赤腳大學 另一番教育天地

Id like to take you to another world， and Id like to share a 45 year-old love story with the poor， who live on less than one dollar a day. I went to a very elitist， snobbish and expensive school in India， and it almost destroyed me. The whole world was laid out in front of me—everything was at my feet. I could do no wrong. Out of curiosity， I thought， Id like to go and live and work and just see what a village is like.

So in 1965， I went to what was called the worst Bihar famine in India. I saw starvation， death and people dying of hunger， for the first time in my life. It changed my life. I came back home， told my mother， “Id like to live and work in a village.” My mother was stunned.“What is this？ The whole world is laid out in front of you， the best jobs are laid out for you， and you want to go and work in a village？ I mean， is there something wrong with you？” I said， “No， Ive had the best education and it has made me think. I want to give something back in my own way.”

But then， I was exposed to the extraordinary knowledge and skills of the poor， which are never revealed to the rest of society. These skills are never identified， respected or applied on a large scale. I thought Id start a Barefoot College—college only for the poor. I went to this village for the first time. Elders came to me and said， “Are you running from the police？” I said，“No.” “You failed your exams？” They asked.“No” I said. “You didnt get a government job？”They asked. “No.” I said. “What are you doing here？ Why are you here？ The education system in India makes you look towards Paris and New Delhi and Zurich； what are you doing in this village？ Is there something wrong with you that youre not telling us about？” I said， “No， I want to actually start a college only for the poor. What the poor thought was important， would be taught in the college.”

What is a professional？ A professional is someone who has a combination of competence， confidence and belief. A water diviner is a professional. A traditional midwife is a professional. A traditional bone setter is a professional. These are professions that exist all over the world. You find them in any inaccessible village around the world. We thought that these people should come into the mainstream and show that the knowledge and skills that they have are universal. It needs to be used， needs to be applied， needs to be shown to the world outside—that these skills are relevant even today.

So， the college works following the lifestyle and methods of Mahatma Gandhi. You eat on the floor， you sleep on the floor， you work on the floor. There are no contracts， no written contracts at least. You can stay with me for 20 years or leave tomorrow. No one can earn more than$100 a month. If youre looking to make money then dont come to Barefoot College. If you are looking for work and a challenge， come to the Barefoot College. That is where we want you to try crazy ideas. Whatever idea you have， come and try it. It doesnt matter if you fail. Battered， bruised， you start again. Its the only college where the teacher is the student and the student is the teacher. Its the only college where we dont give a certificate. You are certified by the community you serve. You dont need a paper to hang on the wall to show that you are an engineer.

Its the only college which is fully powered by solar electricity—all power comes from the sun. There are 45 kilowatts of panels on the roof and everything will work off the sun for the next 25 years. So long as the sun shines， well have no problem with power. The real beauty of it is that it was installed by a priest， a Hindu priest， whos only done eight years of primary schooling—never been to school， never been to college. He knows more about solar power than anyone I know anywhere in the world， guaranteed.

So this is a decentralizing， demystifying approach for solar-paneling villages， and so far weve covered India， from Ladakh up to Bhutan—these have been made solar-powered villages by people who have been specially trained. We went to Ladakh， and we asked this woman—this， in minus 40°C， you have to come out of the roof， because theres no place， it was all snowed up on both sides—and we asked this woman， “What is the benefit of having solar electricity？” She thought for a minute and said， “Its the first time I have been able see my husbands face in winter.”

We also went to Afghanistan. One lesson we learned in India was that men are untrainable. Men are restless， men are ambitious， men are constantly mobile， and they all want a certificate. All across the globe， there is this tendency of men wanting a certificate. Why？ Because they want to leave the village and go to a city， to look for a job there. So we came up with a great solution： train grandmothers. Whats the best way of communicating in the world today？ Television？ No. Telegraph？ No. Telephone？ No. Telling a woman.

So we went to Afghanistan for the first time， and we picked out three women and said，“We want to take them to India.” They said，“Impossible. They dont even go out of their rooms， and you want to take them to India！”I said， “Ill make a concession. Ill take the husbands along as well.” So I took the husbands along. Of course， the women were much more intelligent than the men. In six months， how did we train these women？ Sign language. You dont choose the written word. You dont choose the spoken word. You use sign language. In six months they became solar engineers. They have gone back and solar-paneled their own village.

