Barli Development Institute for Rural Women
The Barli Development Institute for Rural Women, formerly the Barli Vocational Institute for Rural Women, is an independent, Bahá’í inspired[1] residential vocational school that provides programs for women in the vicinity of the city of Indore, Madhya Pradesh state, India, as well as functioning as a base for outreach and non-residential training centers. Programs focus on literacy, health, nutrition and sanitation, skills useful for generating income, and the importance of environmental conservation. Between 1985 and 2020, the Institute offered 118 training programmes to over 9,000 young women from 900 villages across Madhya Pradesh and elsewhere in India.[2]
History[edit]
Background[edit]
The Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, where the Barli Institute is situated, is one of the least developed states in the country.[3] Though women generally have a lower socio-economic status in India to begin with,[4] conditions in Madhya Pradesh are worse than the national average, with higher levels of maternal mortality, child marriages and violence against women, lower educational attainment, and common sex-selective abortion of unborn girls.[5] The status of tribal women in particular is even worse, with exploitation, violence and neglect being rampant.[6]
Establishment[edit]
The founder of the Institute, Janak Palta McGilligan, initially came to Indore in 1984 as a research fellow from the Centre for Research in Rural and Industrial Development in Chandigarh. On the occasion of a wedding held at the Indore Bahá’í House in June 1984, she met local Bahá’ís Khodadad and Tahirih Vajdi, who encouraged her to come to Indore to start a social and economic development programme for women.[1] Soon afterwards in February 1985, the Indian government approved plans by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of India to open an institute in Indore, and McGilligan was asked to join the project, which she accepted.[7]
The Institute was founded as the Bahá’í Vocational Institute for Rural Women on June 1, 1985.[1][8][9] After visiting the villages to invite trainees, the first training course began on June 19, 1985, being held at the former Indore Bahá’í House with 19 women in attendance. Further training courses were offered each month during the rest of the year. These courses only lasted ten to fifteen days, constrained by the lack of facilities at the Institute as well as the demands of trainees' families.[10] To alleviate these difficulties, the Institute began offering programmes in rural areas closer to the trainees' homes, with programmes offered in Jhabua, Manpur and Kalyanpura from 1986 through 1988. Based on the experience gained from the rural programmes, the Institute decided to target younger women without children, who were freer and generally more enthusiastic about learning, and also to begin offering longer periods of residential training in Indore in order to empower the women more effectively. In order to offer the extended residential training, more appropriate facilities were constructed at the Institute, including a workshop and dormitory complex.[11]
NGO transition[edit]
On Sept. 11, 2001, the institute registered as an independent NGO and dropped the name Baha'i from its formal name.[1][12] The word "Barli" denotes the central pillar which supports the tribal house typical of those areas, highlighting the belief of the institute that women are the central pillars of society. In 2004 the institute began developing regional satellite training non-residential opportunities.[13]
Programmes[edit]
The institute offers a variety of classes arranged around six-month and one year residential programs at its 6-acre (24,000 m²) facilities and three months non-residential at the satellite outreach centers.[13] Programmes include family life skills, environmental education and gardening, literacy in Hindi, public health,[12] and vocational education; some subjects are taught directly and some holistically. Since 1998 the Institute has helped provide and train students to use large solar ovens.[14] There are also "train the trainer" type programs and refresher courses for area coordinators.[13]
Many former graduates work approximately 100 days each year on field visits to conduct awareness raising programmes, recruit women for courses, do surveys and research, and to assist the former trainees to organize women's committees.[15]
Graduate profile[edit]
Trainees of the Institute show significant impacts on their well-being and that of their families. Of graduates surveyed in 2018:[2]
- almost 100% were functionally and practically literate;
- 95% used their new skills to generate income, of which:
- 50% had established small businesses;
- 9% had got jobs;
- the rest were self-employed, waged workers, or were assisting their families on farms or in small businesses;
- 97% regularly used safe drinking water;
- 70% had begun including leafy vegetables in their diets;
- 40% had begun growing and selling vegetables;
Impacts on communities[edit]
Trainees have had significant impacts on the education, health, and overall well-being of their communities, by helping to:[2]
- Increase local literacy rates by 12% overall, and by 24% for women;
- Support former school dropouts to succeed in exams;
- Eliminate guinea worm infestations in collaboration with government programs;
- Increase immunization rates among children from 20% to 60%, for diseases including diphtheria, BCG, measles and polio;
- Enable the surgical treatment of 150 children with cleft palates;
- Decrease infant deaths from 17% to 2.6% through the use of oral rehydration solution.
Trainees also share knowledge and habits gained at Barli with their communities, including brushing teeth, washing vegetables before cooking, covering food, giving up drinking alcohol, and removing barriers of caste prejudice.[15]
Distinctions[edit]
- In 1990, the Institute's literacy methodology was adopted by the University of Leicester.
- In 1992, UNEP included the Institute in the Global 500 Roll of Honour for its work in helping to eradicate guinea worm in over 300 villages in Jhabua District.[16] "...now the district is completely free of Guinea Worms."[17]
- In 1994, the Institute was listed in UNESCO's INNOV database as one of 81 successful basic education projects in developing countries.
See also[edit]
External Links[edit]
References[edit]
Notes[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Barli Institute 2010, p. 54.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "ENGLISH BROCHURE". barli.org. Barli Development Institute for Rural Women. Retrieved 7 April 2025.
- ↑ McGilligan 2012, p. 30.
- ↑ McGilligan 2012, p. 19-26.
- ↑ McGilligan 2012, p. 27-31.
- ↑ McGilligan 2012, p. 31-37.
- ↑ Barli Institute 2010, p. 54-55.
- ↑ Empowering Young Women to Improve Rural Lives - The Story of the Barli Development Institute for Rural Women, Indore, Madhya Pradesh, India. A case study in Bahá'í Development. Prepared by The Bahá'í International Community for The World Faiths Development Dialogue (11 July 2003)
- ↑ bahaindia.org (2003-08-11). "Barli Development Institute for Rural Women". bahaindia.org. Retrieved 2006-09-15.
- ↑ Barli Institute 2010, p. 56–57.
- ↑ Barli Institute 2010, p. 57–58.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 Asha For Education - Barli Development institute for rural women
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 OneWorld SouthEast Asia - Empowering rural women through training
- ↑ Backgrounder: the Barli Development Institute for Rural Women Indore, India 18 November 2002 (BWNS)
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 Barli Vocational Institute for Rural Women (2002-02-17). "Barli Vocational Institute for Rural Women". Archived from the original on 2009-07-24.
- ↑ Global 500 - Adult Award Winner in 1992
- ↑ "The Baha'is - A Profile of the Bahá'í Faith and its Worldwide Community"
Bibliography[edit]
- Barli Development Institute for Rural Women (2010). Silver Jubilee Souvinier: 1985–2010. Indore.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - McGilligan, Janak Palta (2012). The Barli Development Institute for Rural Women: an alternative model of women's empowerment in India. Oxford: George Ronald. ISBN 9780853985587.
