Skip to content
  • Destinations
    • AFRICA
    • BHUTAN
    • BRITAIN
    • CANADA
    • COSTA RICA
    • DUBAI
    • INDIA
    • INDONESIA
    • IRELAND
    • ITALY
    • JAPAN
    • MYANMAR
    • NEPAL
    • PHILIPPINES
    • SRI LANKA
    • THAILAND
    • UNITED STATES
    • VIETNAM
    • UZBEKISTAN
  • Destination Guides
  • India Tours
  • Travel Blog
  • Behind The Dream
  • Resources
BreathedreamgoMobile logo

Breathedreamgo

The transformational travel guide

Responsible tourism and women empowerment in India

by Gaurav Bhan Bhatnagar · March 18, 2018May 22, 2018 This post may contain compensated links. Find more info in my Disclosure Policy.
Table Of Contents
    • How responsible tourism can help lead women empowerment in India
      • Taking a day tour to Barefoot College
      • How they achieve women empowerment in India
      • A shift to responsible tourism
      • If you enjoyed this post, you can….
    • How responsible tourism can help lead women empowerment in India
      • Taking a day tour to Barefoot College
      • How they achieve women empowerment in India
      • A shift to responsible tourism
      • If you enjoyed this post, you can….
women empowerment in India, responsible tourism, Barefoot College, Rajasthan, woman, women, India, sustainable
Woman learning to be a solar engineer at Barefoot College. Photo credit: Gaurav Bhan Bhatnagar.

How responsible tourism can help lead women empowerment in India

A guest post by Gaurav Bhan Bhatnagar of The Folk Tales, an award-winning responsible tourism company operating in India.

From my solo travel experiences in India, I have always noticed that women play a major role in tourism. But often it goes unnoticed because of its very nature. For example, in the case of community-run, responsible tourism projects in villages, women tend to take up the roles of cooking, cleaning, and other household chores. These chores are of great importance in running a homestay, but do not get the required recognition. While women get the roles of decision making in household chores, they seldom get the same role outside. Which is why we need women empowerment in India.

According to a study by UNWTO, women make up majority of the tourism workforce in this world, irrespective of the geographical region.

It was a pleasant surprise when I visited Barefoot College in Tiloniya village, Rajasthan, which was founded by Bunker Roy in the year 1972. Women from more than 70 developing nations — from South Asia, Middle East, Latin America, and Africa — are trained as solar engineers over a six-month course. Every year, more than 50 women participate in this course, which is led by female teachers from the local villages. The goal is to use time tested village wisdom and knowledge to evolve village-based solutions in the areas of solar power, waste paper recycling, and rain water harvesting.

After completing the course, women have gone back to their villages in Afghanistan, for example, and electrified the houses for the first time. Barefoot College is creating success stories.

“I have only studied till class six. I don’t know how to read and write. But we teach women how to design circuit boards for solar lanterns,” a proud but humble female teacher told me as she kept one eye fixed on her students. I could clearly see how grounded and settled she was as a teacher and as a decision maker in leading the course for students.

women empowerment in India, responsible tourism, Barefoot College, Rajasthan, woman, women, India, sustainable
Woman cooking in a village homestay, Rajasthan. Photo credit: Mariellen Ward

Taking a day tour to Barefoot College

Day tours to Barefoot College are available for people and students who would like to see the campus and learn more about what they do. You will get an orientation of the college and the projects that help empower and teach women and children. The introduction of these tours have opened up a plethora of opportunities for the exchange of ideas between the community and the visitors.

Although Barefoot College is not entirely dependent on tourism for funds, the additional funds through responsible tourism provides opportunities for projects like night schools for children and conservation of indigenous plants of Rajasthan.

Barefoot College keeps alive the primary focus: Women first.

I stayed for two days in the guest house on the campus of Barefoot College. It was a small, clean, and cozy place that runs entirely on solar power. Highly energetic Brijesh Mishra showed me the campus, crafts centre, solar engineer training centre, waste paper recycling unit, and puppet centre.

women empowerment in India, responsible tourism, Barefoot College, Rajasthan, woman, women, India, sustainable
On the street in Bikaner with women and girls of Rajasthan. Photo credit: Mariellen Ward.

How they achieve women empowerment in India

Prashant, a volunteer at Barefoot College told me that Bunker Roy bought old UN reports and recycled the paper to make puppets and dolls that are now used to teach aspects like cleanliness, education, and human rights in villages of Rajasthan — where it is better to communicate through visual cues.

Many people who started working at Barefoot College as children have now grown old. But they are still content and very committed to their work. I call this a real example of retention of talent within the village.

During my visit to Barefoot College, my belief in the ability of responsible tourism to help in the empowerment of women in India was reinforced — though it cannot be executed in isolation. It is just one pillar of the many required for the sustainable development of humanity and for women empowerment in India.

