赤腳大學(xué)：另一番教育天地

I’d like to take you to another world， and I’d 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 1)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， I’d 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， “I’d like to live and work in a village.” My mother was 2)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， I’ve had the best education and it has made me think. I want to give something back in my own way.”

我想引領(lǐng)你們?nèi)フJ(rèn)識另一個(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。我接受過印度的精英教育，這種教育既勢利又昂貴，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，對母親說：“我想到村莊里居住和工作。”聽了我的話，母親簡直要暈了過去。“你是怎么了？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，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(bào)社會。”

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 I’d 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 didn’t 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 you’re 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 you’re looking to make money then don’t 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 doesn’t matter if you fail. 3)Battered， bruised， you start again. It’s the only college where the teacher is the student and the student is the teacher. It’s the only college where we don’t give a certificate. You are certified by the community you serve. You don’t need a paper to hang on the wall to show that you are an engineer.

It’s 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， we’ll have no problem with power. The real beauty of it is that it was installed by a priest， a Hindu priest， who’s 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 4)decentralizing， 5)demystifying approach for solar-paneling villages， and so far we’ve 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 there’s 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， “It’s the first time I have been able see my husband’s 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. What’s 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 don’t even go out of their rooms， and you want to take them to India!”I said， “I’ll make a concession. I’ll 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 don’t choose the written word. You don’t 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 they’re all speaking a different language. Yet their body language is great. They’re speaking to each other and actually becoming solar engineers.

當(dāng)時(shí)，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(rèn)同、被尊重，以及大規(guī)模地運(yùn)用過。于是我想到了要建一所“赤腳大學(xué)”——一所只對窮人開放的大學(xué)。我第一次去這個(gè)村莊。村里的長者們走過來問我：“你是逃犯嗎？” 我說：“不是。”“你考試不及格？”他們問。我說：“不是。”“你沒有應(yīng)聘到政府的工作？”他們問。我說：“也不是。”“那你在這做什么？到這里來干什么？……