赤腳大學(xué) 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(lǐng)你們?nèi)フJ(rèn)識(shí)另一個(gè)世界，想與你們分享一個(gè)持續(xù)了45年的與窮人締結(jié)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(guò)印度的精英教育，這種教育既勢(shì)利又昂貴，它差點(diǎn)兒把我毀了。曾經(jīng)，我的整個(gè)世界都已經(jīng)安排好了，所有的一切都唾手可得。我不可能會(huì)走錯(cuò)一步。然而，出于好奇，我想去鄉(xiāng)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(shí)候，我去了比哈爾，那里正在鬧饑荒，是印度史上最嚴(yán)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(duì)母親說(shuō)：“我想到村莊里居住和工作。”聽了我的話，母親簡(jiǎn)直要暈了過(guò)去?！澳闶窃趺戳?？你的整個(gè)世界都已安排好了，最好的工作也安排好了，而你卻要到鄉(xiāng)村去，還要在那里工作？我說(shuō)，你究竟有哪里不對(duì)勁？”我說(shuō)：“沒(méi)有什么不對(duì)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(bào)社會(huì)?！?/p>

當(dāng)時(shí)，我見識(shí)到了貧困人民所擁有的超乎尋常的知識(shí)和技能，而這些從來(lái)都沒(méi)有被吸收到主流體系中——從來(lái)沒(méi)有被認(rèn)同、被尊重，以及大規(guī)模地運(yùn)用過(guò)。于是我想到了要建一所“赤腳大學(xué)”——一所只對(duì)窮人開放的大學(xué)。我第一次去這個(gè)村莊。村里的長(zhǎng)者們走過(guò)來(lái)問(wèn)我：“你是逃犯嗎？” 我說(shuō)：“不是?！薄澳憧荚嚥患案?？”他們問(wèn)。我說(shuō)：“不是?！薄澳銢](méi)有應(yīng)聘到政府的工作？”他們問(wèn)。我說(shuō)：“也不是?！薄澳悄阍谶@做什么？到這里來(lái)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(gè)村莊里要做什么？你是不是有什么問(wèn)題而不愿意告訴我們？”我說(shuō)：“不是，我是想辦一所只為窮人開放的大學(xué)。窮人們認(rèn)為重要的東西都將在這個(gè)大學(xué)里面得以體現(xiàn)?！?/p>

究竟哪些人是專業(yè)人士？專業(yè)人士是那些既有能力、信心，又有信念的人。一個(gè)探測(cè)水源的人是專業(yè)人士。傳統(tǒng)的接生婆是專業(yè)人士。傳統(tǒng)的正骨師也是專業(yè)人士。世界上到處都有專業(yè)人士。你可以在全世界任何一個(gè)人跡罕至的村莊里找到專業(yè)人士。我們認(rèn)為這些人應(yīng)該進(jìn)入主流社會(huì)，并向世人證明，他們所擁有的知識(shí)和技能是能廣泛適用的。這些知識(shí)和技能應(yīng)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(shí)和技能也是可以大有作為的。

于是，赤腳大學(xué)成立了，其運(yùn)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(méi)有各類合同，至少?zèng)]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(méi)有人一個(gè)月可以掙100美元以上。如果你是為錢而來(lái)，那么你不要來(lái)赤腳大學(xué)。如果你是為了工作和挑戰(zhàn)而來(lái)，那么歡迎你來(lái)到赤腳大學(xué)。赤腳大學(xué)是一個(gè)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(lái)嘗試。如果你失敗了，沒(méi)有關(guān)系。一切打擊受傷，都無(wú)所謂，你可以重新開始。這是唯一一所教師即學(xué)生，學(xué)生即教師的大學(xué)。也是唯一一所不頒發(fā)學(xué)位的大學(xué)。你所服務(wù)的社區(qū)會(huì)證明你的價(jià)值。你沒(méi)有必要在墻上貼一張紙去標(biāo)榜你是一個(gè)工程師。

這是唯一一所完全使用太陽(yáng)能電力的大學(xué)。所有的電能都來(lái)自太陽(yáng)。學(xué)校的屋頂上有45千瓦的太陽(yáng)能電池板。接下來(lái)的25年里，一切都靠太陽(yáng)能驅(qū)動(dòng)。只要陽(yáng)光明媚，我們就不會(huì)有電能的問(wèn)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(guò)八年的初級(jí)教育——從未上過(guò)正規(guī)的學(xué)校，從未上過(guò)大學(xué)。但我保證，他比我在這個(gè)世界上認(rèn)識(shí)的任何人都更懂太陽(yáng)能。