We went to Africa， and we did the exact same thing. All these women sitting at one table from eight， nine countries， all chatting to each other， not understanding a word， because theyre all speaking a different language. Yet their body language is great. Theyre speaking to each other and actually becoming solar engineers.

I went to Sierra Leone， and there was this minister driving around in the dead of night and he comes across this village. The minister goes into the village and says， “Well whats the story？” They said， “These two grandmothers…” “Grandmothers？” The minister couldnt believe what he was hearing. “Where did they go？” he said. “Went to India and back，” they said. The minister then went straight to the president and said， “Do you know theres a solar-powered village in Sierra Leone？”The president said， “No.” Half the cabinet went to see the grandmothers the very next day. “Whats the story？”After hearing their story he summoned me and said， “Can you train me 150 grandmothers？” I said， “I cant， Mr. President. But they will， the grandmothers will.” So he built me the first Barefoot training center in Sierra Leone. And 150 grandmothers have been trained in Sierra Leone since.

Ill just wind up by saying that I think you dont have to look for solutions on the outside. Look for solutions on the inside. And listen to people. They have the solutions for you. Theyre all over the world. Dont even worry. Dont listen to the World Bank， listen to the people on the ground. They have all the solutions in the world.

Ill end with a quotation by Mahatma Gandhi. “First they ignore you， then they laugh at you， then they fight you， and then you win.”

我想引領你們去認識另一個世界，想與你們分享一個持續了45年的與窮人締結的“愛情故事”。我所指的這些窮人是那些每天靠不到一美元維持生活的人。我接受過印度的精英教育，這種教育既勢利又昂貴，它差點兒把我毀了。曾經，我的整個世界都已經安排好了，所有的一切都唾手可得。我不可能會走錯一步。然而，出于好奇，我想去鄉村看看，在那兒住，在那里工作，看看村莊里是什么樣子。

因此，在1965年的時候，我去了比哈爾，那里正在鬧饑荒，是印度史上最嚴重的一次饑荒。我生平第一次看到了饑餓、死亡和因饑餓死去的人們。這件事改變了我的一生。我回到家后，對母親說：“我想到村莊里居住和工作?！甭犃宋业脑?，母親簡直要暈了過去?！澳闶窃趺戳?？你的整個世界都已安排好了，最好的工作也安排好了，而你卻要到鄉村去，還要在那里工作？我說，你究竟有哪里不對勁？”我說：“沒有什么不對勁，我接受了最好的教育，它讓我能思考。我想以自己的方式回報社會?！?/p>

當時，我見識到了貧困人民所擁有的超乎尋常的知識和技能，而這些從來都沒有被吸收到主流體系中——從來沒有被認同、被尊重，以及大規模地運用過。于是我想到了要建一所“赤腳大學”——一所只對窮人開放的大學。我第一次去這個村莊。村里的長者們走過來問我：“你是逃犯嗎？” 我說：“不是?！薄澳憧荚嚥患案?？”他們問。我說：“不是?！薄澳銢]有應聘到政府的工作？”他們問。我說：“也不是?！薄澳悄阍谶@做什么？到這里來干什么？印度的教育制度讓你們這些人都朝巴黎、新德里和蘇黎世看齊；你在這個村莊里要做什么？你是不是有什么問題而不愿意告訴我們？”我說：“不是，我是想辦一所只為窮人開放的大學。窮人們認為重要的東西都將在這個大學里面得以體現?！?/p>

究竟哪些人是專業人士？專業人士是那些既有能力、信心，又有信念的人。一個探測水源的人是專業人士。傳統的接生婆是專業人士。傳統的正骨師也是專業人士。世界上到處都有專業人士。你可以在全世界任何一個人跡罕至的村莊里找到專業人士。我們認為這些人應該進入主流社會，并向世人證明，他們所擁有的知識和技能是能廣泛適用的。這些知識和技能應該為人所利用，被人所采納，并展示給外面的世界——即使在今天，這些知識和技能也是可以大有作為的。

于是，赤腳大學成立了，其運作遵循圣雄甘地的生活和工作方式。你得在地板上吃飯，在地板上睡覺并在地板上工作。這里沒有各類合同，至少沒有書面合同。你可以和我呆在一起20年，也可以明天就離開。沒有人一個月可以掙100美元以上。如果你是為錢而來，那么你不要來赤腳大學。如果你是為了工作和挑戰而來，那么歡迎你來到赤腳大學。赤腳大學是一個你可以嘗試瘋狂想法的地方。不管你有什么樣的想法，盡管來嘗試。如果你失敗了，沒有關系。一切打擊受傷，都無所謂，你可以重新開始。這是唯一一所教師即學生，學生即教師的大學。也是唯一一所不頒發學位的大學。你所服務的社區會證明你的價值。你沒有必要在墻上貼一張紙去標榜你是一個工程師。

