Portrait of a Leader: Mbamata "Fatou" Jawneh

‘‘When I meet with a challenge that is when I have more courage to continue...’’

Mbamata Jawneh is a leader. Individual by individual, village by village, Mbamata is working towards a Gambia free of female genital cutting (FGC) and other harmful traditional practices. Mbamata is quick to express gratitude for the knowledge and skills she learned in Tostan’s human rights-based Community Empowerment Program (CEP), but it is clear that beyond her education, she also possesses a natural ability to lead. She has the tact, perseverance, and patience necessary to engage individuals in discussions about sensitive issues. These qualities have led her to achieve great things in her community, specifically to take a leading role in organizing social mobilization activities. 

Mbamata was elected as Lady President of her community, Mane Kunda–a predominantly Mandinka suburb of the town of Basse in the Upper River Region (URR) of The Gambia. Her dynamism in this role made her an obvious candidate for the role of Community Management Committee (CMC) Coordinator, and when Tostan began implementation of the CEP in 2007, she was elected to the position. With the support of her colleagues and community, Mbamata facilitated a birth registration campaign, which registered over 360 children for birth certificates; she organized weekly cleaning activities, which got members to sweep clean the community of trash, animal droppings, and standing water; and she coordinated fundraising events and women’s discussion groups. Within a short time, Mbamata demonstrated to her community that she is an active and formidable proponent for change in Mane Kunda. 

Possibly most notable, though, is Mbamata’s commitment to share the knowledge she has gained with her community and thereby live the Mandinka saying, ‘karang kabarra,’ meaning ‘practice what you know.’ In doing this, Mbamata also holds true to Tostan’s fundamental goal: to train communities with the skills necessary to lead locally-driven change. 

It was this drive that led Mbamata to form the first social mobilization team in The Gambia. Mbamata recognized the need to systematically engage interconnected villages in discussions about key topics, such as FGC. This process of information-sharing throughout social networks is what Tostan calls organized diffusion. Inspired by her passion to bring about the complete abandonment of FGC, Mbamata formed a group of nine committed individuals who meet and discuss important social and health issues with community members throughout their village’s established social network. 

Speaking candidly during one of her team’s visits to a neighboring community, Mbamata explained, ‘‘FGC should be abandoned because all the motives that lead us to practice it are not achieved. It does not prevent girls from being sexually active. It is not associated with Islam and it brings huge health complications.’’ 

In their efforts, Mbamata’s team began by approaching 25 communities and then expanded their reach to include an additional 40 neighboring villages. She is now the Social Mobilization Coordinator for three teams in the URR: a Mandinka, a Fula, and a Serahule mobilization team, each of which specialize in outreach to their respective ethnic groups.

“We approach communities with patience and we listen and speak to them,” said Mbamata in explaining her approach. “When there is resistance, we encourage individuals from the community who are supportive to speak to those who are opposed to what we have to say. The change comes from within.’’ 

Thanks to Mbamata and her teams’ efforts, a public declaration for the abandonment of FGC and child/forced marriage was held in June 2011. With over 1,800 participants from 117 communities in attendance, the event marked a huge success in the movement for positive social change. Mbamata is proud of her teams’ achievements, but is continually looking for ways to help her community progress even further. ‘‘We need to motivate,” she says, “with motivation many things [can] happen in the future.’’ 

Ever the optimist, when one of Mbamata’s teams meets with resistance in a community, she remembers what it is that inspired her to start the work in the first place: ‘‘a desire to see the future of the nation prosper...better health and better education will make a better Gambia.’’


Photos by Elizabeth Loveday, Tostan Regional Volunteer in The Gambia

Award-winning Documentary Sarabah Featuring Tostan Partner Sister Fa Premieres this Sunday, Jan. 15

On Sunday, January 15 at 8 pm PT, LinkTV will be hosting the premiere the full length documentary Sarabah, a film by Maria Luisa Gambale and Gloria Bremer and produced by Steven Lawrence. This film depicts the bold efforts of Sister Fa, Senegalese-born hip-hop artist and human rights activist, to raise awareness about the harmful traditional practice of female genital cutting (FGC) throughout West Africa and diaspora communities. Awarded the A Matter of ACT Documentary Award at the Movies That Matter Film Festival in March 2011, the film has been given high praises by Ms. Magazine, UN and NGO officials, and youth activists internationally. Reaching diverse audiences, Sarabah strives to break the taboo of talking about FGC in public and to replace that taboo with open dialogue that encourages understanding and abandonment of the practice.

 Making strides in the two worlds of hip-hop and human rights activism, Sister Fa inspires communities through her music to discuss the relevancy of FGC as practiced in their community. She states in the film, “We are not here to fight. We are here to educate.” Sharing Tostan’s belief in a respectful approach to discussing sensitive community-based issues, Sister Fa has partnered with Tostan to expand the reach of her music, inspiring change that is led by all members of a community—women and men, adults and youth.

The film will air first on Sunday, January 15 at 11 pm ET/8 pm PT and again on Friday, January 27 at 9 pm ET/6 pm PT on LinkTV (DIRECT TV Channel 375/DISH Network Channel 9410). Sarabah is a co-production of LinkTV and Yerosha Productions and is distributed by Women Make Movies.

