Training Programmes
Barli Development Institute
for Rural Women Indore.
Gram Panchayat (Village Government) members etc. on subjects like gender
sensitisation, importance of development of Girl Child, village and rural health and
sustainable development subjects as listed below.
The curriculum of personality development includes to train them to conceive something, visualise, plan, organise, make action
plans, become conscious decision makers, implementation and sharing their successes with others.
Personality Development
The curriculum focuses on building sustainable societies, respecting
and reinforcing the value of their culture, holistic education, especially
virtues.
The trainees are trained to become sensitive to social development
issues, regarding work as worship and service as prayer. The training
also fosters love, peace and unity. The trainees learn to discuss social
issues and act to solve them, mobilising and developing local resources
thus helping to build sustainable communities.
Health and Hygiene
The course has been designed to provide the necessary skills and develop rural by preventive measures and practical nutrition,
the prevention of water-borne diseases, the value and importance of caring for the sick or elderly, the damaging effects of
domestic violence. Trainees learn to replace superstitious practices through using medical knowledge and care from qualified
doctors.
The topics covered in this subject broadly encompass: management of low birth weight, the value of registration of birth
and death, and knowledge of child diseases: causes, precautions and treatment.
Pre and Post Natal Care
The trainees are trained in taking care of pregnant women, physiology of conception, symptoms of pregnancy, social
practices relating to pregnancy, care for pregnant including immunisation, check ups, importance of rest, becoming a
mother, and the responsibility of becoming a mother, and the role of the family
The Institute teaches the trainees the importance of
preserving our environment and helping the process of
sustainable development. They regard care for the is titled:
"Caring for the Environment" includes organic farming,
making organic manure, waste recycling, and harness the
utility of herbs as valuable source of home and natural
remedies. Value of indigenous knowledge, maintaining a
healthy environment and caring for land, water, animals
and forest resources are some of its main issues covered in
this curriculum.
Caring for the Environment
planting, maintaining  and protecting trees, learning about the
sources of buying seeds, plants, learning about energy
conservation, techniques like composting, vermi-culture, recycling
water & soil, re-use of biodegradable and other products, i.e.
waste management (composting and recycling).
All bathroom, washing, kitchen and sewerage water are separated
at source, and after treatment are used in agriculture.
A selected portion of farm waste is mixed with waste paper to
make briquettes to be used as a fuel when it is not possible to
cook with solar cookers
when its first solar cooker was installed. Institute uses
solar cookers (Scheffler cookers) for cooking food for
100 inmates for 300 days a year, 3 meals a day. This
saves about 12 LPG cylinders each month.
Solar Cooking and Vegetable Drying
Above: The first Solar Kitchen In 1998
The Institute's solar kitchen as of today
for other NGOs. With the help of Gadhia Solar Systems a
large kitchen of five 10-metre parabolic dishes was built at
remote area of Dhar district.
SK14 solar cookers

The trainees are also encouraged to adopt a solar-lifestyle,
wherein we train them in use and maintenance of SK 14 solar
cookers which are portable and are of smaller size and are very
economical. These cookers can cook 3 meals for a family of
5-6 people very easily. The trainees are given hands on training
for 3 days at the end of every 6 month course, and they are also
given the solar cookers to take them home with them after
training.
Dieter Siefiert with trainees
Solar drying of vegetables and spices.
Over the last several years all surplus vegetables and spices are being
dried in specially designed low cost solar tunnel driers for use later
when most vegetables are in short supply.

Herbs, spices and fruits and also being dried in this way. These can be
easily stored and packaged, and used when there is scarcity. Thus the
solar technology is being used in the Institute for ensuring food
security by providing year-round nutrition for the trainees.
Low cost solar tunnel driers
As result we were able to start a process of use of solar cookers in the rural areas where the need for the use of
non-conventional energy is greater and the fuel wood was very scarce. Use of SK 14 solar cooker by the trainees in
safety (women feel much safer with these) for e.g. when collecting wood from remote forests they might face abuse
or molestation from forest officials and others, and also there is a danger of wild animals and snakes etc, attacking
them en-route.  In many cases SK14 has proved to be gender-friendly, as the menfolk in villages love to cook on
them. At the time of writing, the Institute had supplied more than 450 SK14 and K14 solar cookers to the community
members living in rural areas.
  • Health and hygiene
  • Caring for the Environment
  • Solar cooking and vegetable drying