Rafea Badr transformed from an uneducated mother of four living in a tent to a solar power engineer. She left her life as a secondary wife in the impoverished village of Rowdat Bardon, Jordan, to train for a career at the Barefoot College in India.
Threats of abandonment and divorce from her husband forced Badr to give up on her dreams of success after just one month of her education in India. She returned home immediately after her husband called her and demanded that she do so or lose her children forever.
Her time in India with other women from all corners of the world in a place where they gained new skills together inspired Badr. She wanted to work. The sight of hungry families burning everything that they owned to stay warm without hope for a better future further motivated her to finish the journey that she had begun.
She could not sit and only sip tea and smoke cigarettes every day when she knew that she had another choice. She could not allow herself to tolerate her husband’s harsh words and discouragement, so instead returned to India to finish her program.
Badr pushed forwards and conquered her final exam as the first of all of the women in her class to build a functioning solar-powered light. She returned to her home in Jordan where she brought solar power into her own home. Through her labor and determination she birthed new light into her life.
The Barefoot Institute teaches solar power engineering skills to approximately 40 women at a time for a stretch of six months. These women are mothers and grandmothers from poverty-stricken areas with minimal education and experience.
The documentary film, “Rafea: Solar Mama,” tells the story of this one woman’s struggles and ultimate success through this institution. Since its release in 2012, Badr’s story has inspired viewers in 82 different countries. To date, she and her family have brought solar power into 80 homes in her Jordanian village.
Eldai Ef, co-director, presented the film to an audience at Valencia College where she revealed the details or Badr’s hardships. Ef divulged information that the original intent of her work was to tell the stories of four different women who attended the Barefoot Institute in India, but decided to follow Badr exclusively after her confession about the real reason that she was leaving after only one month.
After watching her work with diligence and passion at the college, Ef suspected something was awry when Badr suddenly claimed that she wanted to go home, “because the food was too spicy.” This out of character statement did not fool Ef for one moment, so she followed Badr to the airport and learned the truth about her husband’s threats to take away her children to his other wife and leave her with nothing.
“Rafea: Solar Mama” provides insight into the lifestyle of those who suffer without food or heat, yet shows how the right resources can inspire and illuminate lives.
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