To watch the full Sarabah film trailer and to hear Sister Fa’s music, please click the video below.

For more detailed information about Sister Fa’s other achievements and the film, please click the links below:

Winner of the 2011 Freedom to Create Prize

LinkTV broadcast times and locations

Sarabah documentary Facebook page

Sister Fa’s official website

SARABAH Trailer from Maria Luisa Gambale on Vimeo.

Tostan Change Makers Share Insight with Orchid Project and DFID Minister

Earlier in the month Rt Hon Stephen O'Brien MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for International Development in the UK, accompanied Tostan partner Orchid Project on a visit to the Tostan office in Dakar, Senegal. Following an opportunity to speak with key community members who enacted positive change in the first Tostan communities, Orchid Project Founder Julia Lalla-Maharajh wrote about the moving experience they shared in this blog post.

This post originally appeared on Orchid Project's blog on December 1, 2011 and is reproduced with Orchid Project's permission. To view the original post on the Orchid Project blog, click here.

“I see you as social evolutionaries.” ~ DFID Minister to Senegalese community members working to end female genital cutting

This morning, we welcomed the Rt Hon Stephen O’Brien MP to Tostan’s offices in Dakar in Senegal. He is pictured here with community members who told him in eloquent and articulate terms how it is possible to end female genital cutting.

Duusu Konate

Duusu pictured second left in the photograph talked about the Tostan approach and how participants in their respectful community empowerment programmes learn about their human rights. She outlined all of the things that communities learn: to read and write, about health issues, income generating activities and how to manage them. Her village had identified the need for a health hut and built and stocked it themselves. She also told the minister that she is now a solar engineer who installed solar power in her village whilst training others in her community.
But most of all, she emphasised that villagers now understood that they had a right to be free from all forms of violence. They also know that they have a responsibility to uphold this right – that no one should harm or be harmed. This was the first step in understanding why FGC should be ended.

Marietou Diarra

Marietou then talked about “the tradition” – which is how she refers to FGC. She said that she had had many problems as a direct result of FGC. “Really, I have had many horrible things happen.”

Marietou outlined her story and told of her two daughters who died from the practice. She spoke with such dignity and halfway through her testimony, she started to cry with the memory of the moment. I was sitting next to her and found my emotions hard to keep in check. This is the first meeting Ministerial meeting that I have participated in, where I have been in tears. For those who would like to learn more, I would encourage you to watch Marietou telling her story in full here to Molly Melching.

 In spite of how greatly Marietou was affected, when Demba Diawara (see below) came to her village to start discussing FGC with other villagers, she walked away. The tradition was so strong that she was unable to question it. Three times, she and others refused to listen to Demba.

Demba Diawara

Demba spoke about social networks and how when the villagers from Malicounda Bambara first came to him to say that they were having difficulty having chosen to stand up and abandon on their own, he realised that he had to reach out to his “wider family.” It transpires that this is really a very wide family! Family members link through different villages right across Senegal, but in the first instance, he “put on his shoes” and walked to 12 other villages. On 14 February 1998, the first community declaration was held.

Molly Melching, Founder of Tostan (pictured below with the Minister) told of how it was really that first village of Malicounda Bambara, but also Demba’s wisdom and that of other community members that allowed Tostan to understand how to really spread the abandonment of FGC – which now has led to over 6,200 communities choosing not to cut their daughters. It is entirely possible that Senegal could have ended this practice completely by 2015.

Oureye Sall

Oureye (pronounced Wari) opened her discussion by saying: “I was the one who practised cutting. It was the only job I knew.” She went on to outline that it was only once she had participated in the Tostan programme that she realised the real consequences. She learnt about germs: that they are invisible and that they are transmitted; she learnt that tetanus is a killer and that it was not the spirits that were causing girls to die.

Oureye had never had any formal education. She was married at the age of 14 to a man who was 55. Her only income had come from FGC. When she realised the harm she was doing, she decided that “peace and wellbeing of girls was more important.”

She also went to her imam and asked if religion said that FGC was required. The imam answered that: “Around you are many Wolof communities. They are religious people. Yet they do not practise FGC. What do you think?” From this, Oureye realised that religion did not play a part in FGC.

Overall, we hope that the Minister was impressed by his visit. We believe that our group represented the most important voices, those of the community. From my part, as a representative of a UK NGO and as a British citizen, I was quietly delighted that our political representative was able to listen to such an important message, in such a positive way.

We look forward to all working together towards an end to female genital cutting and making connections like these, I hope, are one of the respectful ways we can do this.

Forbes Magazine Names Molly Melching One of the Most Powerful Women in Women's Rights

As a follow up to Forbes Magazine Power Women List, Half the Sky authors Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn named Molly Melching, Tostan Founder and Executive Director, one of the top ten women who empower other women worldwide. Listed among women such as Secretary Hillary Rodham Clinton, Melching is honored for her work to ensure respect for human rights.
 
To see full list, click here.