這是唯一一所完全使用太陽能電力的大學。所有的電能都來自太陽。學校的屋頂上有45千瓦的太陽能電池板。接下來的25年里，一切都靠太陽能驅動。只要陽光明媚，我們就不會有電能的問題。但是，值得一提的是，這些都是由一位祭司，一位印度教祭司安裝的，他只接受過八年的初級教育——從未上過正規的學校，從未上過大學。但我保證，他比我在這個世界上認識的任何人都更懂太陽能。

所以，我們已經將太陽能電力村莊以一種民主推廣、去神秘化的方式覆蓋了從拉達克到不丹之間的整個印度地區——所有這些村莊的太陽能方面的技術支持都是由在赤腳大學里接受過培訓的人來提供。當我們來到拉達克的時候，我們問這位婦女——在零下40攝氏度的時候，你不得不從屋頂上走出來，因為那里沒有地方了，兩邊都被雪壓住了——我們問這位婦女：“你從太陽能發電中得到的好處是什么？”她想了一會兒然后說：“在冬天里我第一次看見丈夫的臉?！?/p>

我們前往阿富汗。在印度，我們得到的一個教訓是：男人實在是“孺子不可教也?！蹦腥藗儾话卜质丶河忠靶牟?，他們的流動性非常強，一心想要一紙證書。在全球范圍內都存在這樣一種趨勢：男人想要一紙證書。為什么呢？因為他們想離開農村去城市里找工作。所以我們想到了一個好辦法：培訓祖母。當今世界上，最好的通信方式是什么？電視？不是。電報？不是。電話？也不是。最好的方式是把信息告訴一個女人。

所以我們第一次前往阿富汗并挑選了三名婦女。我們說：“我們要把她們帶到印度去?！彼麄冋f：“不可能。她們連大門都沒出過，而你卻想把她們帶去印度?！蔽艺f：“我做點讓步吧。我會把她們的丈夫也帶上?！庇谑?，我把她們的丈夫也帶上了。當然，這些婦女顯然比她們的丈夫要聰明得多。在六個月的時間里，我們怎么培訓這些女人？肢體語言。既不選擇書面語也不選擇口頭語，只使用肢體語言。在六個月的時間里，她們可以變成太陽能工程師。然后等她們回家后，她們就能用太陽能照亮自己的村莊了。

我們去了非洲，也做了相同的事情。所有這些婦女坐在一張桌子旁邊。她們來自八、九個國家，都在聊天，彼此聽不懂對方講的話，因為她們都說不同的語言。但是，他們的肢體語言非常豐富。她們聊著聊著，實際上已經成了太陽能工程師。

我前往塞拉利昂，在那兒，一位部長在夜深人靜時駕車四處轉悠——這位部長碰巧路過了這個村莊。部長走進這個村莊，問道：“嘿，這是怎么回事？”村民說：“這兩位奶奶……”“奶奶？”部長不敢相信自己的耳朵?！八齻內ツ膬毫?？”他問?！八齻內ビ《热缓笥只貋砹??！贝迕翊鸬?。這位部長直接把這件事情告訴了總統。部長對總統說：“您知道塞拉利昂有一個被太陽能電力照亮的小村莊嗎？”總統說：“我不知道啊?！比缓蟮诙?，半個內閣的人都來看這兩位奶奶了?！笆虑槭窃趺匆换厥履?？”聽完故事原委后，總統把我叫來，問道：“你能給我培訓150個奶奶嗎？”我說：“總統先生，我不能。但是，這兩位奶奶可以?！彼?，總統在塞拉利昂建起了第一個赤腳培訓中心。150個奶奶已經在塞拉利昂接受了培訓。

最后，我想說，你沒必要去外面尋找解決辦法。就在當地尋找。傾聽人們的建議。他們有解決辦法，且就在你眼前。他們遍布全世界。甚至不用你操心。不要聽世界銀行說的，聽聽腳踏實地的人們怎么說。他們有世界上所有的解決方法。

我想引用圣雄甘地的話來結束我的講話?！白畛?，他們忽視你，接著嘲笑你，然后向你宣戰，但是最后，你會勝利?！?/p>