Overview

 

Start-Up Activities

Tostan opens two classes in communities that have officially requested participation in the program. Community members select 25 to 30 adults to enroll in one class and 25 to 30 adolescents to enroll in the other. Implementing the program for both adults and adolescents in the same community is important for encouraging intergenerational dialogue and making sure that youth have the skills needed to participate in and sustain community development. 

 

The regional Tostan coordinator selects seven to ten communities that are in the same zone and that are interconnected because of family ties, use of the same well or market, or affiliation with a particular religious leader in the area. Choosing villages that are part of an already established social network means that the villagers will meet often at religious and social ceremonies or at the well or weekly market. These are important occasions for discussing with others new information and ideas discussed during the program.

 

The communities selected agree to find a suitable space in which to hold the classes and provide the chairs and tables needed. They also house and feed the class facilitator if he or she comes from a neighboring community.  They select the 50 to 60 participants who will attend class three times a week for two to three hours. Each class decides on the best schedule for its class sessions.

 

Community Management Committees

Villagers democratically elect a Community Management Committee (CMC) of 17 members whose role is to manage and coordinate activities of the class and ensure collaboration between the class and other community members. These committees continue activities and projects after the educational program ends.

   

Tostan offers training courses for the community facilitator and the Community Management Committee and also provides books and class supplies needed throughout the 30-month program. Tostan provides transportation and food for outreach activities, intervillage meetings, and public declarations. Tostan also helps communities start small income-generating activities by providing sums of $400 to $1,000 to the Community Management Committee after it receives training on project management.

 

The Facilitator

Tostan regional coordinators select facilitators based on past experience, level of education (a minimum of five years of formal school or previous experience in the Tostan program or other national-language literacy projects), availability during the entire 30-month program, willingness to work in isolated rural areas, respect for villagers, and enthusiasm for the program.

 

Facilitators are the backbone of the Tostan program. They are volunteers for the development of their region and country because they work for a small stipend comparable to salaries of other literacy teachers in the countries where they work. Over 80% of the facilitators in the field are women, and many are former participants in the Tostan program. Before facilitating each of the different Tostan modules, they go through an intensive training course at the Tostan CCDD training center in Thiès, Senegal. They are then placed in a community of their same language and ethnic group, preferably close to their own home village. Tostan has trained more than 500 facilitators in Senegal, 80 in Guinea, 40 in The Gambia, and 42 in Somalia. Most facilitators have remained with the program for many years, thus reducing training costs and providing stability to the organization.

 

Program supervisors oversee the work of community facilitators and report to regional coordinators on program implementation.  Tostan supervisors are frequently selected from a pool of experienced faciliators. They visit seven to ten community centers at least twice each month to provide support, collect program data, work with Community Management Committees, and share pedagogical strategies to improve participant learning. They disseminate best practices; as a result, new ideas quickly spread to other facilitators in the region. They also help organize intervillage meetings and regional events.

 

Tostan Participants

The majority of participants in the CEP are girls and women, but Tostan encourages the participation of men and boys because it is important that the entire community learn about their human rights. Most participants have never been to formal school or have dropped out at an early age. The participants come from a variety of ethnic groups and different levels of society within their village. In urban centers, Tostan frequently works with disadvantaged groups such as domestic workers, the unemployed, prisoners, and street children. In rural communities, different ethnic groups and those of different status groups discuss important issues together for the first time. Click here to learn more about Tostan's participants.

 

The participants commit to adopting another learner in the community, often a family member, friend, or neighbor. After each class, participants spend time presenting and discussing information and ideas covered in class. This is one of Tostan's key strategies for community-led outreach. In this way, Tostan has reached thousands more learners and allowed its participants to take on the important roles of educator and community activist.