An illiterate low-caste woman named Chota Devi, who never attended a day of school, is hunched over a circuit board, learning to make solar-powered lanterns and install solar lighting systems at India's Barefoot College. It means illiterate, low-status villagers like Chota can earn a decent living as they bring solar power to communities without reliable electricity. Bunker Roy, now 77, started the college after moving to Tilonia in 1972, putting technology skills in the hands of the least educated and most scorned people. With funding from foundations, donations and the Indian government, the college also runs literacy classes, health campaigns, a water resources department, study centers and a sanitary pad factory. The Indian government brings women from Africa and elsewhere to study solar engineering and then return home to bring electricity to their villages.

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