Tostan

Tostan ranked as one of the Top 100 NGOs by The Global Journal

2012-02-01T19:26:00.006Z

Released in their January-February 2012 issue, The Global Journal ranks Tostan as #41 on their list of the top 100 leading actors in the nonprofit world. This list serves to spark discussion and highlight the innovative efforts of organizations working to positively impact the lives of others.

To see the feature of Tostan in The Global Journal, click here.

To view the full list of The Global Journal's Top 100 Best NGOs, click here.

For more information about the list, click here.

Portrait of a Leader: Mbamata "Fatou" Jawneh

2012-01-16T19:59:00.004Z

‘‘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

2012-01-10T22:40:00.001Z

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

2011-12-20T17:42:00.000Z

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

2011-12-19T17:24:00.001Z

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.

Championing Human Rights: Celebrate Dec. 10, Human Rights Day

2011-12-09T21:13:00.000Z

“We are ready to…collectively seek the respect of human rights,” Gambian youth Fatou Baldé stated confidently to a crowd of over 170 in Basse, The Gambia. In a five-day awareness raising event that culminated in a march through Basse to draw attention to human rights, Fatou and other youth from throughout The Gambia’s Upper River Region shared with peers, family members, community leaders and government representatives the utmost importance of human rights for all.

This Human Rights Day let us celebrate the determination of those, like Fatou, who are bringing human rights to the forefront of discussion in their community.

Click here to read more about the recent human rights awareness events led by Gambian youth.

Gambian youth encourage leaders and communities to "practice what you know": Part II

2011-12-05T16:01:00.003Z

Story by Alisa Hamilton, Program Assistant in Dakar, Senegal, and photography by Elizabeth Loveday, Regional Volunteer in The Gambia

After five days of visiting communities and spreading awareness about youth rights, the youth caravan buses arrived in Basse for the final march to the Governor’s Residence of The Gambia’s Upper River Region (URR). The theme of the final day of activities, Kalong ka baara or “practice what you know” in the local language of Mandinka, captured the enthusiasm of the young people. They recognized that with their new found understanding of democracy and good governance, problem solving processes, and health and hygiene, came the responsibility to implement that knowledge. Their hope for the final day of the caravan was to instill that same sense of responsibility within their local government.

Participants arrive in Basse, The Gambia
for the final day of the youth caravan

As honking horns announced their arrival, participants spilled out of each vehicle and joined together at the Tostan office. The atmosphere was alive with excitement. Groups of girls in colorful fabric and matching white caravan shirts danced while waiting for the festivities to begin. Nearby Tostan supervisors began organizing people into lines and handing out large banners that read “Allow me to choose my husband when I turn 18” and “Child protection is a responsibility for all.” Once assembled, the group began their march through the town of Basse. Supervisors on noisy motorbikes and a marching band of teenage boys playing The Gambian national anthem led the mass of people along Basse’s main road. Crowds formed on the sides of the street to witness the celebration.

Youth participant Fatou Baldé reads the manifesto
out loud in Basse, The Gambia

Upon reaching the governor’s residence, those holding the banners formed a large semicircle creating a powerful scene of young faces and written text. They then presented a manifesto. Read aloud in English by Tostan participant Fatou Baldé, the manifesto demanded action and support on the part of community members, local leaders, and government officials concerning unmet rights affecting the lives of Gambian youth. These rights included the right to the survival and development of every child, the right to basic education and access to higher education, the right to employment opportunities, and the right to safe recreational spaces.

Basse’s assistant governor, Mohamed Salu Diallo, responded to Fatou Baldé’s reading of the manifesto with admiration and respect. Publically to the impressive scene of young Gambians, he confirmed his commitment to human rights and youth rights stating:

Human rights are undeniable rights and should be enjoyed by all, especially the youth who are our future leaders. Your manifesto has outlined key issues on the rights that correspond to the responsibilities of youth and their expectations from the government. We will do our utmost best to support you as responsible youth since you are [the] cream of our future society.

Tostan may have initiated The Gambia’s first annual youth caravan three years ago, but today, children and teenagers are the driving force behind this social mobilization event.

Gambian youth on the march to the Governor's Residence
in Basse, The Gambia

Fatou Baldé best summed up the youth caravan when she explained, “as young people preparing to become responsible future leaders, we are ready to disseminate the knowledge and skills we have gained to our peers and collectively seek the respect of human rights that directly or indirectly affect children and adolescents.”

With the success of this year’s youth caravan behind them, young people in The Gambia’s URR have taken ownership of the human rights introduced to them through Tostan’s Community Empowerment Program (CEP) and today, act independently with a strong sense of responsibility and purpose.

Did you miss Part I of “Gambian youth encourage leaders and communities to ‘practice what you know?’” Click here to read about the community discussions the youth inspired during the first five days of the youth caravan.

Tostan DC Internship Program Offers Unique, Substantial Experience in International Development

2011-11-23T16:11:00.006Z

With over 99% of Tostan staff working in Africa, the Washington, DC team accomplishes much with a small presence. Because of this, interns in the DC office take on an immediate and important role; they are an integral part of our office, working to assist in our Development, Communications, and Operations Teams.

Speaking to her experience, current Communications Assistant Hannah Kramer said: “Daily check-in meetings and joint projects create opportunities for interns to work in collaboration with other staff and teams. I have never felt more valued in an internship.”

If you would like to learn more about the Washington, DC Internship Program, click here. Ready to apply? Access the application here.

Please note: The application deadline for Spring 2012 is December 1.

Thinking of volunteering for Tostan in the field? Tostan Volunteers work in five countries. Visit the Africa Volunteer Program page for more information.

Tostan Partner Sister Fa, Winner of the 2011 Freedom to Create Prize

2011-11-21T16:29:00.003Z

Award winner Sister Fa, Senegalese musician Baaba Mal and Tostan
Executive Director Molly Melching at the 2011 Freedom to Create Festival.

We are excited to announce that Senegalese hip-hop artist and Tostan partner Sister Fa was awarded the 2011 Freedom to Create Prize in Cape Town, South Africa this past weekend. This award aims to honor “the courage and creativity of artists, and the positive influence of their work to promote social justice and inspire the human spirit.” Sister Fa exemplifies this courage and creativity as she uses her talent for music as a tool to promote dialogue about harmful traditional practices in her native Senegal, specifically female genital cutting (FGC).

Congratulations Sister Fa!

Click here for more on Sister Fa’s work and the Freedom to Create Prize.

Gambian youth encourage leaders and communities to "practice what you know": Part I

2011-11-15T15:04:00.006Z

Story by Alisa Hamilton, Program Assistant in Dakar, Senegal, and photographs by Elizabeth Loveday, Regional Volunteer in The Gambia

Today marks a very significant event as it is an opportunity for young people to express sincerely the issues that affect us and solicit everyone to give us support, encouragement, and an enabling environment. As a result of the holistic Community Empowerment Program, we are ready, determined and encouraged to do our [utmost] best to realize the outcomes of the good intentions that the government of The Gambia has for the youth of this region.

-Fatou Baldé
Tostan Youth Participant

On October 24, over 170 youth participants in Tostan’s Community Empowerment Program (CEP) marched from the Tostan office to the residence of the Governor of The Gambia’s Upper River Region (URR) in order to bring attention to one thing: their human rights. This visit was the culminating event of the third annual Tostan Gambia Youth Caravan, a five-day event funded by UNICEF. According to Assistant National Coordinator Ansou Kambaye, the objective of the caravan is to raise awareness of “youth rights and the problems youth encounter in their lives” among parents, elders, authorities, and community members.

Caravan participants during the march to
the Governor's Residence in Bassa, The Gambia

Five days earlier, one could feel the excitement as the youth began their march to Basse. In each of the five villages they visited along the way, an afternoon ceremony was held, which included opening remarks, speeches from youth participants about human rights, a skit, and closing remarks. Host community members in each village greeted the six caravan buses filled with participants and facilitators representing 73 Tostan villages with singing, dancing and drumming. An audience gathered under tents for the afternoon ceremony, which commenced with words of welcome from the local imam, Community Management Committee (CMC) leaders, and the president of the local women’s group. These remarks addressed the positive changes in the village since the implementation of the Tostan program. Marième Diambo, a CMC Coordinator in the Serehule village of Parai, attested that the CEP had improved relations among community members, “old, young, male and female,” as well as between villages. “This village is open to everyone,” she concluded, “Tostan is the same family wherever you come from.”

CEP participants from Bassendi perform
a play about teenage pregnancy

During the ceremony, youth participants spoke about various issues facing young people in The Gambia. In the Serehule village of Sotima, Tida Waaly warned against the dangers of teenage pregnancy—one harmful and common result of child marriage. She urged parents to let their daughters chose their husbands and allow them to marry only after they turn 18. In Parai, Adje Jawne stressed the importance of registering children at birth because of the benefits of having a birth certificate, including the ability to enroll in school and to obtain an official ID and passport. Fordé Sane also warned against the harmful effects of tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana use. She encouraged her peers to avoid drugs and focus on their studies.

Following speeches by youth participants, host community members performed a skit which addressed education and teenage pregnancy. The Mandinka village of Bassendi performed a powerful play about a girl who is seduced by a young man who offers her money. After having unprotected sex, she becomes pregnant. The girl dies in childbirth because her body is not physically mature enough to deliver the baby. While the animated acting during a scene in which the mother discovers her daughter’s pregnancy provoked laughter, the somber funeral song concluding the play clearly drove home the message that teenage pregnancy poses severe health risks for girls.

An animated play discusses teenage pregnancy

Final words from National Coordinator Bacary Tamba, International Program Officer Mohamed El Kabir Basse, and local authorities brought each afternoon to a close. Mariama Touré, the community health nurse in Parai, stated that the Tostan program compliments government efforts to promote sanitation. She also noted the decrease in the number of cases of teenage pregnancy. Myabi Dramé, the village city chairman, agreed that Tostan has made his job easier. “Before Tostan, it was hard to mobilize people,” he said, “now the [community] meets regularly to organize cleanup days and implement community initiatives.”

Caravan participants and host community members often expressed their enthusiasm for the open communication fostered by the youth caravan. A prominent community leader thanked God that she could stand up and speak her mind to the audience. “Today everyone is discussing issues – youth, elders, men and women,” she shared. “In the past, only men made important decision…now women are involved.”

A youth participant gives a speech
during the afternoon ceremony

When asked how participating in the caravan had changed her life personally, youth participant Tida Waaly commented that the caravan had given her the courage to talk about taboo topics, such as teenage pregnancy, in front of large audiences. She reaffirmed that she would never have had the confidence to do this before.

At night, host communities held celebrations with dancing, poetry recitations, and cultural entertainment. While the caravan schedule was packed, participants did not lose any stamina after traveling from village to village for five days. On the sixth day, they gathered in Basse, URR’s largest city, with as much energy as they had at the start of the caravan for the march from the Tostan office to the Governor’s residence.

Click here to read about the youth caravan’s culminating event, the march to the Governor’s residence, in Part II of “Gambian youth encourage communities and leaders to “practice what you know.”’

Owning Their Human Rights: Molly Melching and Gerry Mackie Discuss Social Change on Wisconsin Public Radio

2011-11-14T22:04:00.000Z

On November 3, Tostan Executive Director Molly Melching and UC San Diego Professor Gerry Mackie were interviewed by Jean Faraca of Wisconsin Public Radio about the realities of changing social norms and what it takes for a community to collectively abandon female genital cutting (FGC). The two speakers were guests on Here on Earth: Radio Without Borders, a live radio show broadcast weekly that highlights international movements, world citizens and cross-cultural conversations from around the world. During the hour long program called “Confronting Female Genital Cutting,” Molly and Gerry talked about the role of men, the importance of language and the basis of education in achieving social change.

Speaking to the process of abandoning FGC, Molly said:

“It’s not really the law, but rather people getting good information, it not being imposed but rather letting [individuals] make the decision and understanding why it was critical for their health and for the well-being of all the girls in their community. We feel confident that those who did abandon [FGC], have really abandoned, and will not start again” (See minute 7:15).

Click here to listen to more insights from Molly and Gerry in the full WPR interview.

Tostan FAQ: Education for All

2011-11-11T15:26:00.001Z

In response to a brief profile of Tostan, a reader on the website Goodreads recently emphasized the importance of educating women. A common question asked of us is Why does Tostan’s nonformal education program, the Community Empowerment Program (CEP) engage women and men, girls and boys? Why don’t we focus exclusively on women?

At Tostan, we pride ourselves in being a learning organization, which means that we will make adjustments to our program if a certain initiative or approach is not as effective as we know it can be.

With that said, the first version of the Tostan Community Empowerment Program (CEP) was designed for female participants exclusively. While the program was effective in educating and empowering the women and girls who participated in the program, it also caused some distrust and tension in families when wives and daughters came home with new ideas about rights and responsibilities - ideas to which the their husbands, fathers, and other male family members had not been exposed.

When Tostan facilitators communicated this issue to leadership, Tostan shifted approaches and redesigned the program to include both women and men, adolescent girls and boys. In doing this, male and female participants learned about their human rights (as opposed to only women’s rights or children’s rights) and then in turn became advocates in their communities for the rights of both women and men. This shift has led to a human rights movement that is spreading across West Africa and parts of East Africa. To date, over 6,000 communities in eight countries have publicly abandoned the traditional practices of female genital cutting (FGC) and child/forced marriage because of such community-wide discussions of human rights.

Click here to read more about Tostan’s CEP. To read about how empowered individuals are improving their communities and leading social change, please click here. We feel that the work of our partner communities to date is a testament to what is possible when we move towards a shared vision of education as a right, fully supported for all, by all.

Sincerely,

Luzon Pahl Kahler
Director of Administration, Tostan

Tostan and partner organization, the Orchid Project, referenced in British House of Commons debate on Female Genital Cutting

2011-11-04T19:38:00.000Z

During last night’s adjournment debate in the House of Commons, ministers raised concerns over the practice of female genital cutting (FGC), or female genital mutilation (FGM) as was used in the House of Commons debate, in diaspora communities in the United Kingdom.

Lynn Featherstone, the Minister of Equalities and Ministerial Champion on International Violence Against Women opened the conversation on international abandonment movements by citing the work of Tostan and Tostan partner the Orchid Project. She commended Tostan for its culturally sensitive approach in the community-led abandonment movement in Africa.

The following is a clip from Featherstone’s remarks during the debate:

“I want to talk about abandonment. I recently met representatives from the Orchid Project, who introduced me to Tostan, a non-governmental organisation whose mission is to empower African communities to bring about sustainable development and positive social transformation based on respect for human rights. It takes a respectful approach that allows villagers to make their own conclusions about FGM and to lead their own movements for change. By helping to foster collective abandonment, Tostan’s programme allows community members to share the knowledge. Through this process, entire villages and communities—men and women—have decided together to end FGM. This is incredible work.”

To read the full transcript from last night’s debate, click here.

Former Tostan volunteer Sydney Skov shares her Tostan story on Stirring the Fire

2011-11-04T13:39:00.002Z

Stirring the Fire, an organization focused on raising awareness about gender equality, connects individuals seeking internship, volunteer, study abroad, and political advocacy opportunities with international organizations involved in promoting human rights and gender empowerment.

Stirring the Fire’s Volunteer Insights series highlights individual volunteers from various organizations and their stories. One of their most recent Volunteer Insights videos features Sydney Skov, Tostan’s Communications Assistant in Dakar, Senegal from January 2010-11. During her time with Tostan, Sydney was involved in various communications projects, including developing social media platforms and website resources for Tostan’s Anglophone and Francophone audiences. In the video, Sydney speaks to her experience as a Tostan volunteer, and describes how witnessing grassroots initiatives and women’s empowerment personalized the connection she saw between gender issues and development.

To view this Volunteer Insights video featuring Sydney Skov, please click the image below.

Volunteer Insights - Tostan from Phil Borges on Vimeo.

In addition, Stirring the Fire also interviewed Gannon Gillespie about his experiences as a Tostan volunteer in Senegal in 2004 and his current role as Tostan’s Director of Strategic Development. To watch Gannon Gillespie featured in an exclusive video interview, click here.

If you are interested in learning more about Tostan's volunteer and internship opportunities and application process, please click here.

Still Four Stars

2011-10-27T18:58:00.003Z

Even after Charity Navigator revamped its evaluation criteria to include metrics that measure an organization’s financial health and accountability and transparency, Tostan still maintained its 4-star rating, the highest rating given by the independent charity evaluator.

For interesting stats about the Charity Navigator rating changes and links to Tostan’s full report, click here.

Singing and dancing their way to a healthier future

2011-10-24T14:57:00.004Z

Story by Elizabeth Loveday, Regional Volunteer in The Gambia

Tostan CEP Participants in Tambasansang, The Gambia

Song and dance go a long way in Tambasansang.

Situated just ten kilometers from Basse in the Upper River Region of The Gambia, Tambasansang has over 200 women, men, and adolescents currently enrolled in Tostan’s Community Empowerment Program (CEP).

Class sessions in Tambasansang begin with participants joining together to sing songs about what they are learning and to celebrate their involvement in the 30-month program. One lyric that resonated with me was, "open the door for me for Tostan so that I will have the knowledge." Coming together at the beginning of sessions, which sometimes cover difficult and sensitive issues, fosters a strong sense of unity and shared experience among participants.

Tostan CEP Participants in Tambasansang, The Gambia
put class topics to lyrics and dance

Outside of the classroom, song and dance have also been used to engage community members in various initiatives. One CEP participant, Kaddy Jaigen, told me about a cleaning exercise organized by the Tambasansang’s Community Management Committee (CMC) every Sunday. The exercise, which invites members of the wider community to remove waste from family compounds and village roads, is led by a troop of singers, dancers, and drummers. The troop leads the procession through the roads of Tambasansang, performing songs to maintain the momentum and to motivate others to join.

