Rajasthan-based Barefoot College International gets 2022 Presidential Environmental Medal by the President of the Republic of Guatemala

The 2022 Presidential Environmental Medal by the President of the Republic of Guatemala was presented to Rajasthan-based Barefoot College International for its environmental work in Guatemala. This award was last presented in 1992. The award is a testament to the dedication and efforts of civil society in training women in solar electrify in rural Guatemalan communities.

CEO of Barefoot College International, Rodrigo Paris joined the ceremony by two of ‘Solar Mamas’. Juana Emelia de León Marcos is an indigenous Guatemalan woman who trained as a Solar Engineer in India in 2020 and has since become a Solar Master Trainer, training a dozen rural women from Guatemala to bring solar energy to isolated communities in the most vulnerable and isolated areas of the country.

She was joined by Rosenda Francisca García, a semi-illiterate woman who lost her husband early this year and finished the first training solar program in Guatemala last week. She will provide light to more than 34 houses in her community, Cumbre de La Botija, next month.

During the medal presentation, President Giammattei praised Barefoot College International civil society for its work with rural women, and for the generation of energy to transform lives. He also expressed a desire to expand this model to more locations in Guatemala.

This award comes just months after Barefoot College International opened new centre in Guatemala, located in the village of Batzul, Quiché. Last week, first Solar Engineering training programme concluded at the centre, for rural women between the ages of 19 and 69.