Organization Overview

Tostan is a US 501(c)(3) nongovernmental organization whose mission is to empower African communities to bring about sustainable development and positive social transformation based on respect for human rights. Working primarily in remote regions, we provide holistic, participatory education to adults and adolescents who have not had access to formall schooling.

For over two decades, Tostan has demonstrated that providing such an education transforms learners and their communities, leading to meaningful and sustainable social change.

Tostan’s innovative 30-month education program, known as the Community Empowerment Program (CEP) includes modules on human rights, hygiene and health, literacy, and project management. It also employs community-led outreach strategies that engage program participants in their own and neighboring villages. Through this approach, Tostan has transformed the lives of millions of Africans.

Helping Communities Make Breakthroughs

In Wolof, the most widely spoken language in Senegal, Tostan means “breakthrough,” as well as “spreading and sharing.” This word was suggested to Molly Melching, Tostan’s founder and executive director, by renowned African scholar Cheikh Anta Diop. He believed that to foster democracy, development must be educational for all involved, always rooted in and growing out of existing cultural practices and local knowledge.

Influenced by this philosophy, Tostan honors the local context of our participants. Our classes are held in local African languages, and we hire and train culturally competent and knowledgeable local staff. Classes are taught in a participatory manner and emphasize dialogue and consensus building, highly valued skills in African societies. Learners create songs, dances, plays, and poetry inspired from traditional culture to reinforce new knowledge.

Tostan believes that when participants start with what they already know, they can expand and “break through” to new understandings and practices and easily share with others what they have learned. Tostan’s approach centers on the recognition that the most immediate, effective, and sustainable social change and development occurs from the ground up and is built from the pre-existing strengths, assets, and goals of communities themselves.

Communities simply need the tools and knowledge that will empower them to work for their own well-being. It is Tostan’s mission to provide those necessary ingredients through education and organized diffusion.