CMC members have also initiated a penalty tax system, which requires class participants to pay a fee if they do not engage in the cleaning. This money is fed back into the community fund and used to pay for events, activities, and to support income generation projects. The CEP participants with whom I spoke all told me how these initiatives have improved the overall health of people in their community. Also, as a result of the health modules, community members said that now people in Tambasansang understand the importance of taking their children to the doctor instead of relying solely on local medicines.

The Tambasansang Drama Troop performing a play
about the importance of treating malaria

Along with song and dance, drama is also used as a tool to promote positive change within the community. I was introduced to the Tambasansang Drama Troop made up of predominantly young, enthusiastic female class members who hold performances every two weeks at the bantaba (meeting ground), a large open space in the center of the village. The troop presents educational and entertaining plays on topics including malaria prevention, drug abuse, and child/forced marriage. The troop told me that people have been very responsive to such fun performances and accessible messages. Through these productions, passionate youth performers help engage and educate other community members, young and old.

Tostan CEP Participant Kaddy Jaigen

To learn more about how the CEP is impacting the community, I sat down for a more lengthy discussion with CEP participant Kaddy Jaigen. She told me that Tambasansang classes are currently completing the module focused on developing problem-solving skills. As a result, community members now recognize the importance of engaging in discussion and planning together as a unified community. Through the Tostan program, Kaddy Jaigen has seen the community become much more united. People are working together to establish and achieve shared goals.

One such goal is to build a youth center where young people can receive additional support with their schoolwork. The CMC understands the financial implications of such a project and is already taking steps to raise the necessary funds. Every month they ask that participants contribute a small amount to a community fund. CMC Treasurer Mohammed Kora told me, “we do not have the funds, but we have the desire and we are trying to settle the finances with the monthly contributions.”

Through developing their own community initiatives and celebrating positive change through song and dance, the people of Tambasansang are engaging and investing in their own empowered future.

Birth Spacing Makes Inroads in Senegal

2011-10-20T00:59:00.001Z

Story by Ramatoulaye Sène, Tostan facilitator in Kantora Diassé, and Sarah Harris, Nike Project Manager for Tostan Senegal

Starting in 2008, Nike Foundation funded the Empowering Communities to Empower Girls project in 55 villages in the regions of Kaolack and Thiès, Senegal. Participating communities took part in Tostan’s 30-month Community Empowerment Program (CEP), and 50 of those communities also participated in additional class sessions that discuss gender roles using gender terminology. This story was chosen by project facilitators and supervisors as the best story among all those written at the Nike Foundation Project’s Most Significant Change workshop in November 2010.

Mariama Diop was a participant in the Tostan Community Empowerment Program (CEP) in her village, Kantora Diassé, when she became pregnant for the fourth time in three years. This time, she became ill and spent most of her time in bed. Mariama was not able to attend most of the Tostan Kobi II classes on hygiene and health. While Mariama was bed-ridden, her husband and the other members of the household took over her daily household responsibilities, including caring for her three children.

Mariama, a participant in Tostan's
Community Empowerment Program (CEP)

When the time came for her to give birth, Mariama’s child was stillborn. Mariama was devastated, and her health remained poor. Tostan facilitator Ramatoulaye Sène heard about Mariama’s situation and went to visit her at her home. Empathizing with Mariama, Ramatoulaye brought up a previous class discussion topic: using contraception for birth spacing. Mariama was open to the idea, but she was afraid to bring it up directly with her husband, the village Arabic teacher. She asked Ramatoulaye to bring up the issue with him. After Ramatoulaye spoke with Mariama’s husband, Mariama gathered the courage to talk with him herself. When she spoke, he simply listened, offering no response.

After giving birth, Mariama travelled regularly to the nearby town of Nioro du Rip for post-natal treatment. At her next appointment, she asked for a three-month contraceptive injection. When she returned home to Kantora Diassé, Mariama told her husband about the injection she received. Again, he listened without responding.

Since then, Mariama has been going to Nioro every three months for a contraceptive injection. Her husband gives her the money to pay for the injection when she asks. Last time, he even reminded Mariama that it was time to go to Nioro for her next injection.

Mariama’s husband explained that he had been worried for his wife’s health all along, but he was also afraid that contraceptive injections would prevent her from being able to have children in the future. He felt anxious when he noticed that Mariama sometimes did not menstruate every month. Nodding in response, Ramatoulaye gently reassured him that many people feel worried about these symptoms. She explained that it is normal to miss periods when a woman receives contraceptive injections.

Since her last pregnancy, Mariama has regained her health and started an income-generating activity producing and selling soap. She said that she has never done this before, but that she wanted to have some income of her own.

Other community members in Kantora Diassé have discreetly gone to see Ramatoulaye to ask questions about contraception. One man begged her to convince his wife to start getting the injections. He and his wife already have more than eleven children, and it pains him to see his wife do heavy housework while she is pregnant. He knows that having children was his wife’s pride, but “it is just too tough,” he said, shaking his head, “when you have so many children, you lose your strength. It can kill you. I would be happy to have no more children.”

This same man said that he now brings up the subject of birth control with other men he knows. One time, he gently teased a close friend: “You look like a man who has not had sex in a while!” He used the joke as a lead-in to explain how he and his wife can have sex when they want to without worrying that his wife will get pregnant. His friend asked him to convince his wife to start going for contraceptive injections, too.

Fatima Thiam, Head of Social Mobilization for the Community Management Committee, observed that prior to the start of the Tostan program, she was one of only two women in Kantora Diassé who went to Nioro for contraceptive injections. A nurse in Nioro convinced her to start the injections after she gave birth to two sets of twins, three of whom died. Since then, her health and strength are much improved.

Fatima explained that before the Tostan class, “people used to say that you should let a child come – you should not prevent a child who wants to be born from coming.” “Tostan opened our minds,” she said.

Now, Fatima estimates that there are 80 women in the village of Kantora Diassé who go to the clinic for injections every three months. She explained that some learned about birth control methods in class, and each husband and wife who gains experience and knowledge shares it with others. Fatima and Ramatoulaye have each spoken with only a few people, but their efforts have sparked further discussion about contraception and birth spacing.

Community Empowerment Program (CEP)
classes in Kantora Diassé, Senegal

Still, barriers remain for some community members. Mariama and Ramatoulaye are concerned about the health of one of their friends and think that she would benefit from using contraceptive injections for birth spacing. However, each time they bring up the subject, their friend begins to cry because she does not have the money to pay for the injections. Nonetheless, even the village chief of Kantora Diassé has noticed a significant difference within his community. Before the CEP program, birth spacing was not openly discussed, and most women were afraid to try it or even to bring up the topic with their husbands. Now, using contraception to space births is a common practice in the village, with support from women, men, and traditional and religious leaders.

Outstanding Supporter: Couple Donates Wedding Registry to Tostan

2011-10-17T18:08:00.016Z

Story by Elizabeth Clay, Development Associate

The couple at their Michigan wedding

Krista and Serge Badiane, newlyweds living in Michigan and enthusiastic Tostan supporters, have been celebrating their marriage for over a year. The couple eloped in May 2010 hoping to avoid a big ceremony and gifts. "That didn't really work out for us," said Krista. "We both have large families and everyone wanted to celebrate with us." Instead, their marriage celebration has taken them from Michigan to Senegal and back.

Serge, a native of Dakar, and Krista, of Michigan, met in a graduate class about sustainable development in Senegal at the University of Michigan's School of Public Policy. Coincidentally, Krista had also studied abroad in Senegal in 2001, the same year that Serge came to the U.S. as an undergraduate student at Hope College in Holland, Michigan. It was through this class at the U of M, which included a ten-day visit to Dakar, that they first learned about Tostan's work and were impressed by the program and model.

Celebrating at Gorée Island off the coast of Dakar

As part of their wedding celebration in Senegal, Serge’s family and friends planned a Yendoo, a day-long traditional celebration with food, drumming and dancing, for New Year’s Day 2011 and a reception at a local hotel, Hotel Océan, the following day.

For their Ann Arbor ceremony, which took place in late August, they asked their guests to donate to Tostan in lieu of giving gifts.

"We wanted to do something that would have an impact and something that was connected to Serge and his side of the family," Krista said. "Our guests were really positive and supportive. It was great to give a gift that will keep on giving and that others can pass along in some way."

VOICES OF TOSTAN: John Graves

2011-09-30T15:04:00.021Z

An organization is nothing without the passion and dedication of the team of individuals behind it. Tostan is comprised of talented, committed people ranging from community leaders to organization directors, Community Empowerment Program participants, volunteers and interns to donors and project partners. Each individual contributes his or her unique personality and skills to further the work of Tostan, thus creating a dynamic environment in which positive change can take place.

We would like to highlight the diversity of interests, talents, and backgrounds within the Tostan team here on the blog in a series entitled Voices of Tostan. Specifically, we will explore what brought each unique voice to Tostan and why Tostan’s efforts to bring about positive social change are significant and meaningful to each individual.

We hope that readers, in turn, will share with us what brought them to Tostan and what inspires them. To submit your own Voices of Tostan post, please write to commsassistant@tostan.org. We look forward to hearing from you!

…

Our most recent addition to the Voices of Tostan blog series comes from John Graves. Mr. Graves has been a global adventurer for forty years, visiting more than 80 countries around the world. He has sailed across the Atlantic and Pacific, driven across the Sahara, Taklamakan, the Rub’ali-Khali and the Namib. He has been an independent financial advisor for 28 years.

Pay It Forward

Story by John Graves

Driving across the Sahel towards the deep desert of the Sahara is a voyage in time, back several centuries in human culture. You survive the desert. The people who live there survive in their own manner. It is a manner quite different from the 21st century lifestyle of comfort and ease many of us enjoy here in the US. Some of us grumble about politics, about the economy, about the price of gas. In the Sahel, the vast emptiness of the sand seas can exact a cruel price on change - survival itself. In this environment we visited incredible villages steeped in time, where customs haven't changed for many generations. The people are predominantly Muslim. Emerging from the sands of the Arabian desert, Islam spread quickly across Africa. Little has changed in the intervening 1300 years.

Women had a place, a very defined place, in desert communities we visited. I was traveling with a woman, an Australian doctor. We were told to leave - escorted by the gendarme in one instance - from more than one village along the edge of the Sahara in Dogonland in Mali. Why? She, an outsider, was teaching the village women, in French, the health hazards of FGM, female genital mutilation. Everyone, even the women had a strong, visceral reaction to the message we brought. Indeed, the extraordinary lengths to which the women of the villages would go, just to get us to leave, frightened us. At moments it seemed the gendarme was as much protecting us from angry, offended women as evicting us from a tribal hinterland. We were shocked, scared and angry at their reaction.

Upon my return to the States in 1991, I did some research. I had lived in the Middle East for several years, so the culture of Islam was not foreign to me. I had seen many of its faces, or at least those faces exposed partially, willfully, to Western eyes. I knew the limits. We had clearly trespassed. I am not a cultural apologist, accepting every culture as equal - far from it.Yet, I also know to stand back and observe, if not admire, when in other lands, when with other peoples. I also knew that someone, somewhere, might be having success in working on this issue.

My research led me to a few NGOs that worked with the people of West Africa, namely The Peace Corps, The White Fathers, The Nomad Foundation, and Tostan. I gravitated to Tostan. Perhaps a few of the reasons are obvious: my experience, the people, the desert lifestyle, the French cultural overlay. The reasons were deeper. This NGO took matters deeper. They spend three years in a village, melding local teachers into the life there, engendering trust with honest, hard work. They do so with little overhead; an incredibly small amount of what you give goes to administration, particularly considering how much they do, how much they accomplish.

When I married, my wife and I adopted a village, then another. I recommended, along with others, Tostan to the Hilton Prize committee. They eventually awarded it to Tostan in 2007. We have been donors of choice to Tostan, with pride, for many years.

The importance of tithing was instilled in many of us Baby Boomers. We learned it from our parents and grandparents along with the habits of frugality, savings and debt avoidance. Most Boomers live these habits each day.

Tostan does as well. Today they run their Community Empowerment Program, which includes lessons on human rights, hygiene, health and literacy, in eight African countries. For more than 20 years they have affected the lives of millions of Africans to "tostan,' or 'breakthrough.' Using local customs, language and experience the indigenous teachersencourage each community to come forth into its own empowerment. Women's health and hygiene, pre and post natal care, and education for adults and adolescents are at the forefront of their efforts. Sustainable economic development is also integral to Tostan's efforts. The Solar Power Projectis an example.

To this end, I have devoted a portion of the sale of mybook, The 7% Solution, to be published in February, to Tostan. Fifty percent of the net proceeds from its sale will be given to Tostan and The Ojai Foundation. In addition, the voluntary subscription fee to the website http://www.theretirementjournal.com/ is a simple contribution to Tostan. I have chosen to support their Solar Power Project with a matching gift of $5,000 for subscribers. I hope to build on these gifts with their success.

Note: The opinions expressed in the Voices of Tostan blog series are those of the individual author.

Inspiring Moments from the CGI Annual Meeting Captured on Film

2011-09-29T20:53:00.000Z

Attended by heads of state, chief executives of companies, and global changemakers, including Tostan’s Molly Melching and Gannon Gillespie, the Clinton Global Initiative Annual Meeting serves as a forum for invested people to share ideas and make commitments to effect meaningful and lasting change in the world. Following this year’s meeting, which took place in New York City, September 20-22, CGI collaborated with Micro Documentaries to create a short inspiring video that shares pivotal moments and commitments made at the meeting. Watch the video below and see Molly make two cameo appearances!

Vote for Tostan and Molly Melching today!

2011-09-21T18:59:00.004Z

Tostan Founder and Executive Director Molly Melching is one of the five finalists for the Guardian International Development Achievement Award, which honors unsung heroes working to alleviate poverty worldwide! You will decide the winner through public voting on the Guardian website going on now until October 2nd. Celebrate and support the effective work Molly and Tostan are going to create positive change in Africa by voting for her here!

Supporting with Style: Carlyn Ring Finds Unique Way to Give

2011-09-20T17:37:00.001Z

Story by Elizabeth Clay, Development Associate

Carlyn Ring, a long-time Tostan supporter, spent part of her summer fundraising for the organization at the annual Arts Festival in Ketchum, Idaho in July.

For three full days, Carlyn tirelessly manned a tent decorated with colorful hand-beaded necklaces hanging from clotheslines and a framed sign telling visitors about her cause. Carlyn hand-made the necklaces, registered for the fair, and sold her craft all in order to support Tostan. She even handed out flyers and shared information about Tostan’s work in Africa with each passerby.

"Hundreds of new people now know about Tostan," she said, "and many of them told me that they thought it was a wonderful cause."

In preparation for the fair, Carlyn spent hours beading over 135 unique creations, 60 of which she sold over the summer. “It was a time consuming project, but I was happy to donate my time to Tostan,” she said.

Since the event, Carlyn has displayed the remaining necklaces in her home, continuing to raise awareness and money for Tostan among visiting friends.

Carlyn began supporting Tostan over ten years ago, after going on safari in Kenya and learning about female genital cutting (FGC). “I decided it was time to get involved,” she explained.

After learning about Tostan through a friend, Carlyn contacted Tostan Founder and Executive Director Molly Melching to find out how she could help. She has been a member of the Tostan family ever since.

"Carlyn is one of Tostan's most fervent and dedicated supporters," Molly said. "Her efforts to share Tostan's work with others is truly inspiring and I can't thank her enough for all she's done for Tostan over the years."

For more information about Carlyn’s necklaces, please email info@tostan.org.

Education First! A Tostan participant chooses education over child marriage

2011-09-16T17:57:00.000Z

Ayset Diallo, a 14-year-old girl from the village of Diamwély Peulh, Senegal, received three marriage proposals over the course of a few months. With her family’s support, Ayset rejected each suitor. Like other young girls living in the Kaolack region of Senegal, Ayset wants to get married when she is ready and to invest in her own future by continuing with her education.

Ayset and her parents

Ayset and her family are participants in Tostan’s “Empowering Communities to Empower Girls” project, also known as CEP+. In partnership with the Nike Foundation, the project focuses on improving the lives of rural adolescent girls in the Kaolack region of Senegal through the implementation of a modified version of Tostan’s Community Empowerment Program (CEP). With classes centered on human rights, health, and social norms, families have a space to openly discuss topics relevant to their lives, like child marriage and education for girls, and to make decision that will promote an empowered future for their daughters.

Click here to read more about Ayset’s story and the inspiring change being fostered through the “Empowering Communities to Empower Girls” project.

Mobilizing Change: Tostan participants featured in TrustLaw report on child marriage

2011-08-12T15:03:00.000Z

Three former participants in Tostan’s human rights-based education program, the Community Empowerment Program (CEP), from Keur Issa, Senegal were featured in a video and series of articles on TrustLaw earlier this month. These articles and video are part of a TrustLaw special multimedia report on child marriage. This report aims to increase people’s awareness of the realities of child/forced marriage and to highlight those who are working to end this practice.

Click here to read more about these inspiring changemakers.

Dakar Suburbs Prepare for a Brighter Future

2011-08-10T15:15:00.000Z

Story by Eliane Luthi Poirier, Communications Assistant in Dakar, Senegal

Guediawaye is far off the tourist radar. In this suburb of Dakar, residents live in cramped, spontaneous housing with little or no sanitary infrastructure. Many of them have come from other regions of Senegal in hopes of better economic opportunities.

During the rainy season, flooding is a daily reality here. Mosquitoes breed in the stagnant waters and water-borne illnesses proliferate. Upon arriving in the Medina Gounass neighborhood, I was brought to the water retention basin that the Senegalese government had created in hopes of alleviating the problem of flooding. The wired fencing around the basin had been broken and we saw children playing in the reeds lining the stagnant water.

