girls in marginalized communities around the world by making vocational and educational opportunities accessible to them. This aims to ensure they have the skills and knowledge to be a catalyst for change to benefit herself, her family, and her wider community.

The "Solar Mama" initiative demystifies technology and trains women and girls from marginalized rural areas to become solar engineers. No education or illiteracy is no barrier as the training program uses alternative communication skills such as sign language to transfer knowledge. Upon completing the program, the trainees will be able to assemble and install solar home lighting systems in their villages and maintain them.

We think this is a brilliant initiative. We are raising funds to support the training of 10 indigenous Guatemalan women from poor rural villages, including paying for their training materials, resources, accommodation, and their trainer's fees. Beyond the solar engineer training, the women will also participate in the college's Enriche program, which aims to improve their self-esteem, financial literacy, and micro-entrepreneurial skills, so they will go forth and prosper.

Let's light up these women's minds and light up communities. Please help these women prosper by becoming agents of change and supporting Solar Mamas today!

We are partnering with Barefoot College International to support the training of 10 rural indigenous Guatemalan women to become solar engineers and their participation in their Enrich curriculum aimed at nurturing their self-esteem and entrepreneurship. 

Guatemala City, Guatemala

Barefoot College

Solar Mamas - Guatemala 

Barefoot College International is committed to empowering women in underdeveloped communities through technical education and training to become solar engineers or “solar mamas.” BCI works with rural communities in 93 countries globally, with Regional Training Centers on multiple continents to facilitate more localized solar engineering and livelihood training. Barefoot campuses are in India, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Burkina Faso, Senegal, Tanzania, Zanzibar, Madagascar, and Fiji. Guatemala’s regional center is set to open this year, where we will be working!

Since BCI started, 2,200 women have been trained as solar engineers, and 18,000+ households have installed solar home lighting systems. Solar Mamas light up the world, one village at a time! Give your Mite and support women in Guatemala to become solar engineers so they may bring back a clean, renewable source of energy to their villages. 

February Update

Lack of education and illiteracy are no barriers for our partner Barefoot College in Latin America. Their solar engineer programs are designed especially for women who have not had any formal education, often using pictures and sign language to teach. 

Research has shown women suffer from the effects of climate change disproportionately and have the least access to education, healthcare, and work. 

Barefoot found that once men received proper solar engineer training, they would move to another city, looking for better opportunities. They knew that things had to change to make their projects more sustainable and fruitful for everyone. So they decided to start training women, specifically mothers and grandmothers, who became known as "solar mamas." Once trained, they took their skills back to their communities, sharing their knowledge with family and neighbors.

Our partner wants to nurture women as ideal leaders for transformative rural development because they have the most to gain and share. By placing complex technologies like solar energy in the hands of rural women, communities have the potential to shift towards a brighter, sustainable, and electrified future. 

Partner Insight: Barefoot College

Since 2014, Barefoot College Latin American has trained 142 women from 67 communities in 21 countries to become solar engineers, providing light to over 3,000 households. 

Globally, 1.6 billion people do not have access to electricity. More than 75% of those people are located in rural areas and are often indigenous, who are cut off from grid power due to cost or their remote location. 

Barefoot’s 5-month Solar Mama training program is a tool for women's empowerment. Despite the complexity of solar engineering, this program has been uniquely built for illiterate or semi-literate women through a system of color-coding, repetition, hands-on learning, and support from Master Trainers with similar backgrounds. 

With these skills, they are fully equipped to bring sustainable energy to their remote communities for years to come. These Solar Mamas light up their world, one village at a time!

April Update

Barefoot College works together with rural communities to establish solar committees and deliver solar engineering training. The program selects eligible women based on the following criteria: between the ages of 35-55, illiterate or semi-literate, without formal education, but with a desire to change their communities for the better. 

In the program, illiteracy is no barrier.  The women recognize the fine details of electrical circuitry by color-coding which enables them to assemble their own equipment and install Solar Home Lighting systems in their villages. They learn through hands-on experience and use alternative communication methods such as sign language to learn and express themselves to others. 

Once they finish the 5-month program, they will return home fully trained and can operate independently. These “solar mamas” are lighting up villages using sustainable, cost-effective methods that they can continue to maintain with minimal impact on the environment. How innovative is that?!

June Update

Barefoot College Guatemala officially opened its doors at the end of April and began training the Solar Mama engineers. Solar Training requires equipment for the hands-on training program and the take-home materials that all the women need to electrify their communities. 
 
The training program will take eight weeks, with the Solar Engineers graduating by the end of November. The additional solar equipment will be available for the women to start the installations by mid-December, and they will be finished by Christmas. This will be a fantastic gift for their communities as they light up 2023!

July Update

Our partner has chosen 12 women to participate in the Solar Training program! All the women are from communities in one of the poorest areas of Guatemala called Huehuetenango. 

Our infield partner met with communities and shared this, "Conversing with widows, single mothers, grandmothers, and teenagers with their babies in their arms. We listened to their gazes, following their silences, respecting their impulses, and contextualizing their comments were magnificent." He explained that it was a deep exercise in sensitizing people to the opportunity of the Solar Mamas and a key investment of their time. 

This month, participants have started their training and will take steps towards a better future for themselves and their families - one that will light up everyone's lives, literally! 

Attached are some photos of the activities that happened in rural Guatemala this week.

Inauguration of 12 women participating in Solar Training program

Woohoo! We're celebrating because 10 Solar Mamas graduated from their class and can officially be called solar engineers. These incredible indigenous Ixil women will now bring renewable energy back to their remote communities, lighting up hundreds of families homes. 

The momentous graduation was attended by several notable people within Guatemala, including Ana Chan, Secretary of Science and Technology of the Vice-Presidency of the Republic, Carmelina Espantzay, Vice-Minister of Education, Manoj Kumar Mohapatra, Ambassador of India in Guatemala, Eduardo Velásquez, member of the Central American Parliament, Arcadio Galindo, director of the Chajulense Association, Byron Román, representative of the World Food Program, and Heliodoro Cumes, from Tejdesa.

Celebrating 10 Solar Mamas graduated in Guatemala!

Cumbre de la Botija, a high-elevation rural village in central Guatemala, is one of several communities that recently received solar home systems, providing clean, renewable light and free cellphone charging. 

Thanks to the hard work of the Guatemalan Indigenous Solar Mamas, families no longer have to rely on candles or wood for lighting. 

We are excited to share our Celebration Story with you in just a few weeks, showcasing the inspiring journeys of these amazing women.

Bringing the Power: Solar Mamas Transform Remote Guatemalan Villages

Ten women — widows, single mothers, grandmothers, and teenagers are now solar engineers & leaders bringing power to their villages. Because of your support, these women have been trained to design, install, and maintain solar panels, providing hundreds of families with access to renewable energy 24 hours a day.

Our partner said it best, “Impacting a woman is impacting a community. Impacting a woman is generating hope for the future of Guatemala.” Thank you for generating hope. Thank you for turning on the lights.