Teach a Man to Fish, an organization based in London and South Africa, has chosen Tostan facilitator Mariétou Seydi as the Senegal country winner of the First Pan-African Prize for Entrepreneurial Teachers. Mariétou was chosen for her innovative approach to teaching through the Tostan program in the Kolda region of Senegal.

Prize Director Nik Kafka wrote that "the panel of independent judges was unanimously impressed by [Mariétou's] multiple achievements and innovations in the provision of education." Mariétou, who has facilitated the Tostan Community Empowerment Program in the villages of Bodéyel and Saré Baty, in the Kolda region, was one of three facilitators nominated by Tostan. She received $1,000 in prize money. 

"When I heard I won the prize it was a great joy that I will never forget," said Mariétou. "It also encourages the many Tostan facilitators who give a lot of their time to help the communities we work with to continue our efforts and always persevere and succeed."

She plans to use the funds to continue her work as a grassroots leader and educator with Tostan. "In the village where I teach, I have made a great effort to start a community savings fund to invest for the future of the community. In the same way, I also want to invest the prize to earn more for the future of my family."

Mariétou is married with two children, and she first learned of Tostan at an inter-village meeting in 2000. She was invited to participate because she was teaching for another NGO in the area at the time.

Overcoming limited financial resources, Mariétou has taught children about the harmful practices of female genital cutting (FGC) and child/forced marriage through the use of songs and theatre groups. Her commitment to education is reflected in her annual student enrollment drive at Saré Baty elementary school and her efforts to raise awareness on attendance. Among many other programs, Mariétou has also facilitated community debates on maternal health and helped organize Community Management Committees to manage small projects and microloans. She has also been a leader in the effort to register all villagers to vote and to increase the number of children with birth certificates.

"I always wanted to be a person who helps a community improve and advance together. I saw that Tostan helped people through awareness raising, and because in Africa there are problems with FGC and child/forced marriage, I was attracted to Tostan to help educate people on these issues," she said.

We at Tostan are very proud of Mariétou's achievement and congratulate her on this international recognition. Mariétou Seydi's dedication to human rights and sustainable development manifest themselves in her actions every day. 

Teach A Man To Fish is an international non-profit organization working to improve the relevancy, quality, and availability of agricultural education in developing countries.

For more information: First Pan-African Prize for Entrepreneurial Teachers

Tostan and Austin College Launch Microcredit Partnership

This month, Tostan will launch microcredit programs in three villages in the Thiès region as a result of a year-long collaboration with an innovative group of supporters at Austin College, a four-year liberal arts college based in Sherman, TX.

The Austin College Global Outreach ("GO") Change Microcredit Association, headed by senior Will Radke, raised $1,700 to fund microcredit projects in three Senegalese villages in the Thiès region--Keur Simbara, Keur Daouda Cissé (pictured left), and Thiengue--simply by asking students, staff and faculty to contribute whatever spare change they had in their pockets.

This collaboration between the Austin College community and Tostan is a new and exciting model of US-American student involvement in international development projects. Director of US Operations Gannon Gillespie said that this is a trend in Tostan's outreach. "We're seeing more and more interest from colleges and universities both in the US and abroad, and we're excited to expand this model to other schools."

• In December, 210 villages in the department of Boncoto and 115 villages in Niassene in the region of Ziguinchor, Senegal gathered to declare their abandonment of female genital cutting and child/forced marriage.

• On December 9, 2007, Tostan celebrated the 59th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Mbour, Senegal with the Federation of Community Management Committees of Mbour and And Defar Cees the Federation of CMCs of
  
  Thiès, Senegal.

• In February 2008, Tostan trained the Federation of CMCs of Mbour, the first ever Federation training. This group will pilot a new microcredit model at the Federation level with support from the Roth Family Foundation.