Visit To The Villages Of The Tostan Program

Thies region, Senegal

March 1-2, 2007

In the village of Ndiassone there is a party going on.
Teenage boys beat furious rhythms on the drums and villagers are singing, chanting and dancing. Juanita is in the middle of the mix, doing her own fancy footwork and pasting dollar bills on the sweaty foreheads of women who are 50-something. They are dancing in a circle around he and she is beaming like a new bride. Her light seems to brighten with each forehead that she ‘anoints.’

Later, we are in the nearby neighborhood of Medina Fall where a similar scene takes place. Juanita and company are feted by residents whose dancing is so high-spirited that they seem to take flight. The rhythm is hard driving but there are no drums in sight.
At this party it’s the resourceful women who are providing the furious backbeat by slapping flip flops on washtubs and slamming hands on pans. These sisters rock and we roll.

We are in the region of Thies where we will spend two days visiting villages and neighborhoods that are part of an innovative program called Tostan.
Juanita didn’t come here to party; she came to pay respect to the program and its participants.
But a mutual admiration celebration broke out in the process.

The Tostan Program is an international, non-governmental organization that empowers African communities to take charge of their own development. It is most known for its successful implementation of a basic education program that has led to the abolishment of female genital mutilation in nearly 100 villages. What has also been noted is the cooperation of the men once they learned of the harmful effects of the ritual that has led to sterilization and even death.

Juanita is longtime friends with Molly Melchang, the program director and shares her compassion for women’s health and human rights. She visited some of the participating villages more than a decade ago and wanted to return to honor some of the participants and perform a few ‘random acts.’

Molly was out of town when Juanita first arrived but had a program itinerary all laid out for us. She joined us in Thies the day before we left.

Her impressions of Juanita’s Random Acts project:

“I’ve known Busy Bee for many years,” she said. “She has always been an enthusiastic supporter of movements of social transformation. She’s a model for so many women.
“I thought it was so exciting that she changed her plans to have a 50th birthday celebration for herself and do this.”

Ker Simbara was the first village to get involved in the Tostan project. It was supposed to have been the first village for us to visit but our temperamental bus had one of its breakdowns and we had to reschedule for the following day. When we did arrive El Hadj Mame Bou Kounta, the village elder was pointed but diplomatic in sharing how disappointed he and the villagers were over our unintentional no-show. But all ended well.

Juanita gave monetary gifts to coordinators and elders of the participating villages and neighborhoods that we visited. But she didn’t stop there. In the spirit of her birthday Juanita had Telvin pull out toys and school supplies to distribute to the children and she gave gifts to women who were age 50 or at least claimed to be.
Beverly handed out nail polish and emery boards and embraced her 60-something sister friends.

“I couldn’t have a better birthday than to share this part of my life with you,” Juanita told the residents of Medina Fall. But her words were meant for each village of the Tostan program that we visited.

Visit: http://www.randomactsfoundation.com/story.html

Watch: http://www.ibroadcast.com/randomacts.html