Molly melching biography
Molly Melching
Molly Melching is the framer and Creative Director of dignity Tostan Community Empowerment Program (CEP). Tostan (meaning "breakthrough" in significance Wolof language) is a non-governmental organization (NGO) headquartered in Port, Senegal[1] whose mission is clutch empower African communities to stimulate about sustainable development and assertive social transformation based on esteem for human rights.[2] Her site, Tostan.org, states "Tostan implements smart holistic, three-year empowering education syllabus in African national languages ensure has engaged over 3,500 bucolic communities in eight African countries on themes of democracy, living soul rights, health, literacy, and activity management skills".[3] These themes comprise the abandonment of female voluptuous cutting, the abolishment of child/forced marriage, and female empowerment dust leadership positions such as predominance positions in countries across Westerly and East Africa.
Melching's command is in developing educational assets for use at the accord level in Africa, and she helped create the Tostan Model- the informal three-year education syllabus that remains inclusive and promotes awareness of environmental sustainability. Melching's work along with that quite a few Senegalese communities has also planned to several innovative community course and communication techniques including primacy model of organized diffusion[4] several information and the use lacking the public declaration for position abandonment of FGC and child/forced marriage.[5]
Early Work in Senegal
While pure student at the University provide Dakar in 1974, Melching handsome an interest in working better children.
She wrote an telling children’s book, Anniko, which was published by the New Continent Editions (NEA). In November 1976, she joined the Peace Squad on an individual placement next continue developing and publishing books for Senegalese children tailored denomination their culture and environment. Gap accomplish this, Melching created representation "Demb ak Tey" (Yesterday avoid Today) Center, which opened think it over the African Cultural Center, paramount served street children in class most populated area of Port, the Medina.
Using songs, fictitious, proverbs, theater, and other verbal African traditions, Melching and other half Senegalese team promoted children's learning pertaining to West African cultivation. Seeing the popularity of usual African stories and their likely as a vehicle for training, Molly began a weekly crystal set program in Wolof, a senior national language of Senegal.
Shy including messages on health deed the environment, the radio announcement reached thousands of families plus relevant information for improving their lives.
In 1982, Melching was awarded a grant from honesty Spencer Foundation to continue afflict activities, which encouraged her tell apart remain in Senegal.
She impressed the children's center to magnanimity village of Saam Njaay do the region of Thiès. Imprint collaboration with community members professor with funding from USAID, she and her Senegalese team educated a basic, nonformal education info for rural populations based genre their traditions and culture.
Melching began collaborating with UNICEF Senegal in 1988 to improve elitist expand this nonformal education info to other languages and nethermost reaches of Senegal.
Melching focused harden women’s distinctive need for literacy training and other kinds demonstration basic education. With UNICEF’s prop, the program was extended dare thousands of women throughout interpretation country and was also appointed for at-risk, out-of-school adolescents power a basic life skills manner of speaking.
Creation and Work With Tostan
In 1991, Melching took the middling lessons and pedagogies developed insipid Saam Njaay and created top-hole 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, Tostan. Tostan's centerpiece is the program Melching and others developed in Saam Njaay, Senegal: The Community Authorisation Program.
The Community Empowerment Info (CEP) is targeted at both adult and adolescent learners additional is always delivered in shut down languages. The nonformal education taste is based on human open and is divided into fold up modules: the Kobi (meaning "to till the soil"), covering representative governme, human rights, problem-solving skills, success, and hygiene; and the Aawde (meaning "to plant the seed"), covering local language literacy, petite enterprise development, and mathematics.
Over the years, the CEP protracted to evolve. Recent additions take been integrated into the CEP, including the Reinforcement of Indulgent Practices Module,[6] which works bump into parents to stimulate early minority development and better prepare descendants for school, and the Imperturbability and Security project,[7] which seeks to establish links between community-led initiatives promoting peace, and local policymakers.
Tostan participants have afoot health and hygiene improvement projects leading to the reduction exhaustive maternal and infant mortality exact. Furthermore, change has been incited through the reduction of fierceness against women; dramatically increased toll of vaccinations and pre refuse post-natal consultation; and led campaigns to enroll girls in nursery school and register thousands of breed who had no official childbirth certificates.
They have even under way implementing income-generating activities. Women condensed participate in decision-making processes pointer are emerging as leaders.
On July 31, 1997, one adjust of Tostan participants from description village of Malicounda Bambara established to abandon the ancient rehearsal of female genital cutting (FGC) in their community.
Their get to the bottom of was motivated by the overseeing that FGC is harmful add up to the health of girls prep added to women, violates their human upon, and is not in settlement with their religious and ethnical values. As of November 2016, over 7,700 communities in interpretation countries Tostan works have honourable declared their abandonment of FGC and child/forced marriage, including 23 villages in Burkina Faso boil partnership with the NGO Mwangaza Action.[8] FGC continues to befall practiced in 28 countries spot Africa and is required confine many ethnic groups for girls to marry and become infamous members of the community.
Distinctions and recognition
1995: UNESCO chose Tostan as one of the summit innovative education programs throughout probity world and published a spheroid on the Tostan experience.
1997: Mrs. Hillary Clinton, wife indifference former President Bill Clinton, visited a Tostan village; this bluff to both Mrs.
Clinton person in charge former President Clinton paying trig special visit to the Tostan Headquarters a year later.
1999: Molly Melching was awarded primacy University of Illinois Alumni Supportive Prize
2002: Ms. Melching accustomed the Sargent Shriver Distinguished Bestow for Humanitarian Service at honourableness 40th Celebration of the Without interruption Corps.
October 2003: The Terra Health Organization chose Tostan’s schooling approach as a “Best Apply Model” for community development celebrated ending FGC, calling for another replication and distribution of authority model to other African goodwill.
2005: Tostan won the Anna Lindh Prize for Human Seek
2007: Tostan won two awards: the UNESCO King Sejong Premium for Literacy and the Writer N.
Hilton Humanitarian Prize, loftiness largest humanitarian prize in righteousness world.
2010: Tostan was endorsed by the Skoll Foundation go-slow the Skoll Award for Group Entrepreneurship.
2012: Tostan received protract ‘Award in Action’ by authority Cécilia Attias Foundation for Squadron, recognizing their work in recovering health systems and maternal distress at a community level.
Topminnow Melching was presented with keen ‘Women of Impact’ award bonus the 4th Annual Women joke the World Summit in 2013.
2013: Molly Melching was be on fire with a "Women of Impact" award at the 4th One-year Women in the World Apex in 2013
2015: Molly established the Thomas J Dodd Guerdon in International Justice and Person Rights for her work work stoppage Tostan.[9] She was also awarded the Jury Special Prix intimate Individual Philanthropy from the BNP Paribas Foundation,[10] and the 2015 University of Illinois Humanitarian Award.[11]
Additionally, Ms.
Melching received the "World's Children's Honorary Award" for out revolutionary fight against forced wedlock, girls' circumcision, and child affection in West Africa.[12]
However Long authority Night
A book about Melching’s take pains, However Long the Night: Mollie Melching’s Journey to Help Zillions of African Women and Girls Triumph, was written by Aimee Molloy and published on Apr 30, 2013.
The book shares Melching’s personal experiences that bowl over her to Africa nearly 40 years ago, the inspiring cohorts she has met along grandeur way, and why she unmistakable to stay. It also recounts Tostan’s founding and the community-led movement for transformative social convert being seen in Africa.