Today’s program will be presented in Hindi and English, with subtitles in Arabic, Aulacese (Vietnamese), Chinese, English, French, German, Hindi, Hungarian, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Malay, Persian, Portuguese, Russian, Thai and Spanish.

Everywhere in the world, we can observe and be touched by acts of kindness. People from all walks of life, faiths, and cultures extend themselves beyond the call of duty to help others unconditionally. Through their noble deeds, humanity as a whole is elevated.

To commend virtuous actions and encourage more people to be inspired by their examples, Supreme Master Ching Hai has lovingly created a series of awards, including the Shining World Leadership Award, Shining World Compassion Award, Shining World Hero and Heroine Awards, Shining World Honesty Award, Shining World Protection Award, Shining World Intelligence Award, and Shining World Inventor Award, to recognize some of the most exemplary, generous, caring, and courageous people who walk amongst us.

In a solar cooker, you can cook food without any wood.

The joyful voices and laughter of women and girls can be heard in small villages throughout India’s Rajasthan state and in dozens of other countries including sub-Saharan Africa, South America, and Afghanistan.

You need neither gas nor a stove.

A soft glow flickers in the dark night. Youths are gathered together, intently poring over their papers as they are filled with expanding hope. Solar lanterns provide them with light to do their studies. These are the diligent students of Barefoot College’s night schools.

Founded in 1972 by Mr. Sanjit Bunker Roy, Barefoot College was set up with the ideal of providing impoverished rural residents with practical, sustainable skills to better their own lives and benefit their communities. The goal is to empower the most vulnerable people in society with the tools to live productive lives in dignity and self-respect.

People locally who want to learn from each other, interested in doing something for the community’s best. These people are barefoot, who are illiterate, semiliterate local people, the rural women can come and learn from each other together in this place. So this place is a college.

Supported by a group of like-minded professionals, including lawyers, engineers, and doctors, Mr. Roy established the first Barefoot College campus in Tilonia, Rajasthan with a vision that, “… it will not be the training for training’s sake; it would be the view to place young men and women in positions of responsibility in their villages and mobilize their existing potential.” Thus, local villagers are provided with information and training on solar power generation, rainwater harvesting, healthcare provision, and education to become self-reliant citizens.

Bunker Roy, the founder member of the Barefoot College, he said that okay, what can the village people do themselves for their life, how can they can change or how can they improve their life themselves? Local persons have experience knowledge, they have their local knowledge and the professional, they have books knowledge.

In Rajasthan, one of the biggest challenges faced by many of the residents of the arid desert is the availability of drinking water. In 1986, Barefoot College engineers reintroduced the concept of rainwater harvesting to the people of Rajasthan. Rainwater harvesting is an ancient technique which collects and stores rain water to replenish and recharge the water table, this simple yet effective approach ensures adequate supply of clean drinking water for the entire community throughout the drought season. To date, 13 villages now benefit from community piped water supply systems, designed and implemented by the village people.

They start for the drinking water. And slowly, slowly the persons from the city and the persons from the village, they come and join the Barefoot College and they said, “Okay, we want to work for this also.”

Barefoot College also trains local people to be skilled masons who can apply themselves in construction work and the maintenance of water structures. This provides work opportunities and income as well as ensures self-reliance within the village.

I work in my own village and in some other villages as well, I make 960 rupees a month from reparing the pumps. I was trained at the college. In the beginning, it was difficult because I am a woman, but there were other women as well, so that gave me the confidence to do it. It’s an important job, because everybody needs water.

Another initiative of Barefoot College that has resulted in profound transformations for rural communities is the introduction of solar lanterns and solar cookers.

They have a small solar workshop in their village, they can repair, do maintenance, they can buy things from their city, or they can involve the people, by giving the information. This is the way of sustainability and the Barefoot College believes these things and so for the last 35 years, the Barefoot College is sustained through the system.

Operating on solar energy itself, the College trains rural women in less fortunate circumstances as Barefoot Solar Engineers to manufacture, install and maintain solar home lighting systems in their own villages.

I came to Tilonia to learn about solar. After the solar training, they decided to train me in solar cookers.

Within a year, I knew this is the only thing I want to do.

The success of Barefoot College’s solar energy program has garnered international attention, with people from around the globe traveling to India to study its sustainable model.

After these brief messages, we’ll be right back with more about Barefoot College’s social work and the Shining World Compassion Award presentation. Please stay tuned to Supreme Master Television.

