Tilonia - Artisans of India
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Women of Barmer
The Social Work Research Centre of Dhanau, a small village in the Barmer district of western Rajasthan, works with 300 women artisans who earn income from their needlework.
Barmer Applique
Barmer applique was traditionally sewn on bedspreads of black or brown bases. Motifs were almost entirely inspired by nature: trees, leaves, flowers and animals. Women in six villages in Rajasthan produce these appliques. An elaborate bedspread may take nearly a month to complete.
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Contribute
Friends of Tilonia, Inc. is a US-based, tax-exempt 501(c)3 non-profit organization which helps support the rural development programs of the Barefoot College and its charitable affiliates in India.Your contributions are tax deductible in the US and 100% of your contribution goes directly to the support of these Barefoot College development programs. You may provide general support to FOT, or select the specific program you would like to support by clicking on the "contribute" button for that program.
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| Your financial support will help Friends of Tilonia, Inc. to train and support staff of the Barefoot College to manage the Tilonia store via the Internet, and expand sales efforts in the U.S. through operation of the online store and other sales and marketing activities. You will help support the rural artisans of Tilonia. | |
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| Since 1972, the Barefoot College has developed its own brand of "barefoot photography." Created by villagers who had no formal photographic education, the Barefoot Photographers of Tilonia documents the life of Tilonia from the villagers' perspective. This collection of photographs has been exhibited in Paris, London, Jaipur, Delhi, and at Expo2000 in Germany. Your contribution will help bring this exhibition to the US. | |
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| The success of the "barefoot" approach is based on community commitment. Before solar electrification of the village, the whole village must agree to pay a monthly contribution for the repair and maintenance of the solar power, and to select the poorest, semi-literate, unemployable person who has roots in the village to be trained as a barefoot solar engineer. You will help the Barefoot College to train barefoot solar engineers to solar-electrify their villages in India, Afghanistan, Bolivia, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Mali, Sierra Leone and The Gambia. | |
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| The Night Schools of the Barefoot College expose rural children to the concept of democracy and the importance of elections, citizenship and leadership. Every 3 years, 4000 night school children between the ages of 6 to 14 elect a Prime Minister and a Cabinet of Ministers. For over a decade, the 150 night schools have been jointly managed, supervised and administered by a children's parliament and the village education committee. You will help support the Children's Parliament. | |
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| The majority of rural children in India do not have the time to attend school in the morning. They help their families by tending farm animals, fetching drinking water, collecting firewood. The night schools were started in 1975 to provide a learning environment for these children. Since 1975, over 50,000 children have attended the Barefoot College's night schools. You will help train barefoot teachers for the night schools. | |
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| In desert regions where wells have gone dry, the only long term cost-effective solution for providing water for drinking and sanitation, is to collect rainwater from the rooftops. Rain is funneled from school rooftops into water-proofed underground tanks. Rainwater can be collected at 10 cents per liter. For the cost of one drilling rig to futilely dig deeper and deeper wells, it is possible to collect 12 million liters of rainwater in 100 schools and give employment to 1000 people for 4 months. You will help build rainwater harvesting systems. | |
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