所以，我們已經(jīng)將太陽(yáng)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(dá)克到不丹之間的整個(gè)印度地區(qū)——所有這些村莊的太陽(yáng)能方面的技術(shù)支持都是由在赤腳大學(xué)里接受過(guò)培訓(xùn)的人來(lái)提供。當(dāng)我們來(lái)到拉達(dá)克的時(shí)候，我們問(wèn)這位婦女——在零下40攝氏度的時(shí)候，你不得不從屋頂上走出來(lái)，因?yàn)槟抢餂](méi)有地方了，兩邊都被雪壓住了——我們問(wèn)這位婦女：“你從太陽(yáng)能發(fā)電中得到的好處是什么？”她想了一會(huì)兒然后說(shuō)：“在冬天里我第一次看見丈夫的臉。”

我們前往阿富汗。在印度，我們得到的一個(gè)教訓(xùn)是：男人實(shí)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(dòng)性非常強(qiáng)，一心想要一紙證書。在全球范圍內(nèi)都存在這樣一種趨勢(shì)：男人想要一紙證書。為什么呢？因?yàn)樗麄兿腚x開農(nóng)村去城市里找工作。所以我們想到了一個(gè)好辦法：培訓(xùn)祖母。當(dāng)今世界上，最好的通信方式是什么？電視？不是。電報(bào)？不是。電話？也不是。最好的方式是把信息告訴一個(gè)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(shuō)：“我們要把她們帶到印度去。”他們說(shuō)：“不可能。她們連大門都沒(méi)出過(guò)，而你卻想把她們帶去印度?！蔽艺f(shuō)：“我做點(diǎn)讓步吧。我會(huì)把她們的丈夫也帶上。”于是，我把她們的丈夫也帶上了。當(dāng)然，這些婦女顯然比她們的丈夫要聰明得多。在六個(gè)月的時(shí)間里，我們?cè)趺磁嘤?xùn)這些女人？肢體語(yǔ)言。既不選擇書面語(yǔ)也不選擇口頭語(yǔ)，只使用肢體語(yǔ)言。在六個(gè)月的時(shí)間里，她們可以變成太陽(yáng)能工程師。然后等她們回家后，她們就能用太陽(yáng)能照亮自己的村莊了。

我們?nèi)チ朔侵蓿沧隽讼嗤氖虑?。所有這些婦女坐在一張桌子旁邊。她們來(lái)自八、九個(gè)國(guó)家，都在聊天，彼此聽不懂對(duì)方講的話，因?yàn)樗齻兌颊f(shuō)不同的語(yǔ)言。但是，他們的肢體語(yǔ)言非常豐富。她們聊著聊著，實(shí)際上已經(jīng)成了太陽(yáng)能工程師。

我前往塞拉利昂，在那兒，一位部長(zhǎng)在夜深人靜時(shí)駕車四處轉(zhuǎn)悠——這位部長(zhǎng)碰巧路過(guò)了這個(gè)村莊。部長(zhǎng)走進(jìn)這個(gè)村莊，問(wèn)道：“嘿，這是怎么回事？”村民說(shuō)：“這兩位奶奶……”“奶奶？”部長(zhǎng)不敢相信自己的耳朵?！八齻?nèi)ツ膬毫?？”他?wèn)?！八齻?nèi)ビ《热缓笥只貋?lái)了。”村民答道。這位部長(zhǎng)直接把這件事情告訴了總統(tǒng)。部長(zhǎng)對(duì)總統(tǒng)說(shuō)：“您知道塞拉利昂有一個(gè)被太陽(yáng)能電力照亮的小村莊嗎？”總統(tǒng)說(shuō)：“我不知道啊?！比缓蟮诙?，半個(gè)內(nèi)閣的人都來(lái)看這兩位奶奶了?！笆虑槭窃趺匆换厥履兀俊甭犕旯适略?，總統(tǒng)把我叫來(lái)，問(wèn)道：“你能給我培訓(xùn)150個(gè)奶奶嗎？”我說(shuō)：“總統(tǒng)先生，我不能。但是，這兩位奶奶可以?！彼?，總統(tǒng)在塞拉利昂建起了第一個(gè)赤腳培訓(xùn)中心。150個(gè)奶奶已經(jīng)在塞拉利昂接受了培訓(xùn)。

最后，我想說(shuō)，你沒(méi)必要去外面尋找解決辦法。就在當(dāng)?shù)貙ふ?。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(shuō)的，聽聽腳踏實(shí)地的人們?cè)趺凑f(shuō)。他們有世界上所有的解決方法。

我想引用圣雄甘地的話來(lái)結(jié)束我的講話?！白畛?，他們忽視你，接著嘲笑你，然后向你宣戰(zhàn)，但是最后，你會(huì)勝利?！?/p>