Training Programmes
Barli Development Institute
for Rural Women Indore.
Empowerment of Rural and Tribal Women of through training them in overall life skills. The
Institute conducts two residential courses of six months duration each year for community
volunteers charging only examinations fees, boarding and lodging are free to the trainees.
The present courses of 6 months duration started in January 1999. Earlier training courses
were for 3 months and sometime less.
In addition, during every training course a 3 day development orientation and gender
sensitising training for the parents and guardians of the trainees is conducted.   
From time to time the Institute carries out short term course and workshops for women's
groups and Gram Panchayat (Village Government) members etc. on subject like gender
sensitisation, importance of development of Girl Child, village and rural health and hygienic,
women's reproductive health, and various other sustainable development subjects and
training of trainers in most of the subjects listed below.  
This is a edited version of a page from the old Geocities Web
(www.geocities.com/bvirw)  Site, some updated information has
been added
Each Morning between 7:00am and 9:00am the trainees and staff
work in the garden and cleaning the building and surrounding areas,
they learn how to maintain the garden,
They also learn how to grow  vegetables and fruits, and how to
maintain soil fertility,  better methods of irrigation, different
methods of composting including vermi composting, raise and
maintain nurseries and other methods of plant propagation and
growing other crops on a larger scale for storage such as potatoes,
onion and garlic, different pulses, grains and grams, peas and
beans, spices including turmeric and chilies.
They learn to prepare and raise tree nurseries and flower gardens, transplanting same,  water, soil and energy
conservation.
The institute gardens include fruits trees like guava, mango, lemons and limes,  jamun, mulberry and many other fruits
i.e.  banana, papaya, almond, tamirin
All the ingredients for the Institute's meals with exception of wheat, rice and salt etc. Are provided for by the
garden, all vegetables are harvested just prior to cooking.
Gardening and Horticulture
Personality Development is a combined effect of the training in the class, and their life styles at the Institute,  
behavior of the Institute staff, volunteers and the other people who interact with them and their overall exposure in
a peer group learning atmosphere. The curriculum of personality development includes to train them to conceive
something, visualise, plan, organise, make action plans, become conscious decision makers, implementation and
sharing their successes with others.
Personality Development
Important part of it is to develop leadership skills, taking
initiative by recognising their purpose in life as, equal
human beings, importance of role of women in developing
 society, respecting and reinforcing the value of their
culture.
Institute tries to inculcate in them scientific temperament
and spirit of inquiry, foster ethical values like freedom
from prejudices of all kinds, to encourage children's
education, especially the girl child, human values and
virtues.
They are trained to become sensitive to social development issues, work is worship and service is prayer, foster
love, peace and unity, discuss social issues and act to solve them, mobilising and developing local resources,
financial and human.
They also learn to recognise their self worth, self esteem, and develop self confidence founded in the principle of
consultation in all matters, they learn communication techniques, how to consult, in decision making and problem
solving, how to take part in group discussion,  learn how to listen, learn how to speak and address an audience
and how to report.
The empowerment of women in not
possible without literacy.
Though literacy is incorporated in all
subjects,  formal literacy  classes take
place each day  between 11:00am and
12:00 noon and 5:00pm and 6:00pm. The
level of their literacy is raised from
illiteracy to the level of being able to sit a
National Open School theory exam at the
end of the six month course.
The Institute provides each trainee with
basic literacy in Hindi to enable her to
understand herself and the world in which
she lives.
Literacy
This enables her to assume responsibility for finding solutions to personal problems and to take positive action in
the context of a changing society. She learns to read, write and understand simple forms, notices, messages,
letters, signs and simple books. She learns numeracy and simple arithmetical calculations and the measurement of
length, weight and time
All subjects at the Institute are taught holistically, i.e, interwoven with literacy. For example, in learning gardening
the women learn to count the tools, trees and fruits, to weigh them and to write their names. In health instruction,
they learn to write the names of different diseases, preventive measures, to take body weight and height. They
learn to understand and record time for immunizations and for pre- and post-natal care. The newly learned Hindi is
immediately put to use in measuring cloth and the size of person for whom the garment is being made, making
patterns, cutting and stitching according to measurements.
Trainees learn through practical experience to write a
receipt, calculate stock, estimate costs, count cash and
give change. They also learn to approach a bank or a
local government official for the purpose of applying for
loans.
To prevent them from falling back into illiteracy, they are
encouraged to write postcards to the Institute. All the
news, views and stories of the graduates, plus some
educational messages, are published in a monthly
newsletter, "Barli Ki Dunia" (World of Barli), which is
sent to all the graduates from the Institute.
The most promising trainees are encouraged to continue their education through the National Open School system.
Health and Hygiene
The curriculum in health and hygiene is
designed to provide the skills and develop
the potential of the trainees and their
communities to deal with health problems
by preventive measures and practical
solutions. Trainees learn personal and
home hygiene and sanitation, child care and
nutrition, the prevention of water-borne
diseases, the value and importance of
immunization and pre and post natal care,
caring for the sick or elderly, the damaging
effect of alcohol and domestic violence,
and the basics of waste management.
Trainees learn to replace superstitious
practices with medical care from qualified
doctors.
Training in caring for the mother and child includes,
to train them in cleanliness, massage, clothing etc.
breast feeding, weaning, nutrition, immunization,
precautions against home accidents, treatment,
management of low birth weight, The value of
registration of birth and death, and knowledge of
child diseases, causes, precautions and treatment.