Through the generous support of the Rapidan Foundation and the Epstein Family, Tostan has been working in Guediawaye since 2008. It’s the only neighborhood of Dakar where our Community Empowerment Program (CEP) is run (though we are running the program in Dakar’s prisons). The 30-month program is now coming to a close, and the 100 participants – all women – are preparing for their future.

I asked Nogoye Dieng, the coordinator of the Community Management Committee (CMC) of Medina Gounass II, whether Tostan’s program had responded to the specific needs of the residents here.

Nogoye Dieng, the coordinator of the
Community Management Committee of
Medina Gounass II

One of the great successes of the program, she said, was ensuring the local children went to school. “Before, people didn’t have papers here. Parents couldn’t sign up their children for school because the children didn’t have birth certificates. Now, when a child is born, his/her parents make sure to obtain papers.” Because of this, she explained, the number of children attending school has shot up.

CEP participants contributing a weekly sum
to their community fund

The other success story, she told us, was the establishment of a community fund and the teaching of income-generating activities, including soap making, the grinding of grains, beadwork, sewing and dyeing fabrics. The head of these activities, Marieme Fall, is blind. As the president of a regional association of the blind, she has much experience conducting income-generating activities for the members of her association. She may need help to find her way around, but her sharp wit and her long experience in the field commands a high level of respect among her fellow participants.

The community fund operates on the principle of solidarity, or jappal ma japp. Every Monday and Thursday, the group meets and each member makes a fixed contribution to the fund. The money is then given to one participant, on a rotating basis, and she invests the money in her income-generating activity.

Awa Ndiaye, a youth participant in the
program, has learned to read and write in Wolof

Half of the participants in the program are teenagers and young women. Many of them have come to Guediawaye to work as domestic workers. Awa Ndiaye was one of them. She told us she used to walk in front of the Rapidan Centre on her way to work and was curious to find out more. Now, after attending the program, she can read and write in Wolof. When she goes back to her home village, she said with pride, she can teach her family what she has learned. A fun part of the program, she added, was learning how to use her mobile phone to send text messages.

Today, Medina Gounass is celebrating all that they have achieved over the past three years at a social mobilization event. Music, animations, skits and games are all part of the festivities. A young girl is called up to recite the pillars of democracy. Not missing a beat, she lists all that she has learned in program.

Despite the festive mood, Nogoye Dieng admits her CMC has encountered some difficulties on the way. Storage space for the couscous the women grind is one of them. She would also like official certification from the Institut de Technologie Alimentaire as a marker of quality for the couscous.

What are her CMC’s plans now that the Tostan program is over?

“To me,” she said with a smile, “the program has only just begun.”

Tostan on PBS Religion and Ethics Newsweekly!

2011-07-18T19:15:00.004Z

On July 15th, Tostan was featured on PBS Religion and Ethics Newsweekly! PBS crew members Fred de Sam Lazaro, Tom Adair, and Nikki See traveled to rural Senegal to profile the abandonment of female genital cutting (FGC) among communities with which Tostan partners.

Discussing the unprecedented number of communities abandoning harmful practices, Molly Melching, Tostan’s founder and executive director, said: “Never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined that I would be sitting here years…[after the first public declaration], 13 years later, saying that 4,792 communities in Senegal had abandoned. In the beginning it was just unthought of, unbelievable, because it was so taboo.”

In 1997, 35 women in the village of Malicounda Bambara declared their abandonment of FGC and other harmful traditions upon learning about human rights and the negative effects of these practices through Tostan’s Community Empowerment Program (CEP), a human rights-based education program. From that first declaration, the movement has grown to include over 6,000 communities in six African countries.

The PBS crew was hosted by two communities involved in Tostan’s CEP. During their visit they met with CEP participants and Tostan team members as well as attended a CEP class, a community meeting, and a film screening. Tostan is currently collaborating with communities in eight African countries.

Click here or the image above to watch the PBS spotlight of Tostan!

Watch the full episode. See more Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly.

Exclusive Article on Molly Melching in the Financial Times

2011-06-27T21:12:00.000Z

Molly Melching, Tostan’s Founder and Executive Director, was featured in the Financial Times article “Turning Senegalese” on June 24, 2011. Interwoven within Melching’s personal journey to Senegal, the author, Candida Crewe, discusses the development of Tostan’s unique approach to creating positive change in African communities. She describes how Melching founded Tostan in response to the development initiatives she saw fail when outsiders acted without properly consulting village residents. In contrast, Tostan works collaboratively with communities to equip them with the knowledge and the confidence to realize their own development goals. Today, Tostan’s human rights education program is fostering sustainable development in eight countries in East and West Africa.

Tostan FAQ: FGC vs. FGM

2011-06-21T16:07:00.002Z

A Facebook contact recently posed a question to Tostan asking about the use of the term female genital cutting (FGC) versus female genital mutilation (FGM) when talking about this cultural practice. Gannon Gillespie, Tostan’s Director of External Relations, responded:

Dear Walter,

Thank you for your question, which is one we have received regularly for many years. Let me begin by saying that terminology around this issue is challenging. Three separate terms have been widely used to describe the practice: female circumcision, female genital mutilation, and female genital cutting. We avoid the term “circumcision,” as it incorrectly implies a parallel between FGC and male circumcision. Unfortunately, all other terms have limitations as well, and fall clearly short of accurately describing this practice—which has four major and infinite minor variations in practice around the world. No one term is truly “accurate”.

But we must use words, and so among these options, Tostan has for over 13 years chosen the term female genital cutting (FGC) based on what communities that are giving up the practice have told us: the term “cutting” allows them to accomplish more than the others because it is less judgmental and value-laden. As a result, the term is more effective for engaging groups in dialog around this practice, and eventually bringing about its end.

Let me be very, very clear. We do not use this term in an attempt to excuse or diminish the impact of the practice. I think anyone who has taken the time to learn about Tostan and watched the testimonies given by Tostan’s local partners, for example that of Marietou Diarra, knows that we are very far from hiding or excusing the real, significant consequences of this practice. Yet despite its serious health consequences, we have found that FGC itself is not done with the intent to “mutilate” a girl. Rather, parents who have their daughters cut want the best for them, and the practice is seen as a necessary step to enable her to be a fully accepted member of the community.

It seems counter-intuitive, but in our experience, if there is a dominant emotion involved in FGC, it is love—because not cutting your daughter risks her entire future. As explained by a former cutter turned Tostan advocate, Oureye Sall, in communities where FGC is practiced, community members will not eat food cooked by a woman who is not cut, will not accept water from her, will not even sit with her. She will have difficulty getting married. An uncut woman is viewed as unclean and therefore unable to participate fully in the community. With these social pressures, if a family chooses not to cut their daughter, they have risked severely damaging her social status. To imply that parents are actually “mutilating” their daughters through a decision made with love and concern for her well-being is unfair to them and risks alienating and offending them rather than convincing them to abandon the practice.

In addition, we have found that many communities do not fully understand the consequences of the practice—the effects of which are not always immediate or obvious, especially in cases of infections, tetanus, etc. Without an understanding of concepts such as germ theory, recognizing the true long-term health implications of FGC is difficult. When communities do get access to this information, presented in ways they trust, they come to understand the harm the practice causes and decide to stop—but if the person bringing these messages begins with judgmental terms, the chance of reaching this breakthrough disappears.

We should remember that all of us, no matter where we are from, tend to greet judgmental outsiders in similar ways. When our beliefs and actions are challenged or condemned by a stranger, we are likely to become defensive; rather than taking their concerns to heart, we view their accusation as an unwarranted and uninformed attack on our character. We certainly won’t feel inclined to change in order to satisfy this judgmental critic; we may even respond by holding on more tightly to the belief or action being questioned. Our experience has shown us that it is dialog and discussion that can lead to change, and dialog requires a relationship of trust and respect. But calling the practice “mutilation” prevents this relationship from developing and invites defensiveness rather than productive discourse.

And, if we take the example of Oureye Sall—who transformed her experience as a former cutter into a source of leadership against FGC—it becomes clear that we must avoid demonizing those who perform the practice. Oureye is not a “mutilator” and villain; she is a hero driven by her new knowledge. When she had cut girls, she did so because the experience and knowledge available to her told her it was right to do so. When she decided to stop and to become a champion of the movement to abandon FGC, it was because new experiences and new knowledge showed her that the practice was harmful and that change was necessary. Tostan’s experience has shown this to be the case for almost all cutters; they are not evil, they do not seek to “mutilate” girls or bring them harm, but rather they are acting based on what they believe is right.

Perhaps most importantly, we should be very cautious in labeling and stigmatizing the girls and women who have been cut. We do not believe it is our place to tell them that they are “mutilated.” As with other victims of violence, we believe they have the human right to self-identify in whatever manner they choose. I have personally met many women who have undergone FGC. Some prefer to call themselves mutilated, others simply “cut”, many others say less, or nothing, as they are not yet comfortable being public about this very private matter. And all of them (even those who themselves identify as “mutilated”) agree: women should be free to choose the term that best defines them, and that the term “mutilated” should not be forced upon them.

In short, our use of the term "FGC" is not apology, nor is it political correctness. It is simple practicality: this way of speaking opens doors to dialog that have led to thousands of communities standing up to abandon this practice, doors that more accusatory language would keep shut. We choose to use language that is working, that community leaders and evaluation data alike are telling us brings real, concrete change.

In keeping with the above approach, I can also tell you that we are not posting this in an effort to "fight" others who use different language. We respect the many differences of opinion on this truly complex subject and the language that accompanies it. We do encourage others to study our experiences, both in relation to FGC and the many, many other areas on which our program works. We hope to continue supporting community-led work in the field to ensure all girls--cut and uncut--have human dignity. These actions are our main focus, and we believe they speak much louder than words.

For those interested in learning more about FGC as a social norm, I recommend that you read “Female Genital Cutting: the Beginning of the End” an article by political scientist Gerry Mackie. The article explains why a program like Tostan’s can be effective in sparking a movement to abandon FGC. The section on pages 277-278 entitled “Propaganda and Prohibition” discusses the results of respect-based approaches versus shame-based approaches to effecting social change.

Sincerely,
Gannon Gillespie

African Youth Day Spotlights New Opportunities for Youth Prison Detainees

2011-06-17T16:41:00.015Z

Story by Eliane Luthi Poirier, Communications Assistant in Dakar, Senegal, and Alisa Hamilton, Program Assistant.

After learning about Tostan’s work partnering with Senegalese penitentiaries, we were thrilled to witness the impact of this partnership first-hand during the observance of African Youth Day at Hann youth prison in Dakar. On June 16, we joined other Tostan team members, prison staff, and notable guests, including the US Ambassador to Senegal Marcia S. Bernicat, in celebrating the day with the 59 teenage detainees of the prison.

US Ambassador to Senegal Marcia S.
Bernicat cuts the ribbon inaugurating
the well at the Hann youth prison.

Since 1999, Tostan has partnered with Senegalese state penitentiaries, including the Hann youth prison, in a unique initiative called the Prison Project. As part of this initiative, inmates participate in a condensed version of Tostan’s Community Empowerment Program (CEP), focusing primarily on family mediation, human rights education, and skills training. With this new knowledge and training inmates can more successfully reintegrate into society once they are released.

This year’s African Youth Day provided a perfect opportunity for the community to celebrate the progress of the teens at Hann youth prison as they make changes in their lives that will lead to an empowered future. This day-long event consisted of motivational speeches, the inauguration of a well for the prison, and enthusiastic dance performances and wrestling competitions.

Tostan Program Officer Penda Mbaye speaks about
the significance of African Youth Day at celebration
hosted at the Hann youth prison in Dakar.

Speaking to the crowd, Tostan Programme Officer Penda Mbaye recalled the sombre origins of the annual celebration: the 1976 march of children in Soweto, South Africa, that tragically ended in 23 deaths. Ms. Mbaye then detailed the progress of the project running in Hann, before closing with the essential point that “the most important resource of any community is its children.”

Other speakers also praised the Tostan program. The Director of the Hann prison, Awa Faye Ngom, lauded the commitment of Tostan to African youth while the US Ambassador expressed her pride in the work of the organization, reserving special praise for Tostan Programme Officer Penda Mbaye and Tostan Executive Director Molly Melching. Concluding her speech, Ambassador Bernicat turned to face the inmates and appealed to them: “Your country needs you: your energy, your ideas, your vigilance, and your participation in the economy and in society.”

US Ambassador to Senegal Marcia S.
Bernicat and Tostan Supervisor Aïssatou
Kébé pull out the first bucket of water
from the new well at Hann youth prison.
The well will provide detainees with water
for washing and benefit the agricultural
training program initiated by Tostan.

After the speeches, we made our way to the garden of the prison for the inauguration of a new well on the prison premises, the construction of which was funded primarily by a private donor. Ambassador Bernicat cut the ribbon with Tostan Supervisor Aïssatou Kébé at her side.

During lunch, which featured a traditional ceebu yapp dish of rice and meat, we spoke with Marie Nazon, a Haitian-American Fullbright Scholar working on the Prison Project. She stressed the value of the well as a source of clean water. Potable water was a major issue in the Hann facility prior to Tostan’s arrival. Before the well, she explained, the boys wouldn’t take part in sports, as they had nowhere to bathe after exercising.

Ms. Nazon told us that the well will also support the prison’s gardening project, in which inmates learn agricultural skills. She was excited by plans to expand the Prison Project at Hann to teach young prisoners to raise chickens and harvest eggs. Ms. Nazon stressed that learning such skills for income-generation is key to preventing recidivism.

Ibrahim Cissé, the Garden Supervisor, talks about the importance of the well at the prison.

The festivities continued into the afternoon with a traditional Senegalese wrestling competition. Five rounds of fighting took place with commentary by a charismatic prison employee. After each victory, the other boys would rush into the arena to cheer and dance for the winner and even the director of the prison joined in the dancing after the final match. Following the competition, the boys performed a skit, a rap, and a song to entertain the audience

Ms. Ngom brought the African Youth Day celebration to a close with her final, inspiring remarks directed at the teenage inmates: "This is just a phase in your lives. Have confidence and perseverance and you will leave here and go on to live prosperous lives."

After these strong words, everyone, including the boys, prison guards, and audience members, broke into dance as people exited the performance area.

The Power of 20 Watts

2011-06-07T15:06:00.001Z

Story by Matthew Boslego, Assistant to the National Coordinator in Guinea Bissau

Volunteering is a time of self-discovery for many, and it wasn’t very long into my time with Tostan in Guinea-Bissau before I realized that throughout most of my life I have had what should be considered a superpower: freedom from the limitations of night and day. When I walk into a dark room, rather than stumble around, I simply flick a switch, thus turning darkness into light at my command. If I need to study, finish some household chores, or just hang out after dark I can instantly provide visibility for myself and those around me without much effort. As with many people who have grown accustomed to having this incredible power, I wasn’t able to fully appreciate the impact of having light regularly at my disposal. It wasn’t until recently, during a visit to communities in Guinea-Bissau that had recently installed solar panels for the first time as part of Tostan’s Solar Power! Project, that I realized what a huge difference a little bit of electricity can make.

My first visit to the village of Cambajú took place in February to report on the delivery of the solar panels. Being my first trip to the interior of the country, I was fascinated by the new scenery around me: villages with enormous mud-brick granaries, swamps filled with wild birds, and herds of cattle. As we approached, I began to hear singing and drums above the din of diesel engines. Upon entering the village, we were received by a parade of women, children, and elders who welcomed us. Everyone was so excited that the village would soon have access to electricity, which awakened my curiosity. I wondered how electricity would change village life and how people would use it. I resolved to return to Cambajú following the installation of the panels to witness the impact of electricity myself.

A couple of weeks ago, I finally got this chance. Once I returned to Cambajú, the first person I talked to was one of the Solar Power! Project engineers, Assanatu Baldé. The central mission of the Solar Power! Project is to train women—specifically mothers and grandmothers—to become solar electrical engineers. Often illiterate and with little or no technical knowledge, the women go to Barefoot College in India for a thorough six month training course where they learn how to assemble, install, and maintain solar panels. After the engineers complete their training, they then return to their communities to install and maintain the panels that bring electricity to their communities for the first time.

Assanatu’s and the other solar engineers’ knowledge of solar electronics was incredible; a large pile of assembled circuits attested to their abilities. Their mastery of their task was proving to be a huge asset to their village, ensuring that all the panels ran smoothly for the beneficiaries. I left the engineers to their work and headed back into the village.

I later ran into Idrissa Baldé, better known in the village as “Jorge da Mata,” and his wife Cadijatu. Idrissa was very enthusiastic to talk about the solar panel that Assanatu recently installed on his home. Following introductions, I asked Idrissa how the panel had improved his life. “Now,” he said, “my kids can stay up later and play safely instead of having to go to sleep right after sunset. From now until they grow up this will be great for them.” The family’s children are just starting school so they don’t have much homework yet, but, looking to the future, Cadijatu explained that, “at night if they have work, they can just sit down and do it.” Before having solar electricity in their home such a simple thing as being able to do homework at night was impossible.

I then met with a representative of the village Imam, Sadu Baldé, to get a feel for the community-wide impact that the panels were having. Sadu himself had a panel running at his home and appeared very satisfied. “It’s great!” he said. “During the day I can focus more on my work, and at night I can study the Koran at home with my family. Before it got so dark at night, but now each house with a solar panel is illuminated as if it were daytime. We don’t live in darkness anymore.”

Seeing the way solar panels could change life in a community has been one of many perspective shifting experiences I´ve been through since arriving in Guinea-Bissau. I was amazed by the impact of the panels - so many simple things I’ve always taken for granted, like being able to read at night, were not possible before the panels arrived. I left Cambajú more appreciative and proud to be helping with such a meaningful project!