Sunlight is enough to cook food in this solar cooker.

It has a mirror, it has a reflector.

It also has a timer, this solar cooker.

Welcome back, gracious viewers, to today’s program featuring the presentation of the Shining World Compassion Award to Mr. Sanjit Bunker Roy, founder and director of Barefoot College in the heart of Rajasthan, India. The organization was initially established to help improve rural living conditions in the village of Tilonia. Since the 1980s, Barefoot College has solved the issue of power shortage for innumerable communities, by generating clean, solar energy from the long daylight hours in the Rajasthani desert.

We have enough sun in Rajasthan and we can use this energy, We train people from Afghanistan, from Ethiopia, Mali, Sierra Leone, Gambia, Cameroon, and Bolivia too.

The implementation of the solar lighting system has opened up new opportunities for working children in remote villages. Night school is yet another important initiative of Barefoot College, which provides evening classes for young people, particularly girls, who have to work during the day to provide for their families.

I stopped going to day school because I have to help my family with the animals. I took a training course in Tilonia, and now I make clothes for my family and my neighbors. The training was very good for me.

Over 250 Barefoot night schools have been set up in 6 Indian states for the benefit of the children. Children attend night school for five years and learn reading, writing and arithmetic while also gaining practical knowledge on various topics of interest. Students from different families and backgrounds gather here to exchange their skills and experiences with one another.

We have some traditional musician with us, which is a young boy. They already learned from their parents, so this is our traditional knowledge and traditional skill.

The villagers share their talents with each other through the Puppet Theater, which serves to provide entertainment while informing its audiences about health issues and education.

We can improvise together, so they can support us through music and we can support them through knowledge. Then we can improvise something and then we can perform puppet play in the village.

So this is both sides, learning and teaching. So we learn from people and we teach to people.

To date, Barefoot College serves over 125,000 students in India and has transformed many rural villages to self-reliant, green communities. Earlier this year, Barefoot College was named as one of the recipients of Sierra Club’s first ever “Green Energy & Green Livelihoods Achievement Award.”

Touched by his loving heart for Impoverished co-citizens, Supreme Master Ching Hai recognized Mr. Sanjit Bunker Roy, founder and director of Barefoot College, with the Shining World Compassion Award. Due to prior Commitments, Mr. Roy was not able to accept the award in person, however, about 500 local villagers, including teachers, students, and staff of Barefoot College were on hand to greet Supreme Master Ching Hai International Association members.

You are Rama, you are Rahim you are Karim, Krishna and Khuda all. You are Wahe Guru himself. You are present in all names (of God)

In addition to the Award, Supreme Master Ching Hai made a contribution of US$5000 to support the constructive work of Barefoot College. Gifts were also presented which included Supreme Master Ching Hai’s #1 international best sellers, “The Noble Wilds” and “The Dogs in My Life.”

Master Ching Hai is a spiritual person, so this is very nice and I think this is very important.

Bunker is our Barefoot College founder. His dream is very large. He thinks every time about poorest of poor. He believed in rural community approaches, mind and opportunity. He thinks if we are give the opportunities to rural community persons, that community persons is very powerful about her knowledge and all his knowledge. So every time Bunker has given that opportunity to the persons. And he is a very great heart person.

On behalf of Mr. Roy, the Headmistress of Barefoot College received the Shining World Compassion Award with utmost gladness.

We give a lot of thanks about the award. I give again thanks on behalf of our director and our Barefoot College.

We are again thanks to Master Ching Hai. We are grateful for the Supreme Master Ching Hai Compassion Award. Such awards encourage us and teach us to face adversities. We give our thanks and gratitude on behalf of Director Mr. Sanjit Bunker Roy and the Barefoot College. Thank you.

The Barefoot College approach has brought about a higher quality of life and greater hope to rural communities all around India as well as other countries. We thank Mr. Sanjit Bunker Roy and all staff of Barefoot College for their uplifting work and ongoing efforts to assist society’s most vulnerable. Heaven bless your noble ideals with fruitful success.

For more information about Barefoot College, please visit:

It was a pleasure having you with us for today’s Shining World Compassion Award series on Enlightening Entertainment. Coming up next is Words of Wisdom, after Noteworthy News. Please keep your dial tuned here to Supreme Master Television. May loving kindness permeate the lives of all beings.