While visiting Barefoot College, our group heard from two graduated engineering students, Surya and Shashank, who are now working in the surrounding community within Rajasthan on various projects. Surya is working with the construction of modernized toilets and Shashank is working with the construction of a large catchment area for water that will replenish many wells and be primarily used to sustain cattle. They told us about their experiences with the volunteering, the fulfillment they felt, but also some of the frustrations they encountered while trying to get their projects completed.
Barefoot Fellow #1 – Surya
Degree in Mechanical engineering, graduated in 2012, resigned from her job in 2014
Because I was a mechanical engineer, it’s not easy to convince your parents that now I’m constructing toilets. So they say, “Why did you go study so much?” and ”Why did you have to put in effort if you wanted to construct toilets?” So I did not have any idea because at that point in time it was no use trying to explain that you want to go for a cause that makes you happy. Right now there are small moments in my life I feel very grateful that if I wouldn’t be in this situation, I wouldn’t have met so many people. Everybody is concerned about you. Even if you have to go somewhere people ask you if you have money if you need money. There is much love and care.
What advice do you have?
What I followed personally, I would say that you should always follow your heart because if you wouldn’t follow your heart and you would say, “Okay this is what society thinks and I need to do what everyone thinks or what your peers think you should do, if you just follow blindly what they are saying, then inside you will always be unhappy.
You should just follow your heart because you will be happier than if you did not. People who follow their heart are always happier.
I have not used much from my degree because this construction work is quite different than mechanical engineering though I did apply some type of mechanics and you know, science, physics. But apart from that, I would say that more kind of practical things I learned are looking at the ways in which to work and the field knowledge which I got from Barefoot people was very different. You start working thinking “everyone is just standing out in the heat and they’re working,” but I have seen that it gets very hot even to lift a rock and there were times that I was sweating so that at that point in time I would cry myself out. Like, how do these people live, like they work continuously for 10, 15 days at the construction site. It’s not very easy.
Barefoot Fellow #2 – Shashank
I am a mechanical engineer, and in 2013 I quit my job and after that I joined this cycle, volunteer cycle [at Barefoot] for 10 months I worked. And after that I applied for this fellowship.
Why did you decide to leave your job as an engineer?
I was bored. I was working 9 to 9. I did not have any time to read a newspaper. I can’t do anything else. So that’s why I like this fellowship work. The best part is you can go on a vacation and you can choose your project. That is the best part, you go there and you find where they are facing problems. You go to them.
Things never turn out the way you expect them to.
Shashank had to have patience as he got through the language barrier as well as working with the community.
People cannot try to impose their own ideas without considering the limitations.
You can read more about Shashank’s project here.