Back to Where It Began: A Public Declaration in Mbour, Senegal

2011-05-20T15:38:00.001Z

Story by Will Schomburg, Communications Assistant in Dakar, Senegal

We talk a lot about public declarations at Tostan, and rightly so. It often takes years of Tostan facilitated discussions on human rights, health and hygiene before communities unite in their decision to abandon female genital cutting (FGC) and child/forced marriage. In the run up, planning and preparation both here in Dakar, where our headquarters are located, and at the regional coordination where the public declaration is to be held, ensures that the event runs smoothly. Everything from the transportation of attendants from across Senegal and beyond to the traditional ceebu yapp dish of rice and meat devoured after the event, is painstakingly organized by participant communities, staff, and volunteers. Due to the nature of Tostan’s work and our mission to support capacity building of those least connected to metropolitan society, this often means these landmark gatherings are in the most remote corners of the countries in which we work.

On Sunday May 8th, a public declaration took place in Mbour, Senegal, where we witnessed 22 communities renounce these harmful cultural practices. The day was deeply emblematic of the new way in which rural villages across the continent are taking the lead in their own development. As Tostan Executive Director Molly Melching highlighted when thanking those present, declarations in this area of Senegal are symbolic as in 1997, the village of Malicounda Bambara, also in the department of Mbour, was the first community to declare its abandonment of FGC and thus laying a path for communities throughout Senegal and across Africa to follow suit.

Women community leaders marched through the
village holding a banner declaring "We can fully abandon
FGC in Senegal."

The day of the public declaration started with a lively march that brought a crowd of hundreds through the streets of Mbour to an esplanade in the centre of town where the declaration would later take place. Participants and community members, young and old, filed in and took their seats under the bright canopies that provided shade from the mounting sun. A wave of excitement rippled through the crowds as dignitaries mingled, children played and community members chatted jovially.

During a brief interlude between the long string of speeches, I struck up a conversation with the woman I happened to be sitting next to, Jeatou Njage, a Tostan facilitator. I was keen to ask her what she felt the main benefits of the Community Empowerment Program (CEP) were to the community.

“People had never heard of human of rights before Tostan came to these villages, and communities would never really talk to each other,” Jeatou explained. She went on to tell me that since Tostan’s arrival in the region, this lack of communication and knowledge of human rights has slowly changed, stating, “it was sometimes quite difficult but we helped villagers to talk to each other and us about their rights and their hopes for the future. We were able to talk to women about their rights and their health for the first time. This knowledge became the motivation for communities to abandon [FGC].”

A konkoran, representing a traditional Jola spirit,
performed to the delight of young and old.

After the speeches, a marching band and group of drummers provided the beats for the singers and dancers as they entertained the crowd with traditional performances. The most impressive of these performers were the extraordinary dancing konkorans. Covered head to toe in long yellow grasses that exaggerate their every complex move, these artists represent a good spirit in Jola culture. The valorization of positive cultural expression and indeed its employment pedagogically is at the heart of Tostan’s approach. Facilitators and communities often use traditional African song, drama and dance as an awareness raising tool as we witnessed in the dramatic sketch CEP participants presented to an eager audience. The performance dealt with the issue of child marriage, as an adolescent girl was encouraged to marry an older man against her will. Her parents insisted she comply with their wish, but this young woman was keen to complete her education and consequently was shunned by her relations. In the end, through family mediation, dialogue and education this daughter came back to her family and happily went on to finish her studies. An eldery man I sat next to cooed ‘c’est bon’ or ‘it’s good’ to himself as the play came to an end and those around us applauded. I felt little could have been more representative of changing attitudes that day than this reception the sketch received.

The afternoon was brought to a close as various community representatives read the declarations in Dioula, Mandinke and Pulaar as well as French, underscoring Tostan’s commitment to local culture in its facilitation of the CEP in national languages.

That Sunday was of course a celebration but more than that, a turning point for 22 dynamic communities who are determined to further the health and development of their daughters and sons alike, for generations to come.

Portrait of a Leader: Oumou Ndiaye

2011-05-13T18:32:00.001Z

Redefining Women’s Empowerment in Mboss, Senegal

Story by Sarah Freeman-Woolpert, Operations Assistant in Tostan's DC Office, and Sarah Harris, Nike Project Manager for Tostan Senegal

It takes initiative, innovation and courage to stand up and say,”What we are doing is not working.” It is assertions like this one that changed the village of Mboss in the Kaolack region of Senegal when the women’s association decided the time had come to change their leadership and approach.

Oumou Ndiaye was one of the assertive women who decided things needed to change in her community. After joining the village’s Community Management Committee (CMC) in 2009, Oumou started to realize why the local women’s association had become inactive. The group was run in a top-down approach with members following the leader’s decisions without question or discussion. Oumou recalled feeling that while the women’s association had been in existence for 20 years, “it was sleeping.”

As community members participated in the Tostan Community Empowerment Program (CEP) classes, an idea took root: in a democratic society, every voice matters. One woman in the association explained, “Before, we did not have the confidence to speak up…we thought, ‘Well, the association president is an elder, so we should follow what she says.’ Now, we know that we each have our rights, and it is our responsibility to speak up and participate in the decision-making of the association.”

Inspired by this idea, women in the community realized it was their responsibility to fix a broken system and begin leading the women’s group in an open, accepting and empowering way.

Fortune would have it, Caurie Microfinance, a close collaborator with Tostan, expressed interest in implementing a microfinance initiative in Mboss. This opportunity emboldened the women’s association to turn their calls for change into action. The women knew that in order to properly manage any loans granted by Caurie, the group’s leadership would need to be refreshed and community enthusiasm for the association would need to increase.

In November 2010, the village chief, also a member of Tostan’s CEP classes, learned of the women’s desire to change association leadership. He called a meeting of association members, facilitating a nonthreatening atmosphere for a discussion to take place. It was at this meeting that the women diplomatically and democratically elected a new leader: Oumou Ndiaye.

Under Oumou’s leadership, the women’s association changed the way they managed money and thus enabled the group to increase their level of engagement in their community’s economic growth. They invested their finances in income-generating activities, transforming their formerly stagnant resources into a profit source.

“We did not know how to put our money to work,” Oumou explained. “Now, we have used that money to buy chairs and cooking pots that we rent out for celebrations, and the money from these rentals goes back into the women's association's fund.”

Mboss was one of two villages selected to receive funding from Caurie. Through the initiative, each woman in the association received a loan of 50,000 CFA (approximately $110 USD) to repay over six months. To support the women, representatives from Caurie visit Mboss each month to work with the loan recipients and increase their understanding of financial management.

“Before, we didn't know what was going into our association fund, what was going out, and what was left,” Oumou said. “Now we get together and talk about these things so that everyone in the group knows. We document this by writing it down.”

Despite her role as the president of the women’s group, Oumou has not become attached to the power of her position. She constantly reaffirms the idea that every five years, leadership should be changed, regardless of whether she is re-elected to the position.

“The women's association leadership had not changed in 20 years, and now we know that that is not the way an association should be organized,” she asserted. “In five years, we should refresh the association's leadership again.”

Oumou’s commitment to involving all members in decision-making directly aligns with Tostan’s inclusive approach to community-led development. Through open dialog, these women have taken progressive, ambitious steps for the betterment of their community as a whole and for the ideals of democracy.

But change in Mboss did not end with the women’s association. Oumou explained that other associations in Mboss have undergone similar changes to leadership. The women’s association hopes to use the lessons and experiences they gained to guide other groups in replicating their model and refreshing community leadership.

Following the success of the women’s association microcredit initiative, international development organization Freedom from Hunger is now exploring the possibility of implementing a youth microcredit program in Mboss. Following the display of initiative, courage, and ingenuity of their mothers, enterprising youth are now taking a larger role in their futures. The women of Mboss not only acted as inspirational figures to other associations, but they are influencing their children’s actions and aspirations as well.

VOICES OF TOSTAN: Jonah Meyers

2011-05-09T19:13:00.000Z

Interview with a Regional Volunteer

Jonah Meyers is Tostan’s regional volunteer in the Fouta region, Senegal. He recently chatted with communications assistant, Will Schomburg, about his experiences at the half way point of his service.

Will Schomburg: Could you tell our readers a bit about what you were doing before you came to Africa?

Jonah Meyers: I'm originally from Columbia, Maryland and now an undergraduate at the University of Maryland, College Park. I study anthropology, international development, and French. I lived in France for a year after high school, and wanted to continue my French language skills in a development context in West Africa. Other than school stuff, I spend a lot of time in the outdoors; I like to mountain bike, rock climb, etc.

WS: What drew you to Tostan specifically?

JM: What drew me to Tostan was a combination of being impressed with their work and the opportunity to volunteer with them over a long period. It's difficult to find an international development internship with little experience without having to pay somebody, so Tostan was the perfect fit. Not only do they have an awesome volunteer program, their approach in the field is pretty unique in its grassroots approach and has really been a catalyst for change in Senegal for health, education, and so many other issues.

WS: What are your views on what Tostan does?

JM: I think Tostan does really important work here in Senegal and in the other countries the NGO has worked in. Whenever I go to a village the community thanks Tostan for all the changes that have happened, from women being more comfortable speaking in public to a water tower being funded by the village and the government. It's important to say though, as well, that Tostan's work wouldn't be possible without the dynamic and motivated leaders it works with in the communities.

WS: What do you think makes Tostan different?

JM: What makes Tostan different is its effort to create a truly holistic program. With a director who has lived in Senegal for over 30 years and a staff over 99% African, the program is tailored to the local cultures and centers on important collaboration. The staff knows that development needs to address every possible issue in the community. For example, without health a community cannot prosper economically or continue to educate itself, and without respecting human rights a population cannot be truly healthy. Tostan has really figured it out over the past 20 years and I reckon gotten it right.

WS: Can you describe your role?

JM: I'm the Regional Volunteer in the Fouta coordination. That means I assist
the Regional Coordinator and the staff with a lot of different things. Generally, I have a lot of administrative responsibilities like writing reports and going on village tours in order to supply donors with good village portraits. I also help organize staff events, visits by donors and partners, attend some of our events in the region, work on the website, teach IT skills, and many other things. An initiative of my own I'm working on at the moment is starting a partnership with Peace Corps volunteers from the regions that we work in.

WS: What have you enjoyed the most so far?

JM: Hands down, sitting around with the people. Even if I don't understand much Pulaar, I like to sit around and learn, drink sweet tea and eat grilled corn on the cob. The people here are amazingly nice; Senegal is the country of hospitality, or terranga as it is locally called.

WS: Can you mention one interesting thing you've experienced since arriving?

JM: I usually find myself laughing at situations I'm in because I would have never imagined something happening. But one funny thing that happened was when I had to chase goats out of our office while I was on Skype with my brother.

WS: What has been your biggest challenge?

JM: My biggest challenge has been balancing my own desires with those of the people surrounding me. In Senegalese culture it's often rude to refuse an invitation, especially when it comes to eating. I've gotten frustrated when people expected me to eat with them and then gotten mad when I didn't show up for dinner, for example. After making a couple mistakes I tried to please everybody, which meant I also wasn't always doing what I wanted to do. It's important to find a balance between being friendly and fitting in here and also making yourself comfortable and happy, which I think I'm finally getting the hang of after a few months.

WS: What would you say to people thinking about applying to Tostan or more generally considering development work in Africa?

JM: Africa may not be rich in dollars, shiny cars and nice apartments, but it is rich in warmth and friendship. Take advantage of your situation to get to know the people around you. It will not only give you a better understanding of your work, but will also help the local community to understand (and hopefully appreciate) your efforts if not your results, as well.

WS: What will you miss most about Senegal? What do you miss most about the US?

JM: Due to the weather and the social status here, the lifestyle is completely different. I like sleeping on my roof, and walking to get good bread in the mornings, both of which are more difficult to do in the States. What I miss most about home, besides friends and family, is food. Things like cheese, granola, pizza, and generally just a wide variety of food options that doesn't exist here.

WS: What do you think has been the most important thing you have learnt in Senegal?

JM: Senegal has made me a lot calmer. In the U.S. I get antsy sitting around for more than a half an hour. Here I can literally sit in the same place and not get up for six hours. I've done it, provided there's a big bowl of food to share and some tea to follow. Besides that, living in Africa is just such a humbling experience. Meeting the kindest people who don't have electricity gets you thinking about why people in my hometown get upset about the smallest things and how unreasonable we can be when we have so much more.
WS: What do you hope to do next?

JM: In life? Well I need to finish school and then I'll see what happens. Maybe I'll be back in Senegal at some point to an international development job. Or I might just go climb rocks for a bit, we'll see.

WS: What do you hope to have achieved at the end of your service here?

JM: I don't want to think about my stay here as results-oriented. I do want to leave happy with my service, feeling like I've developed personally and professionally and contributed to Tostan's work here.

VOICES OF TOSTAN: Sarah Freeman-Woolpert

2011-05-03T14:30:00.006Z

An organization is nothing without the passion and dedication of the team of individuals behind it. Tostan is comprised of talented, committed people ranging from village elders to directors, Community Empowerment Program facilitators and participants to volunteers and interns. Each individual contributes his or her unique personality and skills to further the work of Tostan, thus creating a dynamic environment in which positive change can take place.

We would like to highlight the diversity of interests, talents, and backgrounds within the Tostan team here on the blog in a series entitled Voices of Tostan. Specifically, we will explore what brought each unique voice to Tostan and why Tostan’s efforts to bring about positive social change are significant and meaningful to each individual.

Voices of Tostan Story by Sarah Freeman-Woolpert, Operations Assistant in the Tostan DC Office

The summer before starting as an intern at Tostan’s D.C. office, I graduated high school in Pembroke, New Hampshire. The previous year, while participating in an advanced studies summer program called “Changing the World,” I learned how non-violence and humanization are tools that can be implemented to create positive social change. After the course ended, I felt the need to become more engaged with the world. I sought a way to assume a more active role in my education, to explore possibilities outside the confines of textbook lessons and rote memorization. To pursue these aspirations, I chose to take a gap year before entering college at The George Washington University where I am planning to study journalism and international affairs.

Through a connection to the Bhutanese refugee community in my hometown, I decided to spend the first half of the year traveling through India and Nepal for a mixed experience of tourism, volunteer work, and non-traditional education.

For the second half of the year, I researched internship programs in Washington, D.C. that would bring me full-circle from my hands-on experiences traveling and seeing problems firsthand to a position working with the issues in a more organized, effective manner. Coming from a town with just over 7,000 residents and a fairly homogenous population, I knew the year ahead would be mentally and emotionally challenging in my quest to gain a deeper understanding both of myself and the nature of the world beyond the limits of my community.

Fortunately, Tostan’s website surfaced during my search. As I read through the project descriptions and articles, I realized that interning for Tostan would not mean choosing between an experience with women’s empowerment, rural education, sustainability, or community development, but would mean gaining an experience that approaches the interplay between all these topics as a method for development. An internship at Tostan would expose me to methods of creating social change on several fronts to holistically prepare me for a career in social justice and community development.

Before leaving for India, I submitted an application to Tostan’s Internship Program and bought a copy of Half the Sky. I hoped I would be able to use the lessons and experiences I gained abroad to contribute a new perspective to an organization that does such meaningful work on the community level. As I backpacked through northern India and volunteered with imprisoned children in Nepal, I saw a scale of poverty and need that overwhelmed me with a heavy sense of helplessness. I remember thinking, ‘If I am accepted to Tostan’s internship program, I will be able to contribute to positive social change in a way that I can’t now.’ My worldview and desire to make a positive impact were growing every day; Tostan seemed like the ideal place to explore those new perceptions.

In Kathmandu, I stayed up all night reading about forced marriages and human trafficking in Half the Sky by the light of my flashlight. When I reached the chapter about Tostan’s work and the villages that declared to abandon female genital cutting, I felt proud of my distant connection to an organization that takes so much time to work with communities, empowering them to make their own choices about their lives. I have enormous respect for the way Tostan gives communities ownership of their decisions for change instead of dictating culturally irrelevant ideas down a detached Western chain of command.

On Thanksgiving Day, I returned to the familiar, safe, and snow-coated world I had always known. But I faced new and unexpected difficulties relating to my friends, many of whom have never left New England. I had no idea how to begin digesting and coming to terms with my experience. Isolated and left out from all the stories of dorm room drama, I sought out my parents’ Peace Corps friends for comforting conversations, finding companionship with others who had more experience with this kind of transition. One of my mom’s friends summarized my feelings by explaining, “On the outside you look and act the same, so everyone assumes you are. But inside, everything is different.”

When I received my acceptance as the Operations and Internship Program Assistant in Tostan’s D.C. office, I was overcome with relief and couldn’t wait to begin. Though I was intimidated by being the youngest intern, it was an enormous comfort to find a community of people who had traveled to similar places and dealt with the same emotional mosaic of inspiration, guilt, discomfort, and sadness that comes from seeing so much hurt without possessing an immediate way to help.

The aspect of Tostan I find most personally rewarding is the atmosphere of our office. The interns and staff members come from extremely diverse backgrounds and speak from a breadth of experiences based on their nationalities, courses of study and career paths. The fact that our team discusses development and world issues from individual experiences makes our jobs that much more personally rewarding. This sense of connection to the work we do ensures that we develop strong ties to Tostan’s mission, incorporating Tostan’s respectful and culturally sensitive approach into our own personal values and daily conduct.

For the past two months, Tostan has not only exposed me to the inner workings of an international non-profit organization, but it has broadened my knowledge of African cultures, traditional practices, and ways of life I never considered having grown up in New England. I realize now that there are two sides to many arguments about cultural practices and approaches to community development, and it’s important to listen to a wide range of perspectives in order to see past our own cultural contexts to gain an insightful understanding of these multi-faceted issues and possible solutions.

The diversity of the interns and staff at the DC office speaks to Tostan’s commitment to gathering a diverse array of perspectives and approaches to gain a deeper insight into different regions, issues, and ways of life. Tostan’s focus on building bridges of understanding causes me to rethink my preconceived notions and subconscious prejudices every day, and it challenges me to respect, listen to, and empower others in my daily interactions while learning methods of increasing education and social justice throughout the international community as a whole.

