Some of the world's poorest people live in India's remote villages. They receive no formal schooling and are often considered hopelessly uneducable by the urban elite. As a result, they live without electricity, safe drinking water, and other basic services many of us take for granted, or they must depend on outside "experts" to provide these things. Bunker Roy's Barefoot College dispenses with the formal reading, writing, and official degrees of other colleges, and instead teaches the practical skills that allow the rural poor to develop their own villages. Roy takes the intelligence and capabilities of the rural poor seriously, and believes illiteracy need not be a barrier to practical, sophisticated knowledge and self reliance. In 2002, Roy received The Tech Museum Award for Education for this work to help India's poor take control of their own technology needs. Since winning the Award, Roy has extended The Barefoot College's programs, training a growing number of female solar-power engineers. And the Barefoot approach to development has spread across India and around the world.

After he received his formal college education, Bunker Roy began building wells for the rural poor in Rajasthan. In his first five years of living and working in the villages, Roy explains that his "real education started." The urban elite often considered the villagers uneducable, but Roy realized that they possessed tremendous knowledge and skills. The village experts-the midwives, water diviners, and bonesetters-drew from wisdom and capabilities beyond what one learns in a typical classroom. As Roy explained, these are "people with grit, determination, and the amazing ability to survive with almost nothing." They live "a hard life with grace, and dignity, and self respect."

Roy became convinced that one of the biggest threats facing the so-called "backward" rural villagers was the formally educated people intending to "develop" them. Experts may have deep theoretical knowledge, but they lack practical experience of rural realities. It was clear that the villagers should not have to depend on these outside experts-they were competent, and better served by learning practical skills and developing their own technology infrastructures. In 1972, Roy's inspiration led him to found The Barefoot College.

The Barefoot College is a radical departure from the traditional concept of a "college." Rather than reading, writing, and formal degrees, The Barefoot College prizes the kind of education one absorbs from family, community, and experience. The College confers no degrees, and all members, regardless of class, education, or caste, are considered equal. Classes take place at night in the villages so young people can still look after their animals and fields during the day. And the education is entirely practical-many of the students become health workers, engineers, accountants, and teachers who serve their own communities.

Unlike the paper-qualified urban experts sent to help them, Barefoot-educated professionals focus on local decision-making and grassroots development. As one Barefoot College staff member explains, "It is Gandhian. Like Mahatma Gandhi we do believe power resides in the poor. They have dignity but do not have opportunities. We are harnessing human potential." By giving the rural poor access to practical knowledge, The Barefoot College demystifies technology and puts it in the hands of villagers themselves.

To date, Barefoot professionals have helped bring solar electricity to over 200 remote villages in seven states across India, fulfilling such basic needs as lighting and heating. In this capacity alone, The Barefoot College has improved the quality of life of more than 80,000 people.

The philosophies of the College have done more than bring practical technological advancements; they also empower villagers, especially women. As one female Barefoot engineer explained, her husband and in-laws were first unhappy with her pursuit of education and grassroots activism, but they soon came to respect her work: "My husband will never say it, but I know he's very proud of me. Now he asks me to maintain his accounts for him!" Another female scholar explains, "I now look back at my childhood when I always dreamt of doing something big for my society. My mother used to laugh at me. Today my family, my neighbors, and even the village elders respect me and value my contribution. It feels wonderful."

In 2002 Roy received The Tech Museum Award for Education for helping to put complex and powerful technologies into the hands of the rural poor. Winning the Award, Roy explains, helped raise the profile of the Barefoot approach to a global level, especially among development experts. Already, the Barefoot approach to solar electrification of villages has been adopted by the Asia Development Bank to be replicated in Afghanistan and Bhutan. Similar movements are spreading through Sierra Leone, Senegal, and Ethiopia. And funds from The Tech Award came at a critical time for The Barefoot College-there was a strong move to educate more women as solar power engineers, but also significant resistance from many men in the villages. The funding helped support training programs in spite of opposition, and to train women in some of the most remote villages of India.

Today Roy's mission continues. He works tirelessly to open technology to those who need it to change their lives. By spreading expertise, and bringing installation, repair, and maintenance of vital technologies to the village level, The Barefoot College empowers people to build their own thriving communities.