My Barefoot Movement: How I Got the Opportunity
Please start by reading about the actual opportunity.
Connect, reflect, engage. These terms have come to define my past year. Connecting people and ideas in my life has ultimately led me to an opportunity of a lifetime: to learn about the craft of solar engineering from grandmothers in Tilonia, India and to teach the people of Nepal how to become self sufficient through solar energy.
Here is a story of how connecting the dots can lead to the creation of the most beautiful opportunities.
Dot One [Nexis]:
Upon returning from my study abroad program in Hong Kong, I was ready to explore the opportunities of the exploratory tech lab, NEXIS (New Explorations in Information Sciences). As a member of NEXIS, I had to choose one area of technology to explore for the semester. I decided that my focus would be on creating an interactive data visualization that would transform complex data to tell an impactful story. One of the first challenges I faced was choosing a data set to work with.
Dot Two [Power Nepal]:
One night, I ran into a friend of mine from my study abroad trip. He told me about a project he was working on called Power Nepal. Through our very brief conversation, I learned that Power Nepal was creating rechargeable solar energy power stations for villages in Nepal that were affected by the Gorkha earthquake. HOW COOL. He invited me to attend their meeting the next night and without hesitation, I said yes.
Dot Three [AAPIHM]:
The next day, I had a meeting with the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month planning committee. This committee collaborates with organizations all across the community to educate students and faculty about the contributions, histories, and challenges of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. During this meeting, the committee reviewed all of the events that would be taking place in April. While reading the list, I noticed the description for a speaker, Bunker Roy. It read:
I immediately thought of Power Nepal after reading this description and put a note in my planner to connect Power Nepal with Bunker Roy.
Journey of Connecting the Dots
Later that evening I went to the Power Nepal Meeting. I was able to learn more about the organization and they even let me take a look at the S.P.A.R.K. System. The S.P.A.R.K. (Solar Powered Auxiliary Relief Kiosk) system is a portable, renewable energy system that is powered by solar energy. The system is charged through solar panels and the energy is stored in a battery. The system has outlets that can be used to charge/power tools for construction and medical purposes. I asked a lot of questions that night relating to energy capacity. I was very curious about the efficiency of the S.P.A.R.K. system and how long it would last for different uses. I soon came to realize that there were no data sets from measuring the energy capacity of the system. There were many unanswered “answers”. Leaving that meeting, I felt that I had gained a much better understanding and developed a deeper interest in the organization.
The next night, I had a major brain blast.
What if I connected NEXIS and Power Nepal together? Maybe I could create a data visualization for Power Nepal!
I wanted to create a data visualization that mapped out the direction of sun-rays at a specific time on a given day. All of this would be in relation to where the subject (aka solar panel on S.P.A.R.K.) was positioned. My hope was to create a mechanism that would ensure the system was placed at a specific location at an optimal time in which the sun would be the strongest.
I came up with a whole plan of how I would collect the data, store it and visualize it. I quickly came to learn that the process was not going to be as simple as I thought it would be and that assumptions do not solve anything. Listening to and understanding those who matter most, does.
I realized that a huge aspect of making a difference is connecting and empathizing with people. Human interaction is key. Technology is nothing unless it is connected to humans. The data visualization project I had in mind was not what Power Nepal needed at that specific point. They needed direction.
The rest of the semester consisted of weekly meetings with the Power Nepal founders, Nepalese anthropologists, professors, advisors, mentors…anyone who seemed interested in helping me to think more critically about finding “a problem” to solve/improve. There were many times where I was frustrated with myself. I uncovered various problems Power Nepal was facing, but it didn’t feel like any of my progress was helping the people in Nepal: the people who would actually be using the systems. How do I improve the efficiency of a system if I don’t know what the users are using it for, how long they are using it, and how many people they use it with? These are the questions that I needed to understand and answer in order to move forward.
February Flashback:
I was asked to travel to Nepal to work with the Power Nepal team on my data visualization project. I respectfully declined the offer as I didn’t feel like I had a clear objective for going. I figured I could further educate myself on energy related topics by connecting to different resources on campus. Two months later, I was proposed with the question again. Will you come to Nepal with us? For some reason this time, I didn’t want to immediately say no. The energy and time I had invested in this project was going in a direction, I just didn’t know what that direction was. I had a strange feeling about the events that were going to unfold throughout the next week. I told them I would provide them with an answer by the end of the week (4/22/16).
I scheduled more meetings with mentors and research experts to get their insight on the trip to Nepal. I expressed all of my reservations, frustrations and thoughts to them:
Should I go? Should I not go? I feel like I’ve lost sight of my objectives. I don’t think they need my data analytical skills JUST yet. Maybe I can be of more use to them once they come back and have already deployed their systems.
Maybe my purpose is to find what their purpose is, and figure out how the S.P.A.R.K. system can help them (the people of Nepal)…is this a good enough reason to go? To better understand people?