Pop Culture Used to Encourage FGC Abandonment

2011-04-22T18:49:00.000Z

Sister Fa, the Senegalese “Queen of Hip-Hop,” uses pop culture to spark discussion of FGC, a harmful, centuries-old practice. Her lyrics spread awareness of the harmful consequences of FGC and of the possibility of a life free from those consequences. As part of her “Education sans Excision” (Education without FGC) project, she toured through Africa encouraging community-wide conversations about the practice. Here is a video about her efforts.

The Element of Faith in the Advancement of Human Rights

2011-04-19T15:44:00.000Z

Story by Courtney Petersen, Tostan Communications Assistant in Washington, DC

I sat in my chair, captivated, focusing my eyes on the strong, but kind Senegalese man to my left and my ears tuned to the English translation of his words from the person on my right.

“Human rights are divine rights,” he said. “It’s man’s relationship with his religion that must be reviewed.”

The man speaking, Mohamed Cherif Diop, Islamic Rights Specialist and Child Protection Program Officer at Tostan, was one of several human rights activists gathered at The Carter Center and Women Thrive Worldwide event in Washington, DC on April 7th. This event, hosted by Sojourners, was entitled “A Dialogue on Faith, Belief, and the Advancement of Women’s Human Rights in Africa” and featured an inspiring panel of traditional and religious leaders and women’s rights activists from Senegal, Liberia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Tostan’s Executive Director Molly Melching, Tostan staff from Dakar and Washington, interns, and Community Empowerment Program (CEP) participants from Senegal were all in attendance.

Karin Ryan, Director of The Carter Center Human Rights
Program, welcomed all to contribute to the dialogue on
faith, belief, and human rights.

The discussion that day was a satellite event of The Carter Center Human Rights Defenders Forum, which took place in Atlanta, Georgia a few days prior. Both the forum and satellite event were inspired by a speech given by former US President Jimmy Carter. In this speech he called attention to the fact that throughout history many religious leaders wrongly use religion as a tool to deprave women of their human rights. He quotes a statement by The Elders, whom he is a part of, saying, “the justification of discrimination against women and girls on grounds of religion or tradition, as if it were prescribed by a Higher Authority, is unacceptable."

Stirred by President Carter’s speech and further dialogue at the Defenders Forum, Diop echoed this sentiment at the DC event. Following insightful questions and comments by fellow activists, he made the clear point that human rights are not incompatible with religion, but rather human rights are the very essence of religious belief. He emphasized that human rights are divine rights for everyone, men and women. It is scripture, he argued, that reestablishes these human rights in society, specifically women’s rights, not the other way around. According to Diop, it is the job of men and women to revisit this idea of dignity, equality, and respect taught in scripture and then to use that knowledge to promote human rights in their communities.

Tostan team members at The Carter Center and
Women Thrive Worldwide event in Washington.

In an effort to raise awareness of this point among Muslims in Senegal, Diop compiled a list of Koranic verses that preach equality and profound respect for human rights, specifically the rights of women. It served as a call to his faith community to reevaluate their perception of the rights of all people.

He finished his comments by saying he and the other activists will return to Africa and will “build a critical mass of religious leaders to show [they] support the rights of women…to say religion does support this.” His words were met with an energetic round of applause, the sound itself symbolizing a call to action.

As I listened to the words of Mohamed Cherif Diop and the other determined and sincere religious and traditional leaders from across Africa, I recognized the truth in their statements. Regardless of which religious belief a person prescribes to, human rights make the foundation of that belief. By making religious and traditional leaders key actors in the movement to advance human rights worldwide, safety, respect, and equality for all people will be within reach for everyone.

To read more about the experiences of other human rights activists who attended The Carter Center Human Rights Defenders Forum click on the links below.

Molly Melching, Founder and Executive Director of Tostan

Marina Mahathir, Daughter of the Former Prime Minister of Malaysia and Long-time Columnist for The Star Online (Malaysia)

Afternoons in Samba Tacko, The Gambia

2011-04-15T19:21:00.001Z

Story by Kirby Tyrrell, Assistant to the National Coordinator at Tostan’s office in Basse, The Gambia

Situated under a mango tree, the shade providing a slight reprieve from the 100-degree weather, a group of 25-30 women were arranged in a circle around a blackboard. Some women carried sleeping babies on their backs, while others held fidgety children in their laps, but all were focused on the woman leading the discussion. She was a Tostan facilitator and I had arrived at a Tostan Community Empowerment Program (CEP) class in the village of Samba Tacko.

Samba Tacko is a village located about four kilometers from Basse, the town where Tostan’s field office in The Gambia is located and where I have been making my home for the past two months. Tostan works in over one hundred villages in The Gambia, all located in the Upper River Region, the region furthest east in the country. Though I have visited a number of other villages during my time here, Samba Tacko always stands out in my mind.

I first visited for purely social reasons. Fanta, a volunteer at the Tostan office, mentioned that her village would be hosting a program that weekend to celebrate a boy’s coming of age ceremony, and I quickly accepted her offer to attend. I arrived that Sunday afternoon dressed in my completo, a traditional Gambian outfit, not knowing what to expect. Fanta quickly took my arm and walked me around the village, where I used my limited Fula language skills to greet her mother, grandfather, friends, and other community members. We wandered back and forth between her compound, where we shared bowls of rice and looked at photographs of her friends and family, and a neighboring compound, where women were making food for the evening’s ceremony.

Due to the inland location and hot temperatures, there is little tourism in the town of Basse. Therefore, when I walk to work or wander around the market, I have become accustomed to stares or calls of “Toubab! Toubab!” (a complimentary term for “-foreigner”). It is not meant pejoratively and does not especially bother me, but in Fanta’s village, sitting among other women as we all relaxed and watched the activity around us, I appreciated the sense of calm and belonging that I had not yet experienced in The Gambia. I quickly felt at home in Samba Tacko and many hours passed before I realized it was starting to get dark and I should be on my way back to my compound.

Arriving in this village for the CEP class weeks later, I was immediately struck by this same sense of comfort. Women that I recognized warmly came to greet me, remembering my name and welcoming me back. It was especially meaningful to watch these same women actively participate in that day’s CEP class and share the new information they learned with those around them.

Tostan has been working in The Gambia since 2006 and has implemented its CEP in 70 Mandinka villages and 40 Fula villages. Samba Tacko, a Fula village, began the CEP in 2008 and will conclude the program in May 2011. They are currently in the Aawde II phase of the program, during which they learn reading, writing, and basic math as they revisit topics previously covered in earlier sections of the CEP, including human rights, democracy, health, and hygiene.

The class discussion topic for this day was prevention and treatment of diarrhea. One by one each woman demonstrated how to make oral rehydration solution for someone experiencing dehydration from diarrhea, or how to properly wash hands to prevent the spread of germs. Before participating in the CEP, many of these women did not know how to read or write, but now some women read aloud from their lesson books while others wrote on the blackboard. After each presentation, everyone in the class applauded and the women returned to their chairs, smiling with pride because of their achievements.

These women will now be able to recognize and sign their names on documents and solve basic mathematic equations, and they will be able to use these skills in micro-credit projects that are often established in villages after they conclude the CEP. I am excited for future visits to Samba Tacko, to greet these women again and see what they’re working on next.

Tostan Participates in Carter Center Forum to Promote Women’s Rights

2011-04-12T18:52:00.005Z

On April 3-6, Molly Melching, Tostan’s Executive Director, and four key Tostan team members from Senegal joined 35 other human rights advocates, religious leaders, and scholars at The Carter Center in Atlanta, Georgia. The inspiring and committed group gathered to discuss what role religious, traditional, and government institutions play in the protection and advancement of human rights.

Click here to read Tostan Executive Director Molly Melching’s reflection on the event.

A Reflection on Student-Led Philanthropy

2011-04-11T15:01:00.000Z

The closing element to Eastside College Preparatory School’s philanthropy project was an awards ceremony at which all of the participating student groups shared what they learned about their selected organization with their fellow students and other audience members. After their presentation, the students presented giant checks to representatives of their chosen organizations. Paige Kaneb, a long-time friend and supporter, agreed to attend the ceremony on behalf of Tostan and express our thanks to all in attendance.

Paige and her family have been actively following and supporting the work of Tostan since 2008. Their interest and passion for community-led development inspired them to travel to Northern Senegal in 2009 and experience firsthand the community education and empowerment initiatives taking place in Tostan partner communities. Paige is a lawyer by profession, currently working as Supervising Attorney at the Northern California Innocence Project, where she works to help bring justice to wrongly-convicted people.

A message from Paige:

On Thursday, March 31, I attended a philanthropy celebration on behalf of Tostan. Seventh and eighth graders in groups of three or four presented non-profits working towards meeting the UN's Millennium Development Goals that they had chosen to donate to. The students were amazing. They talked about how this experience had taught them that they could make a difference, that they could do it as children, and could continue to change the world throughout their lives. They talked about their organizations, why they chose that non-profit and what it did.

One of three group posters about Tostan

When it came to present Tostan, 14 students walked up on stage—all had chosen Tostan. One student spoke of how difficult it was for her to read about how women are treated differently in other countries and to learn that they don't have the same rights as men. Another spoke of female genital cutting and how many young girls die from the procedure. They presented numbers, statistics and each of them discussed some of Tostan's work and what this meant to them. I fought back tears a few times as I listened to them—so young and eager, but also so globally conscious, intelligent and enthusiastic.

They presented me with a giant check for $750, made out to Tostan, and next to the word "for" was written "being an amazing organization." It was signed by all 14 students. The event and the students were inspiring, and I feel fortunate that I was able to go, listen to the students and accept this tremendous donation on behalf of Tostan, which really is an amazing organization.

The Unlikely Solar Engineer

2011-04-06T18:46:00.001Z

Story by Caitlin Snyder, Tostan Volunteer in Kolda Region, Senegal

Imagine spending all your life in your village of 500. You only ever leave to walk three hours to the nearest village with electricity to recharge your cell phone. On rare occasions, you'll grab a seat in a passing car to visit relatives further away.

Now imagine that you find out you're about to travel to another continent to study solar engineering.

Lamarana Ba didn't need to imagine any of this. The Tostan participant and Community Management Committee (CMC) member of three years left her village one morning to visit with friends and returned later that day to discover that she would be traveling to New Delhi, India as part of an exciting solar energy partnership with Tostan’s Solar Power! Project and the Barefoot College.

Lamarana Ba (left) with friend

The 41-year-old vegetable-seller has lived in Kibaasa, a village in the region of Kolda, southern Senegal, since childhood; Lamarana helped her father in his fields, met her future husband, and raised their seven children all in the small community nestled close to the Gambian border.

Always bustling and ready to share a smile, everyone in Kibaasa knows Lamarana for her neighborhood visits. Her confidence made her the natural choice when the village's 56 Tostan participants came together to elect a community representative for their public health committee. Lamarana's friendly house calls increasingly incorporated discussions about hygiene and family well-being.

When it came to organizing a weekly village cleanup day, Lamarana had no difficulty in getting the community involved; she rings a bell once a week and all the villagers come prepared. Kibaasa's paths and yards are spotless today thanks to this woman’s leadership.

Kibaasa communitiy members

The energy and activism that Lamarana has brought to her position are characteristic of the entire Kibaasa CMC. Recognizing the village's leadership in local development, Tostan invited Kibaasa to take part in an innovative program spearheaded by the Barefoot College. The non-profit promotes sustainable rural development around the world and trains women and men from remote communities to install and maintain solar panels.

For villages like Kibaasa, these panels mean that the community has immediate access to electricity for the first time. Cell phones are more easily recharged, facilitating business and contact with relatives far away. Hours lost walking to a village with electricity can now be invested in caring for family well-being or studying for school.

Kibaasa didn't hesitate when it came time to elect their delegate to the Barefoot College. Everybody agreed that Lamarana was the natural choice to bring business savvy and initiative to the position, which will involve building a sustainable microenterprise around community solar panel usage. Lamarana will apply the small business skills she learned in Tostan classes to develop a pricing system and usage parameters to maximize benefits for her new clients.

In early March 2011, Lamarana and another Tostan participant flew across Africa to join other community activists from around the world at the Barefoot College. When they return home in six months time, the two women will rejoin their families and friends as certified engineers—the first in their villages.

Already a locus of development thanks to the energy of community members, Kibaasa will soon shine even brighter.

Crossing Boundaries: Communities From Senegal and Mali Come Together To Declare Their Abandonment Of Harmful Cultural Practices

2011-04-01T16:13:00.002Z

Story by Aude Muillez and Will Schomburg, Tostan Volunteers in Senegal

Located in the far east of Senegal, the Kéniéba zone of Tambacounda region, which leans against the border with Mali, certainly feels far away from cosmopolitan Dakar. It was only after a long, off-road journey through an arid terrain peppered with colossal Baobab trees that we finally arrived at the host village of Gathiary. This community belongs to the minority Soninke tribe with a distinctive language and culture, found primarily in this eastern outpost and across the border in Mali. Visitors to Senegal often praise the country’s hospitality, referred to locally as terranga, and this minority community was no exception-- the villagers went to every length imaginable to ensure we were made to feel welcome and comfortable.

We were in Gathiary as the village was playing host to a public declaration at which eighty-nine communities were to announce their abandonment of female genital cutting (FGC) and child/forced marriage. Of this number, thirty were villages engaged in Tostan’s non-formal, participatory Community Empowerment Program (CEP), which facilitates discussions surrounding human rights and health as well as numeracy, literacy and a range of different issues.

The historic event, as the President of the Rural Community defined it, began a day early, on Friday night, at the neighboring village of Tamé. This community began as an adopted village, benefitting from Tostan’s program through the process of “organized diffusion.” Through organized diffusion, participants from the program in Gathiary visited neighboring villages, including Tamé, to share the information they had learned in the CEP.

This periphery involvement in the Tostan program was not enough for the motivated and determined community members in Tamé. When the Tostan Regional Coordinator visited Gathiary a month after the program had begun, women from Tamé came to see him and demanded that Tostan implement the CEP in their own community, which they consequently received. One year on and determined as ever, the women of Tamé organized a cultural evening of dancing and skits for guests the night before the declaration in addition to the cultural evening planned and organized for the following evening in Gathiary.

The population of Gathiary more than doubled on the weekend of the declaration with village representatives travelling from as far as Mali to attend and participate. The wood fires under the large cooking pots roared all weekend long with women taking turns to fry potatoes or dance in large circles with the adolescent girls whose colorful traditional head dresses gleamed in the roasting sun.

The declaration on Sunday was read aloud in French, Mandinka, Pulaar and Soninke and was followed by a string of speeches given by visiting delegates and community representatives. The local imam of Gathiary, who was instrumental to the community’s abandonment, explained that he was extremely engaged in Tostan’s program, its goals and in the journey that led to this declaration. He also explained that he works to raise awareness in his own community and how he will continue to travel to villages where community members are reluctant to abandon FGC and child/forced marriage. He explained that he will speak with imams and marabouts (traditional religious leaders) and explain his conviction that the Qur’an supports women’s health and fundamentally opposes FGC.

Initially concerned that many participants would not come to this event due its isolated location, the organizers were impressed with the attendance as well as the participation of representatives from the Mauritanian and Malian communities. Upon their departure, the Mauritania representatives expressed their desire to invite the adolescents from Gathiary and Tamé to raise awareness about these issues back in their communities in Mauritania. This landmark occasion proves that while these communities may be detached from the nation’s urban and economic centers, it is clear that these communities’ formidable dynamism will form the basis for their ongoing development.

*Aude is Tostan’s regional volunteer who will shortly be leaving Senegal after spending a year based most recently in the Tambacounda region and was deeply involved in this, her last declaration. William is Tostan’s communications assistant in Dakar.

California Teens Join the Movement for Positive Social Change

2011-03-30T18:07:00.005Z

Story by Courtney Petersen, Tostan Communications Assistant in Washington, DC

March 30, 2011—In an average middle school class one would expect to hear discussions on the central themes of Romeo and Juliet or the details of the cell cycle. For a group of 43 seventh and eighth grade students from Eastside College Preparatory School in Palo Alto, California, class discussion centered on a completely different subject: gender equality and child/infant mortality.

These students had the unique opportunity to participate in a philanthropy project that gave them the power and responsibility to allocate funds they raised to organizations they felt could make a difference in the world. Through bakes sales, information sessions, and other fundraising events these dedicated students raised nearly $5000 to give to organizations they believed in.

While deciding where the funds should go, the teacher of these young change-makers, Jen Johnson, asked the students to focus on selecting organizations that address the United Nations Millennium Development Goals regarding gender equality and child/infant mortality. The students divided into 10 groups and each chose an organization to research and present to the other students. Of the 10 groups, three chose to focus their energy on Tostan.

After researching Tostan and interviewing Luzon Pahl, Senior Operation Manager at the Tostan DC office, about everything from Tostan’s program model to details about the budget, the students presented their findings and explained to the class why they thought investing in Tostan would make a difference. While presenting, they specifically mentioned aspects of the Tostan model that they truly admire. For example, they discussed how they like that “respect is the base of Tostan’s model and that people have the right to discuss and decide on change themselves.”

After hours of hard work and lengthy discussions, Johnson’s students decided to donate $750 to Tostan. The dedication of these middle school students to create and invest in positive solutions for the global community embodies Tostan’s belief that change comes from the cooperative effort of everyone in the community regardless of age, schooling, position or class.

We thank the students at Eastside College Preparatory School for believing in Tostan’s mission and for supporting work that will create lasting, positive change.

Click here to read this article on Tostan's website.