Mother and Child Care
In the villages where most of the trainees come from,
there is very little or no access to Pre and Post Natal
Care, more than 80% of all deliveries take place in the
home, and are assisted by poorly or untrained, so
called mid wives (even men), there are a lot cultural
and social practices i.e. cutting the umbilical cord
with an arrow or sickle. It is for this reason that a
there is an very strong emphasis on this subject  
during their training at the Institute.
Pre and Post Natal Care
The trainees are trained in taking care of a pregnant woman, physiology of conception, symptoms of
pregnancy, social practices relating to pregnancy, care for pregnant including immunisation, check ups,
problems expected during pregnancy, how to identify emergencies, solutions, preventions like which food,
importance of rest, dealing with family and the social environment, and preparing for delivery.
Post natal care involves training in safe delivery, immediate care for the new born, tying and cutting the
umbilical cord, handling and disposal of the placenta, immediate care for the mother, hygiene, breast feeding,
importance of becoming a mother, and the responsibility of becoming a mother, and the role of the family
One of the significant component of the Institute's
curriculum is "Caring for the Environment' as a
spiritual responsibility which is taught in theory
focused on environment and sustainable
development, care for the environment as service
to the community, valuable source of home and
natural remedies. Value of indigenous knowledge,
focused on educating them on the importance of
healthy environment and to care for land, water,
animals and forest.
Care for the Environment
In practical they learn to raise tree nurseries, planting, maintaining  and
protecting trees, learning about the sources of buying seeds, plants,
learning about energy conservation, techniques like composting, vermi
culture, water, soil, reuse of biodegradable and other products, i.e. waste
management etc.
Institute has had a policy developed over the years of what we call 'near zero waste', all biodegradable
material is either composted or recycled.
All bathroom, washing, kitchen and sewerage water are separated at source, and after treatment are used in
agriculture.
A selected portion of farm waste is mixed with waste paper to make briquettes to be used as a fuel when it
is not possible to cook with solar cookers.
In 1998 a 7.5 square meter Parabolic Solar  
cooker is installed at the Institute, Now for
approximately  250 days in a year 80 percent of
the all the day, cooking is done on this cooker.  
According to data collected at the Institute we
can save up to 3 Kilos of cooking gas or 24 kilos
of wood per day by using his solar cooker,  The
Students are shown the value and saving benefits
to the environment and their time through the
practical use of solar cookers, and are
encouraged to propagate the use all types of
solar cookers and other energy saving devices in
their villages.
Solar Cooking and Vegetable Drying
Above: The first Solar Kitchen In 1998
Left: The Solar New Kitchen in 2001
On 28th November 2003 Heike Hoelt from Solare Brüke came to the Institute to train the staff of the Institute
and some village fabricators how to build the Scheffler solar cookers. Training lasted for approximately 6
weeks.
During this time we learned how to and built all the jigs and fixtures required to manufacture the 10 square
metre parabolic reflector, and built and set up one complete reflector. We also learned how to cut and fix the
glass mirrors very accurately.
After the training by Solare Brüke, Barli has
started manufacturing Scheffler solar
cookers for other NGOs.
With the help of Gadhia Solar Systems a
large kitchen of five 10-metre parabolic
dishes has been installed in a school for 500
tribal children in Jhabua District, Madhya
Pradesh. A specially designed solar kitchen
has been set up in an orphanage in Indore.  
A kitchen with 4 dishes designed for
cooking for 300 children in a remote area of
Dhar district is almost complete
As the trainees saw this use of sun for cooking they kept asking how we could also use the sun for cooking in
our homes. At a request from our ex-trainees we took 3 different types of solar cookers to the villages and
demonstrated how they can use solar cookers in the villages. As a result the Institute started manufacturing
small parabolic SK 14 parabolic solar cookers invented by German scientist Dr.Seifert. During the training
programme at the Institute, those trainees who are willing to pay a percentage of the cost and learn to cook,
take the cooker home with them after training. As result we were able to start a process of use of solar
cookers in the rural areas where the need for the use of non-conventional energy is greater and the fuel wood
is more difficult to obtain. PLAGE in Austria is funding this project. Solar cooking is firmly established in
remote villages of Madhya Pradesh.
Data collected from users shows that other than having healthy environment and saving time, money and
energy, women feel much safer. When collecting wood from remote forests they regularly face sexual abuse
from forest officials and others.
In many cases it has proved to be gender-friendly also as the cookers are so ornamental that men like to cook
At the time of writing, the Institute has supplied more than 350 SK14 and K14 solar cookers to the rural
villages.
We were very pleased when Dr. Deiter
Siefert and his wife Imma along with
Deepak and Shirin Gadhia visited the
Institute and spent four days with us.
Their time was spent very constructively
with Dieter and Deepak teaching the
trainees and rural women how to build
the K14 parabolic cookers and showing
us some of the finer points in
engineering. Imma and Shirin were very
busy teaching the trainees and others
baking cakes, biscuits and other snacks.
Solar Kitchen in Dattiguan
Dieter Siefiert with trainees
Solar drying of vegetables and spices.
For the last one year all surplus vegetables and spices are being dried in
specially designed low cost solar tunnel driers for use later when most
vegetables are in short supply.
Herbs, spices and fruits and also being dried in this way.
Low cost solar tunnel driers
Crop of lintels growing at Barli