By Wednesday night, I settled with not going. I didn’t feel 100% confident in my decision, but I left it at that.
February Flashback:
After hearing about my project idea, my NEXIS mentor told me to watch a TED talk by Bunker Roy. The messages in this video challenged me to think about everything differently: education, government, energy, people, technology. I became Bunker Roy’s fan and he became my “virtual” mentor. I took notes on key points from his TED talk and used them to guide me throughout the whole semester.
On Thursday night, I went to see Bunker Roy (Founder of Barefoot College) and Meagan Fallone (CEO of Barefoot College) speak at Maxwell Auditorium. I sat in the very front with my idea notebook open, ready to take in all of the wisdom I could possibly get. Bunker Roy challenged all of the young people in the auditorium with this very question,
“What is stopping a boy or girl from getting on a train and traveling 100 kilometers, any direction, to a village and staying there for a month?”
Starstruck and all, I went up to Bunker Roy after the lecture and introduced myself. I then told him I had an answer to his question. As I tried to get the words out of my mouth, I couldn’t help but tear up. I think all of the emotions I had stored inside of me came flowing out that night…in front of the one and only Bunker Roy. He gave me a hug and told me to go to his event the next evening. “Tell me your answer tomorrow.” He made me promise I’d come to his lecture the next day.
On Friday night, I was once again enchanted by both Meagan Fallone and Bunker Roy’s wisdom. After the event was over, I walked to the stage and he remembered who I was! I expressed my biggest reservation to him (concrete objective) and he reassured me that learning from people was a good objective. “You will find your objective there. Learn from the people who live there.” We conversed a bit more and it was clear that my passion for people was driving me to go. After I came to my decision, he started to turn to another person who was waiting to speak to him. Without thinking, I voiced out my thoughts.
Emily: Wait! Can I tell you what I am doing in Nepal?
Bunker: Go ahead.
I started to tell Bunker Roy all about Power Nepal. After I finished explaining everything, he asked me which village in Nepal I was working in, how far away it was from Kathmandu, when I was going and how long I was staying for. I was prepared to answer all of his questions but I was not prepared for what for what he was about to say next.
Bunker: Come to Barefoot College. Stay for a few days and the grandmothers will teach you.
Emily’s Mind: …oh my goodness…did Bunker Roy just invite me to Barefoot College?! Am I dreaming? Is this real?
Bunker: Come learn from the grandmothers. They will teach you. Learn from them, then you can teach the people of Nepal.
Emily’s Mind: Yes. Yes, this is real.
Emily: There is Barefoot College in Nepal? Will you be there?
Bunker: Yes, of course I will be there.
Emily: During the week of May 20th? You will be there?! Barefoot College!??
Bunker: Yes, yes.
Emily: I can only go for a couple of days though…will that be enough time?
Bunker: Yes, you can still learn a lot. You can learn a lot in a few days. So, are you coming to Barefoot College?
Emily: …yes!
Bunker: You promise?
Emily: Yes, I promise. I will see you there!
I walked out of the auditorium that night, never having felt so confident about a decision in my life. I felt like Bunker Roy understood me, even when I didn’t understand myself. My inspiration just invited me to learn from him for one week. I truly could not believe what had just happened. I sat on the quad for a while that night just looking at the campus. Reflecting on what had just happened, I was so eternally grateful for the people and opportunities in my life.
I awaited Bunker Roy’s response to my email the next day, only to be surprised again. His email listed out the airports that I would need to fly into: Delhi, Jaipur, back to Delhi, Kathmandu. I was confused.
Emily’s Mind: He wants me to go to THE Barefoot College? The first and original Barefoot College where all of the grandmothers fly into from different countries to learn about solar engineering for 6 months? Tilonia. THAT Barefoot College? I thought he was talking about a small Barefoot College branch in Nepal. INDIA? Wow. Alright, India and Nepal! Time to call mom and dad.
Connecting the dots in India and Nepal
There are many integral parts to this story: the organizations I was in, the people who challenged me, the roadblocks, the crazy ideas, supportive mentors, friends, family…the list goes on and on. There were many days where I thought I failed. I hit road block after road block and I still couldn’t figure out a tangible solution to any of the problems I was finding. It’s important to know that failure is only true failure if you don’t learn from it. I think the most important thing right now is that I am motivated to learn about the people who use these systems, explore the problems they face, and work towards finding the answers with anyone and everyone who is willing to join me on this journey. Data is only resourceful if it has human intuition to help elevate it’s impact.
I still think it’s crazy how there are so many connections between the people, events and opportunities in my life. If there is one thing that I have been reminded of again and again this year, it is that the world is one tiny place. I have worked diligently to connect all of these parts together, reflect on what I have learned, and now, I am ready to engage in the best way I can. We are all connected in one way or another. We all have problems to solve. We all have solutions, ideas and wisdom to share. We will all get there together. Off to India and Nepal!