Running the NYC Half Marathon for African Communities

2011-03-23T19:56:00.000Z

Story by Cody Donahue, former Coordinator of Tostan’s Department of Monitoring, Evaluation, Research, and Learning

On Sunday, March 20, 2011, I ran 13.1 beautiful miles through New York City's Central Park, Times Square, Broadway and down along the Hudson River to Battery Park in the NYC Half Marathon. The clear skies and sun announced that spring had indeed arrived after a hard and snowy winter.

I didn't come in first place - far from it! That honor went to Caroline Rotich of Kenya and Mo Farah of Great Britain. But, I beat my own personal record by 2 minutes and felt an amazing rush of accomplishment and satisfaction at the finish line. However, it wasn't just that I had completed a personal and physical challenge, it was something more.

I joined hundreds of other runners on Sunday in making my race experience about something bigger than me: helping others in need and running for others who can't. I raised money to support Tostan's work in partnership with African communities. The New York Road Runners partnered for the first time with an innovative new website called Crowdrise to allow every runner to run for a cause. Through their website, supporters could give as little as $10 to support the cause. In total, I raised $135 for Tostan, and all I did was promote my page through a few messages on Twitter and Facebook.

Runners in Sunday's race literally wore their passion on their shirts and sleeves. From Japan earthquake/tsunami relief to breast cancer and cerebral palsy, the spirit of giving permeated the race day atmosphere (almost as much as the sweat!). While I've been involved in Tostan's mission for many years, raising money by running added a new and visceral dimension to my support. I was filled with awesome inspiration as I entered a completely closed off Times Square (the only event other than New Year’s Eve to completely shut it down!) thinking about how running could literally help empower girls and women in African communities.

I hope other athletes will consider using Crowdrise's innovative platform and support Tostan's mission in future races.

Click here to donate to Cody's Crowdrise fundraiser for Tostan. The final deadline for donations is May 31st.

Links:

Crowdrise
http://www.crowdrise.com/Run4Tostan/fundraiser/cdonahue
Road Runners
http://www.nyrr.org/races/2010/nychalf/index.asp
Twitter
http://twitter.com/cdonahue

FGC Abandonment is the result; Literacy, Problem Solving, and Community Empowerment are the means

2011-03-18T14:56:00.005Z

On a recent trip to Senegal, Dr. Richard Besser, Senior Health and Medical Editor at ABC News, met Molly Melching and Demba Diawara, imam and spiritual leader of the Senegalese village of Malicounda Bambara. After speaking with these two change-makers, Dr. Besser recognized the complexity of changing social norms and the benefits of using a holistic, community-led approach─ like Tostan’s─to create positive social change. Continue reading to learn more about Dr. Besser’s insightful look into Tostan’s approach.

Dr. Besser's Notebook: Women's Rights in Senegal
By Richard Besser, M.D.
ABC News/Health
March 17, 2011

"When everyone wears no clothes you don't notice that you are naked."

Demba Diawara speaks in parables. It makes it very hard for me to understand him-- that and the fact that he speaks Wolof, a language native to Senegal. Thankfully, I have with me to translate, Molly Melching, a 60-year old woman originally from Illinois.

Mollie wears a long purple boubou and sunglasses. You might think that she would look incongruous in this little Senegalese village but in fact, I can't imagine her looking more at home anywhere in the world. We're sitting under the shade of a large neem tree talking with Demba, an elderly religious leader about something unspeakable, female genital cutting.

In many parts of the world, female genital cutting has been performed for thousands of years. The United Nations estimates that 3 million girls are cut each year. The practice is most prevalent in parts of Africa. The procedure, usually performed without any anesthetic refers to the ritual removal of part or all of the external genitalia for non-medical reasons. In its most severe form, the clitoris and labia are removed and the vagina is almost entirely sealed. It is a brutal act. There are no medical benefits of cutting; on the contrary, it is an extremely dangerous and often debilitating procedure. Apart from the incredible pain and trauma of the act itself, girls can die from hemorrhage and infection. Complications are often life-long. Women are at increased risk of infertility, childbirth difficulties, and urinary tract problems, the worst being fistula - a connection between the urinary tract and the vagina. Women with this complication continuously leak urine, and many are forced to live away from the rest of the village. Added to all this is the inability to ever have a fulfilling sex life.

For decades, international bodies have condemned the practice and many governments have made it illegal but there is little evidence that these measures actually decreased the number of girls who get cut. In many places it was simply driven underground...

Click here to continue reading full article on ABC News/Health.

Click here to read more about this article on Tostan's website.

International Women’s Day Celebration at the Dakar Women’s Prison

2011-03-11T20:24:00.000Z

Story by Will Schomburg, Tostan Communications Assistant in Dakar, Senegal

As I arrived at Dakar’s women’s prison, any air of formality I expected was instantly swept away as a smartly dressed female prison guard, tapping her feet to traditional Senegalese music playing in the background, smiled and welcomed me warmly. March 8th marks International Women’s Day, an event celebrated annually at the Liberté VI Women’s Correctional Facility through the support of Tostan’s Prison Project. On this day of music, food and dance, inmates come together to celebrate their womanhood and look to their future.

The Prison Project, which began in the city of Thies, Senegal in 1999, has spread to five jails across Senegal. It provides incarcerated women and men with the opportunity to participate in Tostan’s Community Empowerment Program (CEP), which teaches literacy and numeracy skills as well as facilitates discussions on basic human rights and responsibilities.

Tostan staff dressed in matching outfits at the International
Women's Day Celebration at Liberté VI Women's
Correctional Facility in Dakar.

In Senegalese society, incarcerated women are especially ostracized and often rejected by their families, creating serious challenges as the former prisoners attempt to reintegrate into society upon release. When asked what she felt the biggest difficulty CEP participants in the prison faced, Fatou Faye-Fall, the dynamic and passionate Tostan facilitator in the prison, who tirelessly helped to organize the day’s events, responded, “It’s [reintegration] that they are most worried about. Prisoners know there is a lot of prejudice towards them in society and hope for acceptance and stability in their lives.”

Tostan attempts to address these problems by providing vocational training courses that teach prisoners skills such as hairdressing and fabric dying. These skills will help them to gain financial independence and hopefully ease their transition back into society. The project also provides micro-credit finance opportunities to released participants in order to help them start up small businesses and get back on their feet. These loans are often funded from money other detained women make from crafts and fabric sold while incarcerated.

As I entered the canopied patio where the day’s events were to take place, I couldn’t help but notice the swathes of orange, purple, and turquoise garments. Each woman’s outfit was slightly different than the last - some were simple, others were flamboyant and all were very stylish. The director of the prison shared a few words of thanks with the audience and praised the bravery of all women around the world.

Molly Melching, Tostan’s Executive Director stood up next to speak and encouraged the prisoners, especially on this 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day, to believe in themselves and find hope in their futures. That same message was echoed in the speech given by Robin Diallo, the Public Affairs Officer at the US Embassy in Senegal. When I spoke to Robin later I asked her why she thought the event was important, to which she explained, “Women still have so much to overcome to reach true equality, especially female prisoners who are so unfairly stigmatized. We need to not only highlight their problems but also give them hope for the future… And what a wonderful way to do it!”

The wafting aromas of our simmering lunch and the blaring mbalax hits being played on loud speakers inspired the prisoners to jump to their feet and dance. They were soon joined by members of the Tostan staff keen to join them in their celebration. Soon after, the director of the prison, Agnes, reappeared. Removed of her dark green suit, she wore an outfit of the same material as the inmates in a show of solidarity. Agnes jumped to the dance floor, encouraging others to join. Soon, prison guards were dancing arm in arm with others around them until inmates, guards, Tostan staff and other guests danced together, regardless of rank or age, in a wonderful, energetic blur. Hardly anyone by this point could stay seated and even I bobbed along to the great Youssou N’dour.

Following a delicious and highly filling traditional Senegalese lunch we sat back down to watch a variety of dramatic skits performed by the detainees that dealt with issues such as HIV/AIDS and other social concerns. Though dealing with difficult subject matter, they were able to address these issues with humor and flare, to the delight of the audience. At the end of the day, the joyous and eye opening celebration was rounded off by more music, poetry, and heartfelt words of thanks from the inmates.

Snowballs, Senegal and Social Change

2011-02-25T14:57:00.002Z

Madeleine Balchan, a Global Citizen Year Fellow in Senegal, recounts in a recent blog post her first memory of building a snowman. This seemingly simple memory gains new meaning as she recognizes its similarities to positive development work, specifically Tostan’s community-driven approach to human rights and empowerment. Continue reading to learn more about Balchan’s thoughts on Tostan and development work.

Top: Tostan office in Dakar, Senegal
Bottom: Madeleine Balchan and other GCY Fellows

Snowballs

February 18, 2011

Madeleine Balchan

This is my first winter without snow.

I remember the first time I ever made a snowman. I scooped snow into my mittens and tried to form a ball, but the powder just crumbled apart and fell as I separated my hands. I watched in jealous frustration as my older brothers rolled their rapidly expanding snowballs around the yard. I knew I could do the pushing part, but I couldn’t get it started! Then my dad came and handed me a ball already half a foot in diameter. Using all the strength of my two-foot-tall-puff-jacketed self I slowly rolled the ball across our yard. Eventually, my snowball was the head of our family snowman, towering high in the front yard with 2 coal eyes and sticks for arms.

My father enabled me. I recognized something I wanted but couldn’t do on my own, and he gave me the help I needed to take things into my own hands and “run with it”. The most effective aid addresses the needs and wants of the receiver, and requires the end-user to push the ball along.

I’ve often talked about “developing countries” in the past. But “developed” countries are still developing. The cultures within families and organizations and countries are dynamic and always changing, always developing. I now approach the term “underdeveloped” with caution. This land rich in culture and history has developed, though perhaps not in ways apparent to the West.

We had the opportunity to meet with Molly Melching, a woman who left the “developed” US almost thirty years ago to commit herself to service in Senegal. Her response to people who gasp and wonder at her having given up the luxuries of the States? “This is no sacrifice. I’m living here because I love it.”

My favorite thing about TOSTAN, the non-profit Melching founded, is that after 12 years of service they looked back on their approach and totally changed it. They took out literacy as a focus of the program to fit into the culture of oral tradition. Their current strategy is to train one community member to lead community think-sessions based on Human Rights and the responsibilities that come with them. In these community sessions, they begin by valuing the positives, and then ask where they are not respecting the rights of everyone in the community.

TOSTAN is widely recognized for the number of villages that have ended the process of Female Genital Cutting. That was never a part of their goals. TOSTAN’s culturally sensitive educational approach to development empowers the community, but develops “only” in the direction, and “only” as far as, the community is willing to push their own snow-ball.

This Senegalese snowball has grown bigger, and broader, and farther than Molly Melching could have ever imagined or pushed it on her own.

To learn more about Global Citizen Year and application deadlines, please click here.

Tostan at The World Social Forum

2011-02-23T17:57:00.009Z

Story by Will Schomburg, Tostan Communications Assistant in Dakar, Senegal

As delegates to the World Social Forum (WSF)—representatives from organizations as well as those simply interested ─ poured into Senegal from across the region and far beyond, the buzz in Dakar became palpable. While on a normal Monday morning at Cheikh Anta Diop University, the chatter of busy students might echo around campus in Wolof, French or any other of the Republic’s numerous spoken languages, on that Monday, 8th February 2011, Arabic, English, Spanish and Portuguese crowds joined their chorus, as delegates poured into the Forum.

Tostan's stand at the World Social Forum

The gathering witnessed 75,000 participants from a widely diverse range of backgrounds and disciplines. South American journalists, French unionists and Palestinian women’s groups to name but a few of those represented were joined by myriad organizations from across Africa, small and large, the combination of which provided the backbone to the dynamic week.

WSF was set up a decade ago to act as an ideological counterbalance to the World Economic Forum that takes places annually in Davos, Switzerland at approximately the same time. This Swiss counterpart is often criticized for its capitalist, pro-globalization agenda, while WSF aims to create a space in which grassroots movements and humanitarian causes have a platform on which they may better promote their work.

Visual aids used by facilitators
of the CEP

Tostan had a good-sized stand near the dining area that welcomed a strong flow of development enthusiasts throughout the week, many of whom were full from the array of Senegalese delicacies on offer around us that helped to create a lively atmosphere. This was added to by the spontaneous outpourings of music, dance and protest that almost hourly would spring to life and reverberate across the campus.

Jokko solar suitcase

We lined our stand with pictures from the ‘image box’,’ a visual aid used by the facilitators of our Community Empowerment Program (CEP) to facilitate discussions of human rights amongst participants. As we explained to visitors, the CEP not only approaches the question of human rights and responsibilities, but also teaches numeracy, literacy and small-business management in 16 different national languages in our 8 national offices across Africa. In collaboration with UNICEF, Tostan’s innovative Jokko Initiative promotes skills learnt in the program through mobile phones and SMS text messaging, connecting even the most remote villages to the wider community. The Jokko solar suitcase Tostan exhibited drew throngs of curious local students, eager to learn more about the initiative. During our conversations we stressed that Tostan is primarily an organization that promotes sustainable, community-led education but also highlighted other projects such as our Child Protection Project and work in women’s prisons throughout the event.

Tostan staff engaging in conversation
about the Jokko solar suitcase

On several occasions, Tostan staff spoke with men and women for whom the organization meant more than the average passerby as they themselves had directly benefited from the implementation of the CEP in their village. None of us could promote our work better than these people whose lives had consequently been changed for the better. One engaging woman from Senegal’s southern Casamance region had completed the program and now works for a local women’s group promoting children’s education.

At the end of a tiring yet hugely satisfying week, Tostan spoke with countless passionate and engaging people keen to share ideas. We hope to build on the contact made and forge friendships from which our organization and communities will forever benefit.

Advocate, Julia Lalla-Maharajh, Inspired by Recent Public Declaration

2011-02-16T17:58:00.016Z

Julia Lalla-Maharajh, "passionate advocate" for the abandonment of FGC and founder of the Orchid Project, recently visited several communities where Tostan's Community Empowerment Program is in place. Her experience talking with community members and witnessing the excitement at Sare Ngai's public declaration left her energized, ready to continue working towards positive social transformation. Here is the full article from The Huffington Post:

Dancing to End Female Genital Cutting

February 8, 2011
The Huffington Post
Julia Lalla-Maharajh

I'm here in Dakar, Senegal. It's a long way from London, Davos and Ethiopia. I'm seeing different things, learning so much and marvelling constantly at the changes that are happening here on the ground and in communities.

As a "passionate advocate" to end female genital cutting, my story is a pedestrian one, mimicked (I'm sure) across the Western world. A lifetime of mortgage enslavement, corporate kowtowing and daily commuting on packed London Tube trains led me to rethink. My second life began about two years ago, when I headed out to Ethiopia to volunteer. It was in Addis Ababa that my eyes opened in wonder as I viewed the lives of women and girls around me. How had they been born into this life of hard work, of carrying loads far too heavy for their backs, of little schooling?

It got worse when I heard about female genital cutting, its scale and impacts. The shock I felt was tangible. On a trip to Lalibela, an ancient relic of a holy city in northern Ethiopia, I met two little girls who have stayed in my mind's eye throughout this journey. I wanted to talk with their parents, their community, beg for them not to be cut. But I knew I had no agency, no right, no legitimacy to intervene in anyone's culture in such a stumbling, righteous way.

Back in London, I volunteered with Forward learning about a better way to engage with communities. Rather incongruously, I appeared on the plinth in Trafalgar Square and exhorted crowds not to look away from this very complex, heart-rending issue.

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After a Year of Volunteering, The Assistant to the International Communications Team Bids Farewell to her Tostan Family

2011-01-05T12:52:00.001Z

Story by Sydney Skov, Tostan Volunteer in Dakar, Senegal

Directing a summer camp for kids at my local tennis club was a perfect, post-college career with a short life expectancy and excellent swimming pool perks, but I had my sights set on something more than arts and crafts afternoons. Driven by a passion for adventure and a desire to continue my studies of French and African relations outside the classroom, I searched single-mindedly for a way to live in Senegal. With deferred student loans and a non-existent budget, most programs I found seemed impossibly expensive. My high-top All-Stars were worn through at the heels and I had learned to live entirely off of instant oatmeal. Time and effort were what I had to give.

Enter a little bit of luck and a good Google search. Tostan. The volunteer positions were exactly what I had been looking for: based in Senegal, lasting six months to a year, and focused on professional work with an NGO working to promote causes I believe in: human rights and education. I booked my flight.

I arrived at 6 am. As I began to sweat I thought how strange it was that I’d been standing in snow only hours before. The beads on my forehead were a subtle yet effective display of my new arrival status; men at the airport were wearing parkas, cold in the balmy January winter. The sun rose over the sandy roads and the raw brick buildings; after a quick taxi ride, I was home. I threw my jeans in the back of the closet in the Tostan volunteer house, donned a floor length skirt instead, and greeted a girl in red-striped p-js with blond hair and tired eyelids who was just getting up: my roommate for the next seven months. Exhausted from a month-long monitoring mission to The Gambia, Katie said nothing but, “Do you want to go to church?” Her invitation— to a local Christian church in a predominately Muslim country – sparked my curiosity. As the call to prayer sounded from the neighborhood mosque, I headed downtown to a gospel church. From the windows of the black and yellow taxi I caught my first true glimpses of the fascinating and diverse undercurrents of my new life in Senegal.

Although I extended my stay with Tostan from six months to a year, I’m still not ready to go. Dakar has become a second home thanks to the warm welcome of Tostan staff and older volunteers who taught me how to greet a room with Wolof hellos and handshakes, how to bargain with a taxi driver, how to share lunch around a big silver bowl without making everyone else uncomfortable, how to exist in respectful harmony with a culture that is not my own. My dedication to human rights education continues to strengthen as I see proof of positive social transformation stemming from grassroots development. I have seen hundreds of communities stand up to publicly declare abandonment of harmful practices like female genital cutting and child/forced marriage. I have been lucky enough to be a part, however tiny, of Tostan and this history-making movement.

I have also been lucky enough to weave myself into this city’s vibrant fabric, to meet and mingle with inspired Dakar dancers who have, for me—a long-time contemporary dancer—re-defined what it means to be an artist.

My experiences of dance in Dakar have included many classes, rehearsals, performances, and workshops. And the more I learn, the more I give in to rhythms and steps my legs and feet find unfamiliar, the more I understand how everything is connected—how dance is in everything, in the steps of wrestlers by the water, in the rhythmic pounding of spices with a mortar and pestle, in the celebration of women as their villages abandon ancient, harmful traditions, in the melodic lilt of Wolof phrases that remind us that we are all together. Volunteering with Tostan and my experiences in Senegal have given me more than I could have hoped; they have shown me how we are all connected in our work, in the help that we offer each other, in the belief that we all have the right and the capacity to live better lives if we just have the courage to open ourselves up to something new. We can all change ourselves for the better. I can only thank my family at Tostan, and my extended family and friends in Senegal, for helping me to see this incredible truth as it develops in communities across West Africa, and within me.

Discussing Community Empowerment in Koulikoro, Mali

2011-01-03T15:41:00.002Z

Story by Claire Constant, Tostan Volunteer in Bamako, Mali

Tostan’s National Coordinator in Mali, his assistant, and I, the Tostan volunteer based in Bamako, Mali, visited the region of Koulikoro, some 60 kilometers from Bamako. The goal of our mission was to assist in the intervillage meetings, or RIVs, which bring together the rural communities of Dienandougou and Méguétan in the area of Koulikoro, a region in which Tostan has implemented the Community Empowerment Program (CEP).

Once in Koulikoro, we arrived at the Niger River and continued our journey across to Kénandou, the main village of Dienandougou, where the welcome we received from the community was truly remarkable. In the presence of the Mayor, health workers, and representatives from the Office of Radio and Television in Mali, CEP participants came in droves, excited by the news that the CEP would soon begin again.

We were also welcomed by the Mayor himself. Village representatives and many CEP coordinators responded to the call for a meeting, demonstrating the strength of the communities’ commitment to the Tostan program.

The object of the meeting was to share with the villages the essential points of the remainder of Tostan’s 30-month education program, which is based on a respect for human rights. The audience enthusiastically welcomed the news that facilitators ─ individuals from the region trained by Tostan to lead CEP classes ─ would soon be back to begin the second phase of the program: the Kobi 2. This module of the Tostan program, which deals primarily with the subjects of health and hygiene, follows the Kobi 1, a module focused on democracy and human rights.

Having paused for the rainy season, everyone gathered affirmed that they were eager to begin the next phase of the Tostan program in order to gain more knowledge and skills. The community empowerment movement continues.

Photos by Claire Constant

From Bamako to Kolda: 54 Malian Representatives Take Part in the Public Declaration in Kolda, Senegal

2010-12-29T10:43:00.002Z

Story by Claire Constant, Tostan Volunteer in Bamako, Mali

On the 28th of November, a very special event happened in Kolda, Senegal. Representatives from over 700 villages of this southern region of the country gathered to publicly declare their commitment to abandon harmful practices such as female genital cutting (FGC) and child/forced marriage.

As a volunteer in Tostan’s Bamako office, I accompanied representatives from the Malian government and from Tostan partner NGOs, as well as religious leaders, Community Management Committee (CMC) coordinators, and community members on the long journey to Kolda.

Tostan's National Coordinator in Mali, Abou Amel Camara, his Assistant, Dieynaba Diallo Diop, and I traveled to villages in Mali where Tostan implements the Community Empowerment Program (CEP) to inform participants that they had been invited by their Senegalese neighbors to attend the declaration. The communities democratically chose representatives for the trip to Senegal.

At the declaration, seeing new dances and hearing different rhythms and songs was a highlight for the Malian participants. Oumou Coulibaly, one of Tostan’s facilitators in the Koulikoro area who had never visited the southern region of Senegal, was particularly happy to discover a different culture and be able to see such lively and joyful performances. “We were all very happy to meet with new people, to discover traditional dances that we had never seen before. Overall, being able to talk to people from different cultures, and to march with them here in Kolda as a family, made us all very happy,” she said.

The public reading of the declaration in three languages─French, Pulaar and Mandika—was a moving moment. “I was particularly impressed by the content of the declaration itself,” said Dieynaba Traoré, a participant from Sendo, Mali, a village in the Koulikoro area where Tostan works. “It was probably the most remarkable moment for me, and I will remember it for a long time.”

On the way back to Mali, despite fatigue, everyone reflected on the busy weekend. As their communities’ chosen representatives, the members of the Malian delegation now have the important responsibility to share their experience with their friends and families. This is a task that they take seriously. “Now that I have attended this declaration, I believe that one day, Malian communities will do the same,” stated Minata Diarra from the village of Fégoun. “It is so very important that I share what I saw with people from my community,” she said.

Photos by Claire Constant: Top- the delegation from Mali marches to the public declaration. Middle- Tostan's National Coordinator in Mali tells CEP participants they have been invited to the grand event. Below- members of the Malian delegation at the declaration.

The village of Tankanto Mauondé, Senegal: A Village of Activists

2010-12-22T11:30:00.000Z

Story by Caitlin Snyder, Tostan Volunteer in Kolda, Senegal

Rich in tradition, the village of Tankanto Mauondé prides itself on a history that spans over 400 years. These villagers speak with even more pride, however, when they discuss the future of their daughters. The next generation of girls will grow up in a community which has declared to abandon female genital cutting (FGC) and child/forced marriage.

Takanto Mauondé was once a community of Fulani farmers who cultivated rice, maize, and peanuts, crops which once constituted the main source of revenue for the original 700 inhabitants. Today, the most important value in the village is that of teranga, or Senegalese hospitality. A strong interest in the well being of others is reflected in the character of the villagers and it is this interest that influenced their participation in the Tostan program. After Tostan began implementing the Community Empowerment Program (CEP) in the community in 2008, the 76 participants – 66 women and eight adolescents – responded enthusiastically to the lessons on health and human rights. Women created a Community Management Committee (CMC), a group of 17 democratically elected individuals, and initiated awareness-raising campaigns to introduce nearby villages to the negative effects of harmful traditional practices.

Boubakry Baldé, the husband of a CMC member, described the committee’s work: “We have seen many changes in mentality in the village and there is now greater potential for the development of young girls.” Today, the villagers speak about the importance of sending children to school, and they proudly insist that no girl will be forced to quit school due to an early marriage.

“It’s the women who took the initiative,” said the village chief’s representative. Today, women have a more central role in the village. “Before, women didn’t speak during meetings,” recalled Fatoumata Baldé, the coordinator of the CMC. “Now, even during baptism ceremonies, marriage celebrations, and religious events, women are involved in the decisions.”

The changes brought about by the CMC are extraordinary. The CMC initiated a dialogue on the importance of birth registration as well as registering children for school. Women have won respect and now have the full support of everyone in Tankanto Mauondé, from the village chief to religious leaders.

Thanks to knowledge gained in the areas of mathematics and project management during the Tostan program, the CMC leads income generating activities such as selling vegetables and dried fish. Entrepreneurs meet two times a month to calculate their expenses and the benefits of their sales. They speak with enthusiasm regarding projects they will begin in the coming year.

The community’s decision to abandon harmful traditional practices ─ which they shared with the world in a grand declaration held on November 28th ─ shows a strong wish to preserve the health and the rights of their daughters. According to Mamoudou Baldé, “We will show the government, neighboring communities, and other countries that we have decided to abandon FGC and child/forced marriage.” On the 28th of November, the village of Tankanto Mauondé was one of 700 villages investing in the future of every girl in Senegal.

Photos by Caitlin Snyder

91 Villages in Wack Ngouna, Senegal Abandon FGC Thanks to the Power of Social Mobilization

2010-12-20T11:17:00.001Z

Story by Sydney Skov, Tostan Volunteer in Dakar, Senegal.

In the village of Wack Ngouna, I watched as dust spiraled up from the quick steps of countless dancing feet.

Celebrating a collective decision which will effectively change the future for girls in Wack Ngouna, a district near Kaolack, Senegal, hundreds gathered to watch as representatives from 91 communities shared with the nation their decision to abandon female genital cutting (FGC) and child/forced marriage.

As I listened to local dignitaries speak, sharing their enthusiasm for Tostan and for the future of women and girls in the surrounding communities, I realized the magnitude of this public declaration. While a much smaller event than the giant public declaration in Kolda last month during which 700 communities declared abandonment of FGC, this declaration was particularly powerful because none of the 91 declaring villages had taken part in Tostan’s Community Empowerment Program (CEP), a 30-month, holistic education program teaching human rights, democracy, health, hygiene, and literacy, among other subjects.

The villages of Wack Ngouna are proof of an incredible feat of community-led development: social mobilization. A group of five Community Management Committee (CMC) members – individuals who have been elected as leaders within their respective communities – was led by Tostan’s Ousmane Ndiaye and Marietou Diarrou, responsible for social mobilization in the Kaolack region. The team traveled from village to village, sharing knowledge they had gained from the Tostan program with other communities while encouraging village leaders to address issues of women’s rights and health. This method of social mobilization allows shared knowledge to spread from one village to the next, creating a web of communities connected by the understanding that harmful traditional practices undermine the health and human rights of women and girls.

Skits performed by local youth during the celebration in Wack Ngouna illustrated their understanding of the negative effects of FGC and child marriage. One skit portrayed a 12 year old girl who was to be married to an older man in exchange for a dowry. But the girl stood up in protest saying, “the money that you put in your pocket today is the happiness that you take from me tomorrow.” She then convinced her father that she should continue her education so she could one day find a good job to help the family.

Within the last two months alone, almost 800 villages have declared their abandonment of FGC and child/forced marriage thanks to the dedication of thousands across Senegal who, by sharing knowledge and discussing ideas learned through the Tostan program, are creating positive social change. The incredible movement continues.

Photos by Sydney Skov and Verneva Ziga. Top- members of the performance group Alalaké. Middle- The social mobilization team in Kaolack. Below- local youth perform a skit which discussed the harmful consequences of FGC.

Additional Communities in The Gambia begin the Community Empowerment Program and Take Development into Their Own Hands.

2010-12-10T11:31:00.000Z

Story by Jana Shih, Tostan Volunteer in Dakar, Senegal

I arrived in The Upper River Region (URR) three weeks ago. As a member of Tostan International’s Monitoring and Evaluation Team, my role here has been to train local interviewers and oversee the assessment of 33 communities who are slated to begin Tostan’s holistic education program, the Community Empowerment Program (CEP), in December. The 30-month CEP, which includes modules on human rights, democracy, health and hygiene, literacy and problem solving, will give communities the tools they need to make informed decisions about their own development.

The Gambia is the smallest country on continental Africa with a population of around one million people and a land size roughly that of Jamaica. It is ranked 168 out of 182 countries in the United Nations Development Programme’s (UNDP) Human Development Index, ranking it as one of the poorest and least developed countries in the world. According to UNICEF (2009), 78% of The Gambia’s population practices female genital cutting and 36% of all marriages in the country are considered child or forced marriages. Since 2006, Tostan has been working in partnership with the Gambian government to address these issues.

During our training meetings, or “Community Situational Site Studies,” experienced Tostan supervisors interview community members about certain aspects of their village, such as infrastructure, health, education, economy, women’s empowerment, and relationships with other villages. The Monitoring and Evaluation department will use this comprehensive baseline information when evaluating the community-wide impact of the Tostan program.

To date, 80 communities in the URR—the the country’s poorest region—have taken part in the CEP. This month, we will have the opportunity to celebrate alongside over 50 villages as they participate in the country’s second public declaration to collectively abandon child/forced marriage and FGC.

Photo by Katie Seward, Tostan Volunteer in The Gambia

700 Villages in Kolda, Senegal Declare Their Abandonment of FGC and Child/Forced Marriage

2010-12-07T17:41:00.003Z

Story by Sydney Skov, Tostan Volunteer in Dakar, Senegal

Over 3,000 people gather in the school yard. Community Empowerment Program (CEP) participants, government officials and delegations from Guinea Bissau, The Gambia, and Mali, as well as representatives from 700 communities in the Kolda region of Senegal take their seats. I hurry to find a place in the shade of an enormous tree and sit, propped up by ancient roots. The crowd is a rainbow of color, spilling out onto the dusty ground, painting the day.

This event, complete with speeches, dances, and inspired musical performances, marks a historic change in the lives of thousands. In one of the largest public declarations the country has seen since the movement began in the village of Malicouda Bambara in 1997, communities declare their abandonment of harmful traditional practices such as female genital cutting (FGC) and child/forced marriage. Today, communities call for an end to practices that have undermined the rights of women and girls for centuries, and add their voices to the abandonment movement. A national action plan adopted by the Senegalese government looks to have the practice of FGC completely abandoned throughout the country by 2015; the thousands who have gathered today in a grand display of solidarity make it clear that this goal is within reach.

50 young performers from local villages sing and dance for the crowd, expressing through song the harmful consequences of both FGC and child/forced marriage. Thanks to the CEP, Tostan’s 30-month human-rights based education program, communities come to understand the negative effects of certain social norms and are equipped to make their own decisions regarding change.

Tostan originally implemented the CEP in 23 villages in the Kolda region. Through impressive awareness raising activities conducted by each village’s Community Management Committee (CMC), a group of 17 elected leaders who handle everything from awareness raising activities to microcredit loans, 677 more villages learned about human rights and joined the movement to abandon FGC and child/forced marriage.

The declaration text is read to the gathered crowd in three languages: French, Mandinka, and Pulaar. Delegations from Mali, Guinea-Bissau, and The Gambia have arrived to attend the event and show their support for Tostan and for the movement to abandon harmful practices.

As the celebration comes to a close, the feeling of excitement doesn’t fade. Dancers in traditional costumes create an atmosphere of gaiety as communities take pride in their heritage and in the human rights education that has led them to this momentous declaration day.

To read more about the public declaration, check out the article from AFP on the incredible Kolda declaration or read the report written by Tostan volunteer Caitlin Snyder.

Photos by Sydney Skov

Find more photos from the public declaration on Flickr!

The Festivities Begin for the Public Declaration in Kolda, Senegal

2010-12-01T14:47:00.000Z

Story by Sydney Skov, Tostan Voluteer in Dakar, Senegal

November 27— Engulfed in a singing sea of people, we dance our way into the rural village of Tankanto Mauondé near the city of Kolda, Senegal. Voices celebrating education and human rights welcome our small delegation; Tostan staff and volunteers, including myself, have arrived to take part in an afternoon of cultural activities and celebrations preceding the department-wide public declaration scheduled for tomorrow. In the morning, thousands of people from local communities will add their voices to the international movement advocating for human rights by announcing to Senegal, to Africa, and to the world their commitment to abandon harmful traditional practices such as female genital cutting (FGC) and child/forced marriage.

Khady Baldé, the vivacious president of the Tankanto Mauondé women’s association, greets us and invites us to dance (above).

The energy of the women is infectious, the happiness pervasive. High spirits are almost louder than the clacking calabashes, the high-pitched whistles, and the pounding drums.

Young girls hold up posters proclaiming No to Female Genital Cutting, [The Village of] Tankanto Welcomes Tostan, No to Child/Forced Marriage,The Community Thanks You for Everything.

Thanks to an understanding of human rights gained from Tostan’s 30-month, holistic education program, the Community Empowerment Program (CEP), both men and women of the community have made the decision to abandon the practices of FGC and child/forced marriage.

Harmful traditional practices not only undermine women’s rights, but often lead to devastating and even fatal health complications. A new generation of women and girls in this community, and in thousands of communities across Senegal, will have the opportunity to live free of the harmful effects of FGC.

Photos by Sydney Skov

Excitement Builds in Anticipation of Public Declaration in Kolda

2010-11-30T13:29:00.002Z

Story by Sydney Skov, Tostan Volunteer in Dakar, Senegal

Equipment for the celebration makes its way

to the village of Tankanto Mauondé in Kolda.

November 26—It was a long and bumpy car ride from Dakar to the southern city of Kolda, Senegal. Two Tostan volunteers – Amma Serwaah-Panin, the Program Assistant for the Jokko Initiative, a program focusing on literacy through text messages, and myself, the Assistant to Tostan’s International Communications Team – are joining a delegation of Tostan staff from all over the country in preparation for the grand event to take place November 28: a public declaration for the abandonment of female genital cutting (FGC) and child/forced marriage.

Over 700 villages will come together this weekend to make an incredible commitment, one that will bring the country of Senegal one step closer to the total abandonment of a 2,000 year old practice which undermines the rights of women and girls. We will have the amazing opportunity to witness history in the making and to watch as over 2,000 women and men from rural communities raise their voices to help end harmful traditions.

The department-wide declaration is happening at an appropriate moment, as world leaders turn increased attention to the importance of women’s empowerment and the delicate issue of changing harmful social norms. November 25th marked the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women and in a piece which ran in The Vancouver Sun, Hillary Clinton boldly stated that men are equally important in the effort to eliminate gender based violence. Through holistic, human-rights based education and a community-led approach, Tostan is helping to do just that: bring women and men together to change the course of history.

It’s muggier here than in Dakar, the big city seems far away, but the atmosphere of excitement has already begun to seep into the Tostan office and into my little hotel room where I’m anxiously awaiting the festivities planned for tomorrow. A documentary filmmaker and I will be traveling to a nearby village with a group of journalists representing all facets of Senegalese news media. There, Tostan will hold a press conference in order to share details of the upcoming declaration. Tomorrow night will be a cultural celebration including music, dance, and cheer. I will continue to post on our blog as the events unfold!

Photos by Sydney Skov: Top- preparations begin in the village of Tankanto Mauondé. Below- men and women dance together in the village as declaration day approaches.

Gnima Diamé, Treasurer of the Mbour Association of Ex-Cutters

2010-11-24T14:41:00.000Z

Story by Matthew Manley, Tostan Volunteer in Mbour, Senegal

It has been five years since Gnima Diamé last performed female genital cutting (FGC), the trade her mother taught her.

Originally from Biñona in the Casamance region of Senegal, Gnima has been a resident of the city of Mbour since 1992, as well as the treasurer for the Mbour Association of Ex-Cutters since its formation in 2004. The organization—comprised mostly of women of Mandinka ethnicity except for Gnima who belongs to the Diola ethnic group—raises awareness about the risks associated with FGC and supports women who have abandoned careers as cutters.

The goal of the group of ex-cutters is to attain government-recognized status as an economic interest group. This status will enable the women to acquire financial assistance from government lending agencies and other sources. Other goals include implementing income-generating initiatives and developing awareness-raising programs focused on the health of young women.

For Gnima, her decision to abandon a career as a practitioner of FGC stemmed from recognizing the health hazards related to the procedure. However, abandoning her career took a leap of faith. Over the course of six months in 2004, she took classes in order to become a physician’s assistant and is now certified as a childbirth specialist. She is currently looking for a health related post in Mbour.

Gnima has four daughters and one son of her own. None of her daughters have undergone FGC, and according to Gnima, they will never feel pressured to cut their own daughters.

TRAVELOG- VISITING TOSTAN'S NEW MANDINKA VILLAGES

2010-11-15T11:12:00.000Z

Story by Katie Seward, Tostan Volunteer in The Gambia

As we ride the 30 kilometers from Kuraw Kemo to the next village of Touba Wuli, my fear of motorbikes begins to give way to exhilaration. I feign nonchalance by resting one hand on my knee in an attempt to look casual, while still tightly gripping the tail light behind me with the other.

Day 2

TOUBA WULI

In the village of Touba Wuli, education is on the tip of everyone’s tongue when I ask about challenges facing the community. There is no English school here, only a Koranic one, and even that has no desks, no chairs, and just one blackboard for over 100 students. Nearly all adults in the community are illiterate but they have greater hopes for their children, many of whom attend English schools in neighboring villages.

Unlike many Gambian villages, there is no skills center in Touba Wuli where residents can learn marketable trades. Ajafay Camara, the head of the women’s kafo (committee), attends meetings in Basse as part of her duties and on one such occasion, she received a brief training in fabric dyeing. Though she wants to teach this to the women of the community, there is no money to hire a more qualified instructor or even to purchase the necessary supplies.

On the subject of female genital cutting (FGC), Karmo Sanuwo, the secretary for the Village Development Committee (VDC) expresses his support for the practice on the basis of religion, tradition, and the necessity for “cleanliness.” But Ms. Camara told me previously that she attended the Tostan declaration in the nearby village of Darsilame. When I turn to ask her opinion she sighs and says, “It is very difficult to stop this tradition, but if people are educated about the problems, if they are sensitized, they will abandon.”

Despite never having previously met any of the inhabitants of Touba Wuli, Lakamay and I are graciously fed and lodged that night as guests. We join the community in watching a soccer game until the sun sets. Without electricity, the arrival of night feels more profound, but it is still not as dark as one would expect as we sit outside for hours. The village is illuminated by the Milky Way, the flickering of candles, the flashing of a lightning storm on the horizon, and the glow of the coals used to brew attaya or green tea.

Photos by Katie Seward: Top- Sunset over Touba Wuli, Middle- fom left to right: Ajafay Camara, head of the women’s kafo; Ibrahim Jawo; and Karmo Sanuwo, VDC secretary, Bottom- A soccer match in which the juniors beat the seniors 3-1

TRAVELOG – VISITING TOSTAN’S NEW MANDINKA VILLAGES

2010-11-08T16:24:00.001Z

Story by Katie Seward, Tostan Volunteer in The Gambia

It is the rainy season in The Gambia and the river had risen up to seize the streets of Basse, making the nearest blocks almost Venice-like as they are only navigable by boat. Tostan Supervisor Lakamay Gaye and I began our journey. Once we get out of Basse and across the river, we climb onto the motorbike; an anxiety-inducing experience. A barely competent bicycle rider, I have never ridden on a motorcycle before and I am terrified by the bumpy, red dirt roads I know lay before us, but I strap on a helmet and throw my leg over the vinyl seat. The bike sputters and starts and we are off, heading towards the Mandinka villages that will constitute the newest participants in the Tostan Community Empowerment Program (CEP) in The Gambia.

DAY 1

KURAW KEMO

The village of Kuraw Kemo feels empty upon our arrival. The alkako (village chief), the record keeper, the head of the women’s kafo (committee)—they are all out working in the community garden. A small boy leads the way and when we approach the group, I am handed a hoe, to everyone’s amusement. After a few minutes of haphazardly hacking at rice, the village decides it has been sufficiently entertained by the agricultural ineptitude of a toubab (foreigner) and we settle beneath a wolo tree to discuss life in Kuraw Kemo.

The surrounding field, they explain, is full of knee-high rice now ready for harvesting and also knee-high mango tree seedlings that are five years away from bearing fruit. The village purchased 141 trees for 75 dalasi (about 3 USD) apiece and they will share the benefits communally, as they plan to do with the rice. Using the same idea, the women’s kafo in the village intends to start a vegetable garden once the rainy season is over.

This community, so proactive about initiating their own development, has already started to feel the impacts of the Tostan program. The neighboring village of Kuraw Arafeng participated from 2007 to 2009 and has shared the knowledge they acquired about the harmful effects of female genital cutting (FGC). Now the community says they have largely abandoned the practice as they found it difficult to continue once they became aware of the consequences.

Photos by Katie Seward: Top- the streets of Kuraw Kemo. Middle- Hawa Konoba in front of the rice and mango fields and community-gathering wolo tree. Below- Ibrahim Danso (right) and Bacary Malang (left), discuss problems in the village

Yet despite the village’s progressive nature, they still face many challenges. It is hard to find a market for the vegetables they grow, they need a fence to protect their rice and mango fields from animals so that all their hard work will not have been in vain, and without proper farming implements, it requires backbreaking labor to cultivate their fields. Considering the last item on the list, one man comments that even if they had the proper implements they do not have the horses or donkeys to make use of them. Another throws up his hands and chuckles: “Ha! This is poverty!” And the community joins him in laughter. I do too, once Lakamay translates, because I don’t know what other response to offer.

“Nyima,” they tell me, calling me by my Gambian name, “we give you the responsibility to find us help.” We all exchange phone numbers then end our time together with a Gambian prayer—palms open and facing towards the sky, eyes cast down, voices rising and falling in unison with words I don’t understand. Afterwards, Lakamay tells me they have asked God to provide for our safe travels and for mutual understanding between us.

Katie Seward is the Assistant to the National Coordinator in The Gambia. She calls Seattle, Washington home and loves eating all kinds of stuff wherever she happens to be.

Portrait of a Leader: Aïchèttou Babou and Tostan Partner for Women’s Empowerment in Ranérou, Senegal

2010-11-04T15:16:00.000Z

Story by Michelle Rintelman, Tostan Volunteer in the Fouta

Born in 1968, Aïchéttou attended primary and secondary school in Matam, Senegal and is fluent in French, Pulaar, and Wolof. She travelled extensively throughout Senegal before returning to the northern village of Ranérou in 1992. When she arrived, she felt that women did not have anything to occupy themselves with outside of laundry, cooking, and housework. With this realization, she was inspired to create a local Groupement de Promotion Féminine (GPF), a Ranérou chapter of the women’s development organization called Groupement Bammtare.

Aïchèttou Babou was instrumental in welcoming the Tostan program to Ranérou and remains a strong advocate and partner to this day. She has devoted her adult life to women’s empowerment. Currently serving as the President of Senegal’s Comité Consultatif National de la Femme for the Matam Region of Senegal, she represents more than a thousand women’s groups, associations, and income generating enterprises in the regions of Matam, Ranérou, and Kanel. For the 28th anniversary of the Quinzième de la Femme, or Senegal’s annual Fifteen Days for Women, Aïchèttou helped to produce a video highlighting her organization’s goals and priorities. With the recent passage of legislation promoting gender equality in electoral positions, Aïchèttou takes advantage of every available opportunity to encourage the women in her community to continue their education and political involvement.

The women of Ranérou have come to trust Aïchéttou Babou because of her experience, training, and strong leadership skills. Since 1993, Aïchéttou has served as a Community Health Agent and midwife. Women from Ranérou and surrounding communities come to her directly for consultations, deliveries, and vaccinations. . Her professional experiences and trainings in the areas of health and community management offer just a glimpse of the work she has done to further development in the realm of women’s health. In addition to her work as a community health agent, Aïchéttou also represents her community officially as a Municipal Counselor.

Aichettou has much confidence in Tostan due to the positive change she perceives within the community — especially among the women and children — as a result of the community’s participation in Tostan’s Community Empowerment Program. She speaks for the women of Ranérou when she expresses her desire for the program to become even more strongly rooted in the community. In the future, she hopes that Tostan can create more partnerships with women’s organizations in order to further develop the capacity of women and the department of Ranérou as a whole.

Photo: by Michelle Rintelman

When Europe Meets Africa

2010-11-02T12:52:00.001Z

Story by Sun-Min Kim, Intern at Tostan France, Paris

October 6 – I am standing in front of the Satellit Café, a world music bar in the 10th district of Paris, waiting for the rest of the Tostan France team to arrive. I started interning at Tostan France in June, and today, I will have a chance to be part of an off-site event. Volker Goetze, a German friend of the organization, is performing tonight with his Senegalese partner and fellow musician Ablaye Cissoko, and he invited Tostan France to come and present its activities during the break.

Volker plays the trumpet, Ablaye plays the African string instrument the kora, and together they perform jazz music. While I am trying to picture how two such different instruments could fuse into jazz, everybody begins to arrive; that is, the three regular members of the Tostan France office, Sabine, Marine, and Seydou, two volunteers Eric and Makhoudia, two friends of the organization, and Gannon who is visiting us from the Tostan DC office.

Established in Paris in 2007, the Tostan France office was born out of the need to involve members of the African diaspora in the development process in their communities of origin. Through years of experience in Senegal and other African countries, Tostan has learned that members of the diaspora are influential forces that can either hinder or fuel social development. Development in African villages is only sustainable when the diaspora communities are involved in the decision-making process. Tostan France therefore meets the crucial need of maintaining an on-going dialogue between those who have emigrated and those who have not.

Since January 2010, Tostan France has adapted Tostan's Community Empowerment Program (CEP) to meet the needs of the diaspora in Europe. Tostan France is currently preparing to implement the program in Montreuil and Mantes-la-Jolie, two cities on the outskirts of Paris where a large number of migrants from the Senegalese River Valley and other regions where the Tostan CEP is in place reside. Tostan France also promotes the Tostan development model among European institutions and implements communication projects that connect members of the diaspora with their home communities.

Around 9pm we enter the café and set up a small Tostan France stand next to the ticket booth. Two big pictures with the Tostan logo are displayed on the wall, and brochures introducing the organization and Tostan France bags are laid out.

The Tostan France bags were recently flown in from Senegal where they were made by the women of the Community Management Committee (CMC) of the Keur Ibra Fall village and women at the Community Prison House in Thiès. Both groups participated in the CEP and were trained in fabricating bags as part of income-generating activities introduced during the second phase of the CEP. Tostan France financed the making of 100 bags and currently sells them at public events to give people an idea of Tostan’s activities and to support the women in their enterprise.

Finally, around 9:30pm, the performance begins. Ablaye and Volker, along with their instruments, present an interesting combination of two people from two different parts of the world with two different stories. These disparities gradually wash away as they begin to play. The sound of the trumpet combines surprisingly well with the floating melody of the kora. This is partly because Volker dampens the otherwise piercing tone of the trumpet with a ball of fabric. My thoughts drift and I don't realize that time passes.

Only towards the end of the set do the men take a short break. Seydou Niang, the Tostan France consultant for the Jokko initiative, is called onto the stage to introduce Tostan and Tostan France. His words arouse the curiosity of some people and a small crowd lines up in front of the booth to ask questions and to take home brochures or a bag as a souvenir.

At the end of the event, while everybody packs up, I begin to think about how all this – the combination of Volker and Ablaye, their trumpet and kora, the fusion of African and European –reminds me of Tostan France, of how it bridges two worlds by supporting Tostan in Africa and establishing a life of its own within the European context.

For more detailed information about Tostan France, visit www.tostanfrance.fr.

Photo: Tostan's Seydou Niang (standing) presents about Tostan France during the concert. Volker is (seated, left) Seydou is (standing, back) Percussionist Joe Quitzke is (seated, middle) and Cissokho is (seated, right).

Sun-Min Kim is an intern at Tostan France, based in Paris, and a student in the field of international security. She is interested in development and her time at Tostan France has given her first hand insight into the work of an NGO.

Molly Melching Representing Tostan at Major Women’s Conference in California

2010-10-25T13:01:00.000Z

We are excited to announce that this week, Molly Melching, Executive Director of Tostan, will be participating in a major event: The 2010 Women’s Conference in California. Organized by the First Lady of California, Maria Shriver, and the Governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, The Women’s Conference is the premier forum for women in the US. The goal of the conference is to empower women to be architects of change in their own lives, their communities, and in the world. More than 150 remarkable speakers—including women leaders, politicians, and actresses— will come together with 30,000 conference participants to educate, motivate, and inspire one another. The Women’s Conference is also a global online community, where more than one million women unite to exchange ideas about how to really change the world.

Molly will be presenting Tostan's experience directly to this high-level audience as a part of a panel discussion at the main event entitled "Overcoming the Unimaginable." Molly's participation is a wonderful opportunity to share Tostan's mission and experience. The invitation alone is a testament to the ever-growing recognition for Tostan and the Community Empowerment Program.

Please see the links below for more information.

More information on the conference

A list of speakers which includes Molly Melching

Molly Melching's page

Portrait of a Leader: Fatimata Ba

2010-10-04T19:18:00.000Z

Story by Michelle Rintelman, Tostan Volunteer in the Fouta

Fatimata Ba, a Tostan Facilitator in the village of Ranérou, Senegal, brings a wealth of experience and conviction to the Community Empowerment Program (CEP). As a facilitator, Fatimata leads CEP courses within the community, spearheading the discussion of topics like democracy, human rights, health, and hygiene.

Fatimata first participated in the CEP in her home village of Bokidiawe, Senegal in 1992. She says that she was originally drawn to the program because of the program’s emphasis on human rights and how that focus aligned with her belief that everyone has the right to peace, security, health, and education.

In a recent interview, Fatimata shared that she has grown as a person through her involvement with Tostan. There was no hesitation in her voice when she spoke of her aspirations.
“I want to live a better life. Take charge on my own so that I don’t have to wait for others to give to me.”

But for Fatimata, it doesn’t stop there. She has a passion for sharing knowledge. Fatimata has already seen widespread, positive change in Ranérou since the Tostan CEP was first implemented there. As a result of the health and hygiene components of the CEP , community members are more eager to keep their neighborhoods clean. They are also more conscious of preventative health measures including vaccinations and pre- and post-natal care, and in general are more willing to get help when they are sick. Women carry a heavy burden of work, but Fatimata affirms that men have realized that they need to participate in the household work as well.

Fatimata humble but proud of her role in the community and for that, she is well respected. Wherever she travels, Fatimata Ba is an agent for change, embodying and sharing the vision of human dignity for all.

Photo by Michelle Rintelman

Volunteer Voice

2010-09-21T10:17:00.001Z

Participants in Tostan’s Africa Volunteer Program bring unique educational experiences and expertise to their work at Tostan, supporting community-led development across Africa in a number of different capacities. Volunteering is more than just a professional experience─it is a chance to broaden horizons and develop understanding through cultural exchange.

Jennifer Keuler, the Adopt a Village Program Coordinator from September 2009 through September 2010, shares a bit of her experience.

After graduation, I realized that it was really the perfect time to travel and I looked into Tostan. I realized that Tostan’s mission—human rights based, non-formal education—was a great match for my interests and experience. Tostan provided very specific and applied work with quite a bit of responsibility. I saw an opportunity for professional growth and self-directed work as well as an incredible chance to be in the country I love. With a purpose.

The richness of Senegalese culture fascinates me. When I first came, I was impressed at how Senegal, surrounded by many countries in unrest, managed to be so safe and peaceful. I was very interested in how the Muslim brotherhoods interact with other religious groups and the [government] and how they influence society. I am so grateful that Tostan has allowed me to give back in a positive way to the nation that has been so formative in my life.

Volunteering, for me, means giving my time, skills, and love to make the world a happier place. It means making a sacrifice for the betterment of others. Field experience, and the learned skills that result—awareness of the many factors that impede or encourage development, the ability to identify problems and successfully resolve them, the ability to see opportunities for improvement or expansion of programs, working with donors and local partners and so many others—are irreplaceable. For me, the experience was an important step in deciding exactly what kind of development work I’d like to pursue.

Photos by Jennifer Keuler. Top: Jennifer during her time in Senegal. Below: Students outside of the CEP classroom in the village of Thiel Sebe, Senegal

Thanks to my experience in Senegal, most specifically my time with villagers in rural areas, I plan on pursuing a career focused on international education. My parents raised me with a very strong work ethic, instilling in me a great reverence for academics and teaching me that education is the surest path to success, happiness, stability, and social responsibility. I recognize that most children are not as lucky, and I am grateful to have been so blessed. I consider it my duty and my choice to make the same educational opportunities available to every child.

[I have gained, from my experience,] an even deeper love of Senegal─if that’s possible─a great respect for and pride in the many colleagues I had the pleasure of working with, and a desire to spread Tostan’s values of human rights through my future work in other countries.