Focus on People
Oct 9 2008
Written by Sally Clasen, Phoenix, AZ
Sustainable Lessons: Molly Melching
From Milwaukee to Dakar, social philanthropists are teaching the poor and disadvantaged basic business tools in unique ways to help them meet economic challenges today and in the future. Here is a profile highlighting another leader of change who is impacting the world around her in a very positive way.
Molly Melching knows first-hand how much it takes a village to improve the outcomes of the poorest and most marginalized people in remote areas of Africa. Melching has worked in Africa for the last 30 years and is the founder and executive director of Tostan (meaning “breakthrough” in the Wolof language), a non-governmental organization based in Dakar, Senegal, whose mission is to empower African communities to achieve sustainable development and social transformation.
Through Tostan’s 30-month, Community Empowerment Program, villagers in Senegal, Guinea, Gambia, Mauritania, Somalia and Djibouti receive management training in math, accounting and literacy and have the opportunity to participate in micro-credit programs managed by Community Management Committees that provide small-business loans. The development of agriculture plots to grow millet, a soap manufacturing business and a mosquito-repellent operation are just some of the collective and individual outcomes of the education initiative.
“These enterprises seek not only to generate revenue, but also social capital. The majority of the businesses started in Tostan communities reinvest their profits back into another community business or use the profits to invest in schools, health services or better family nutrition,” explains Melching, who adds that many villagers, particularly women, are unaware they are losing money on a small business prior to the training.
While many of the small-business owners are women, men are included in the process so they feel Tostan is working for the development of the whole community. “As the Fulani proverb says, one cannot sit down alone to plan for prosperity,” Melching says. “I think that’s really important to emphasize in the Tostan context, we are interested in making the local economy vibrant and ensuring that money made in the community is reinvested in the local community. This is a social entrepreneur model because we think that business should make social good.”
Melching has been repeatedly cited for the success of her model. From UNESCO recognition in 1995, to the University of Illinois Alumni Humanitarian Prize in 1999, to the Sargent Shriver Distinguished Award for Humanitarian Service at the 40th Celebration of the Peace Corps in 2002, Melching’s efforts have garnered recognition for their efficacy. In 2003, the World Health Organization chose Tostan’s basic education approach as a “Best Practice Model” for community development. In 2005, Tostan won the Anna Lindh Prize for Human Rights, and in 2007 Tostan won two awards: the UNESCO King Sejong Prize for Literacy, and the Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize, the largest humanitarian prize in the world.
Much of Tostan’s success stems from the attention the program pays to “preserving the dignity of the populations served through respectful consultation.”
From Milwaukee to Dakar, social philanthropists are teaching the poor and disadvantaged basic business tools in unique ways to help them meet economic challenges today and in the future. Here is a profile highlighting another leader of change who is impacting the world around her in a very positive way.
Molly Melching knows first-hand how much it takes a village to improve the outcomes of the poorest and most marginalized people in remote areas of Africa. Melching has worked in Africa for the last 30 years and is the founder and executive director of Tostan (meaning “breakthrough” in the Wolof language), a non-governmental organization based in Dakar, Senegal, whose mission is to empower African communities to achieve sustainable development and social transformation.
Through Tostan’s 30-month, Community Empowerment Program, villagers in Senegal, Guinea, Gambia, Mauritania, Somalia and Djibouti receive management training in math, accounting and literacy and have the opportunity to participate in micro-credit programs managed by Community Management Committees that provide small-business loans. The development of agriculture plots to grow millet, a soap manufacturing business and a mosquito-repellent operation are just some of the collective and individual outcomes of the education initiative.
“These enterprises seek not only to generate revenue, but also social capital. The majority of the businesses started in Tostan communities reinvest their profits back into another community business or use the profits to invest in schools, health services or better family nutrition,” explains Melching, who adds that many villagers, particularly women, are unaware they are losing money on a small business prior to the training.
While many of the small-business owners are women, men are included in the process so they feel Tostan is working for the development of the whole community. “As the Fulani proverb says, one cannot sit down alone to plan for prosperity,” Melching says. “I think that’s really important to emphasize in the Tostan context, we are interested in making the local economy vibrant and ensuring that money made in the community is reinvested in the local community. This is a social entrepreneur model because we think that business should make social good.”
Melching has been repeatedly cited for the success of her model. From UNESCO recognition in 1995, to the University of Illinois Alumni Humanitarian Prize in 1999, to the Sargent Shriver Distinguished Award for Humanitarian Service at the 40th Celebration of the Peace Corps in 2002, Melching’s efforts have garnered recognition for their efficacy. In 2003, the World Health Organization chose Tostan’s basic education approach as a “Best Practice Model” for community development. In 2005, Tostan won the Anna Lindh Prize for Human Rights, and in 2007 Tostan won two awards: the UNESCO King Sejong Prize for Literacy, and the Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize, the largest humanitarian prize in the world.
Much of Tostan’s success stems from the attention the program pays to “preserving the dignity of the populations served through respectful consultation.”
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