In 2015, the United Nations, along with the participating nations, adopted 17 Goals for Sustainable Development. Goal number five is about Gender Equality through various actions, one of which is active involvement of women in decision making in the responsible tourism sector.

women empowerment in India, responsible tourism, Barefoot College, Rajasthan, woman, women, India, sustainable
Women of Rajasthan. Photo credit: Mariellen Ward.

A shift to responsible tourism

There is a gradual but visible shift in the way people are travelling now. I clearly see that the new trends in travel are about reaching out to cultures, nature, traditions, and to the local people. This is not entirely achievable without active involvement of women in responsible tourism. Involving women corresponds to helping them in employment, promoting fair market for local goods produced in cottage industry, and in eliminating any discrimination.

India is a diverse country, which is mostly noted for its patriarchal society where men are in authority over most aspects of society. Rajasthan finds a special mention when we talk about a society with strong patriarchal roots in India. Barefoot College is not only a shining example of gender equality in Rajasthan, but also a guiding light for many such possible projects in other parts of India.

I believe that amidst all the negativity projected by media, examples like that of Barefoot College need to be brought forth through responsible tourism.

How to reach Barefoot College: Tiloniya is approximately 14 kilometres from Kishangarh and 50 kilometres from Ajmer in Rajasthan. Superfast trains going to Ajmer stop briefly at Kishangarh from where you can either take a private taxi or a government bus to Tiloniya.

women empowerment in India, responsible tourism, Barefoot College, Rajasthan, woman, women, India, sustainable
Women in India. Photo credit: Gaurav Bhan Bhatnagar

If you enjoyed this post, you can….

Get updates and read additional stories on the Breathedreamgo Facebook page.

Follow Breathedreamgo on Instagram.

Follow Breathedreamgo on Twitter.

 

Related Posts
India, travel, tour, small group, Exodus Travels, Exodus, woman, women, solo, tiger, tigers, safari, advice, tips, travel tips, responsible travel, responsible tourism, sustainable

How to thrive on a small group tour

View Post
tiger, tigers, India, Madhya Pradesh, safari, Exodus Travels, tour, travel, wildlife, animal, park, tiger reserve, Pench, Bandhavgarh, Kanha, sustainable, responsible

Exodus Travels Land of the Tiger tour of India

View Post
painting of Mirabai Indian woman poet singer mystic Rajashtan

Walking in the footsteps of Mirabai

View Post
About Mariellen Ward

Professional travel writer Mariellen Ward is the founder of award-winning Breathedreamgo. Mariellen has a BA in Journalism and has been travel writing and blogging since 2005. She has won many awards, including a National Tourism Award from Incredible India Tourism, and writes for some of the world’s leading publications including BBC Travel and NatGeo Traveller India.

Breathedreamgo is an award-winning travel site published by Canadian travel writer and India travel expert Mariellen Ward. Breathedreamgo was launched in 2009 and focuses on transformative travel, travel in India, travel in Canada, responsible travel, and solo female travel.

Search

Newsletter Form Sidebar

Sign up for BREATHEDREAMGO DISPATCHES and get inspiration to live your travel dreams.

Sign up now and get a free copy of SONG OF INDIA.


Plan your dream trip to India!

Enquire about INDIA FOR BEGINNERS custom tours from BreatheDreamGo

Plan Your Trip

Featured by

Related Posts
India, travel, tour, small group, Exodus Travels, Exodus, woman, women, solo, tiger, tigers, safari, advice, tips, travel tips, responsible travel, responsible tourism, sustainable

How to thrive on a small group tour

View Post
tiger, tigers, India, Madhya Pradesh, safari, Exodus Travels, tour, travel, wildlife, animal, park, tiger reserve, Pench, Bandhavgarh, Kanha, sustainable, responsible

Exodus Travels Land of the Tiger tour of India

View Post
painting of Mirabai Indian woman poet singer mystic Rajashtan

Walking in the footsteps of Mirabai

View Post
Filed under: Responsible Travel, IndiaTagged under: India, Rajasthan, Travel, women, woman, responsible tourism, women empowerment in india, Barefoot College
About Mariellen Ward

Professional travel writer Mariellen Ward is the founder of award-winning Breathedreamgo. Mariellen has a BA in Journalism and has been travel writing and blogging since 2005. She has won many awards, including a National Tourism Award from Incredible India Tourism, and writes for some of the world’s leading publications including BBC Travel and NatGeo Traveller India.

Sign up for my newsletter and get
inspiration to live your travel dreams

Newsletter Form Page

Work with us

  • Work with us
  • Media kit
  • Testimonials

More information

  • Contact us
  • About Breathedreamgo
  • About Mariellen
  • Disclosure and Privacy Policy

Newsletter

Newsletter Form Footer

Copyright © 2024 Breathedreamgo
Site by Assistant

We use cookies to give you a better web experience and assume you're on board if you continue browsing this site. To find out about our cookie policy, please visit our Disclosure and Privacy Policy page. Accept Reject
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT