Portrait of a Leader: Ubah Abdilahi Hirsi

Ubah Abdilahi Hirsi was a Tostan participant in Somaliland. Her community of Daami completed Tostan’s holistic human rights-based education program, the Community Empowerment Program (CEP), in 2010. In this interview with the former National Coordinator of Tostan Somalia, Oumar Name, Ubah describes the positive changes she has seen in her family and community since her participation. Mouhamed Abdi, former Assistant to the National Coordinator at Tostan Somalia, translated this interview.

My name is Ubah Abdilahi Hirsi. I am 48-years-old and I live in Daami, a village in Somaliland. I participated in Tostan’s Community Empowerment Program (CEP) from 2007 to 2010.  I am the oldest of eight children and when I was young, my father, a traditional carpenter of the village, could not afford to send me to school. Despite having no formal education, I worked very hard to open my own restaurant selling cups of tea and sandwiches. Every morning, I have to walk five kilometers to be at my restaurant before opening at 5:00 am - doing all the work in order to provide for my husband and seven children.

I first learned of Tostan’s CEP when other women and girls were talking about the program in my village.  At first, I did not think I would have time for the classes as my restaurant was the only source of income for my family. But even under difficult circumstances, I had such a strong desire to attend that I set aside two hours in the afternoon for Tostan classes.  Before Tostan, I did not know my human rights, but now, thanks to the classes, I have rediscovered how to smile and find happiness in my job and home.  

Like many places in Somaliland, there was a belief in Daami that women did not need to go to school. Tostan’s CEP showed me and other women that education is just as much our right as it is a man’s right.  I soon realized that when women and girls received education, social change began to unfold in my community. The first change happened within my own household when I began discussing what I learned in the Tostan classes with my uncle - he listened and respected my advice.  Family management became a joint effort for us, which in turn created a more positive family environment.

Within the community as a whole, women and girls united together to bring positive social reforms.  Tostan helped us change ourselves and helped us push others towards positive change. Now, I have a better understanding of birth spacing and good nutrition for children, which has helped to decrease the number of malnourished children in my village.  The community also experienced profound changes in regards to female genital cutting (FGC). I now understand the damaging health consequences of FGC on young girls, which is why I chose not to have it practiced on my daughter who was born one year after I began Tostan classes.

I also have a better understanding of my personal health and the importance of a clean home. I organized women and girls in the village into a group called Nanafada, which in Somali means to be clean and to clean your environment. Every weekend, I am joined by the women of Daami to sweep the village and share our knowledge of health and hygiene with other women who cannot attend Tostan classes. In cleaning the village, we have created a safer environment with cleaner food and homes and with less waste around the village.

Before Tostan’s classes, I worried that I would only be a restaurant worker. Now, I happily promote the cleanliness and well-being of the community members in Daami. I believe the most effective way to create lasting change is by engaging other women and girls in my community; the CEP gave me the tools to do that. 

There is a Somali proverb: “if you educate a man, you only educate one person. But if you educate women, you educate an entire society.”  I know now that women are an important element of development, and I would like to ask Tostan to make more classes available so that all communities can benefit from this program.

Portrait of a Leader: Coumba Samba Camara

Story and photograph by Anna Vanderkooy, Tostan Projects Assistant, Senegal

The community of Vélingara is located in the district of Ranérou in one of the most conservative regions of Senegal. In January 2012, Vélingara began Tostan’s Community Empowerment Program (CEP) thanks to one woman, Coumba Samba Camara, who mobilized her community to participate in the program.

As part of Tostan’s community-led outreach approach called ‘organized diffusion,’ it broadcasts radio programs on themes covered during the CEP such as democracy, hygiene and health, problem solving, and project management. These radio broadcasts, which are hosted by Tostan facilitators and participants, allow messages that are key to inspiring community-led development to spread to villages that are not directly participating in the program.

Coumba first learned about Tostan through these radio broadcasts. She was so interested in what she heard that she made sure to be around a radio every time a show was scheduled. As was the case with Coumba’s village of Vélingara, communities that learn about Tostan through the radio often choose to invite the program to their own villages. 

Serving as a member of the Vélingara’s Rural Council, president of the local women’s group, and treasurer of the women’s dairy collective, well-respected Coumba was able to convince her peers of the benefits of participating in the Tostan program. When she learned that Tostan was working in her area, she arranged to meet local Tostan staff to get more information and encourage them to hold an information session in Vélingara. 

Through this process of bringing the CEP to her village, she also became involved in Tostan’s awareness-raising and social mobilization initiatives. She began to accompany their local team on trips to many nearby villages in order to share accurate information about harmful social norms such as female genital cutting (FGC) and child/forced marriage.

Since January 2012, when her village began CEP classes, Coumba shares that communication and decision-making in Vélingara has already improved. Regular village-wide meetings are now held, and community members are demonstrating their commitment to community-led development through village clean-ups, increased number of health visits, better collaboration with local authorities, increased community solidarity, and a new freedom of expression for women and adolescents.

Coumba is now a member of Vélingara’s recently formed Community Management Committee (CMC), and she works with her community to identify cases of human rights violations and take action to ensure that the human rights of every community member are respected. Coumba is a dynamic and active leader in her community, eagerly learning and sharing the new skills and knowledge from CEP classes. With this energy, she will continue to empower her own community of Vélingara and beyond.

Portrait of a Leader: Madame Dembele Mariam Touré

Story by Kyrra Engle, Tostan Regional Volunteer in Mali

Madame Touré, Community Coordinator
of Yorodjamboujou

When Madame Dembele Mariam Touré took the Sotrama last week, something unexpected happened.  Sotramas are hollowed out green vans that serve as Mali’s public transportation system.  They are usually operated by a driver and a young apprentice who collects the $.35 fare from each 20 or more passengers inside.  However  on this day when the apprentice came to collect the fare from Madame Touré, a young girl on the Sotrama refused to let her pay. The fellow rider explained to the young man that Madame Touré was the community coordinator and insisted that if she had to pay, the young girl would pay for her. 

Madame Touré is the respected and well-known Community Coordinator of Yorodjambougou, a rural village outside Mali's capital Bamako. As someone who was never given the opportunity to complete her formal education, Madam Touré's current leadership role within her community is something she never anticipated. According to Madame Touré, the basis of her success has been her new found access to education. As a participant in Tostan’s Community Empowerment Program (CEP), Madame Touré learned how to read, write, and do basic calculations for the first time. “I was a very good student, but education for girls was not a priority in my village,” she explains. In Mali, many girls are kept home to help with housework and watch younger siblings instead of going to school. As a result, most women are illiterate. This is something Madame Touré has worked hard to change in her community. After each Tostan class, Madame Touré reviews the lesson at her house with five to ten women who are unable to participate because of work or other obligations. “Before [Tostan] there was no communication among women in my village. Now the women learn and discuss together,” says Madame Touré. 

The influence of the Tostan's CEP has also enabled women to actively participate in community development discussions. Moreover, the classes have provided an opportunity for the community's men to recognize the tangible benefits that come from educating women. “Before Tostan, women [in my village] weren’t allowed to make decisions or be educated because the men thought it would lead to bad things,” Madame Touré explains. Now, however, the men seem to better understand the added household benefits that come from educating women. According to Madame Touré, with education, women have learned how to start revenue generating activities that help support their families. “The women are now invested in creating revenue for their families and participating in economic decisions,” says Madame Touré.

Outside of these community-wide changes, big personal changes have also taken place for Madame Touré. As the community coordinator for Yorodjambougou, Madame Touré is directly involved in the development of her village. “Now people recognize me and respect me for the work I have done,” she explains with pride. Along with educating and inspiring other women, Madame Touré has lead health awareness activities and opened a women’s community fund.  Recognized by Tostan supervisors as one of the strongest participants, many more free Sotrama rides can be seen in her future.                

Portrait of a Leader: Mbamata "Fatou" Jawneh

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


Photos by Elizabeth Loveday, Tostan Regional Volunteer in The Gambia

Portrait of a Leader: Oumou Ndiaye

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.