THE JOKKO INITIATIVE

Enhancing access to mobile technology

2011-06-09T04:01:00.000-07:00

A short, exciting, video covering the work of the Jokko Initiative.

Jokko Télécentres - 3 months of solar energy amplifying mobile technology.

2011-02-03T03:19:00.000-08:00

CMC members of Kerewane at work inside their suitcase.

Alimatou and Yoro, Jokko supervisors.

Since the Jokko Télécentres were launched at the beginning of November, Yoro and Alimatou, the two Jokko supervisors, have made weekly visits to the villages that received suitcases to support the CMC members who were trained for the télécentres, and to carry out some evaluation tasks. At the end of December, the Jokko team, with support of the Tostan Kolda staff met with CMC representatives from each village for a capitalisation seminar (pictures) which produced some interesting results on the successes and challenges of the télécentres.

First, a brief review of the project. Jokko Télécentres were launched in partnership with the Rural Energy Foundation (REF) as a response to two needs identified by participants in Tostan classes: a lack of electricity to charge phones, and the high cost of credit. The télécentres consist of a mobile wooden suitcase where customers can charge their cellphones from a solar-powered battery and buy small amounts of calling credit. They were launched in 7 villages in the Velingara department at the beginning of November after a four-day training seminar. The main goals of the télécentres were to provide a source of income generation for the participating CMCs, and to act as a focus for social mobilisation regarding easier access to technology, particularly for women and girls.

A solar suitcase with phones charging

People who live in the villages which received solar suitcases express gratitude because the télécentres have removed many of the challenges they previously faced when charging phones. Before the Jokko Télécentres, people reported having to spend 2 or 3 hours travelling to Velingara, the nearest urban capital, to charge their phones at shops where there was no guarantee of security. Phones were often stolen or batteries were swapped for inferior copies.

A CMC member of Kerewane, one of the villages visited during the capitalisation seminar, celebrated the fact that she could charge her phone in the comfort of her own village, avoiding the journey to Velingara that she would otherwise make 2 or 3 times a week. She also benefited from the lower price for one round of charging a battery. Shops in Velingara charge an average of 200 CFA (40 cents/$) per charging session. Each CMC set its own télécentre price, and the tariffs range from 50 to 100 CFA. (10-20 cents/$)

The Jokko Télécentres bring solar energy to you.

In terms of income generation, we predicted that the suitcases would generate enough income to pay for themselves within six months. (The start-up cost of 1 télécentre is 150 000 CFA (~ $300) )Three months later, taking into account initial frictions, and the fact that December and January are the months which receive the least sunshine, the highest earning CMC had made close to 50 000 CFA, (~$100) indicating that our initial estimates were optimistic, but that the télécentres are certainly payable within 1 year.

A CMC member holding up the record book of credit and charging sales.

The télécentres are impacting more than the 7 pilot villages. Each village either transports the suitcases to charge phones in neighbouring villages, or they invite members of surrounding villages to charge their phones on specific days. The closest urban centre is no longer the only place to charge phones.

Seddo (the small amounts of call credit transferred phone-to-phone) sales are also strong. CMCs sell an average 2200 CFA (~$44) of calling credit per week. To get a sense of the scale, 1 text message costs 20 CFA (4 cents /$).

The suitcases have generated a lot of technical interest in the areas where they have been deployed. Many villagers have approached CMC members looking for more information on the process and sources of solar power, and Diallo, the builder and distributor of the suitcases has received many calls from potential buyers. It is an interesting example of a point where many ideas meet: Rural Energy Foundation’s goal of facilitating market-based solutions to rural energy needs; the combination of income generation and social mobilisation at the local level; and the expanding access of technology in hard to reach areas.

Posted by Amma Serwaah-Panin, with support from reports by Malick Niang, Almany Yoro Badji and Alimatou Diao.

Jokko Télécentres - Pictures from the Capitalisation Seminar

2011-01-18T07:02:00.000-08:00

Tostan Kolda staff, Jokko team members from Dakar and Thies, and CMC participants came together in Velingara from 19-22 December 2010 to learn, discuss, and share experiences of the Jokko Télécentres, which had been operational in the field for about two months at that point. Below are some pictures from village discussions and the capitalisation seminar which took place during the visit.

The next blog post will be a deeper discussion of some of the challenges and successes raised during the seminar. Check back soon!

More pictures from the seminar at our Flickr photostream: click here

Tostan participants in Sare Diallo during the discussion.

A telecentre at work: cell phones and universal chargers plugged in.

Bicycles, muscle power, and donkey-led carts are the most popular mode of telecentre transport.

Malick Niang (Senegal programs assistant), Mamadou (Sare Diallo CMC member) and Finte Boiro (Assistant to the Regional Coordinator) pose near a sign board of a Tostan village.

Posted by Amma Serwaah-Panin

Rapid Suivi: Un système de suivi en temps réel.

2010-11-10T05:36:00.000-08:00

Facilitateurs à la formation de RapidSuivi

Dans le cadre des innovations, le projet Jokko a réuni à Kaolack les communautés et facilitateurs « pulaar » du département de Kaffrine pour une formation sur le Rapid Suivi. Elle s’est déroulée du 03 au 04 novembre 2010 au centre régional de formation en santé de Kaolack avec 16 facilitateurs, 16 représentants hommes et femmes des CGC (Comité de Gestion Communautaire) des centres UNICEF sélectionnés pour la phase pilote et le staff de Tostan/Kaolack. Tostan dispose certes d’un système de suivi avec de bons outils, un département SERA (Suivi Evaluation recherche Apprentissage) pour la collecte, l’analyse, la saisie, le traitement et la remontée des données statistiques.

L’expérimentation de Rapid Suivi vise à utiliser les téléphones portables pour compléter les bonnes choses du système d’évaluation actuel.

Avec le téléphone portable, on peut limiter le temps entre l’évènement dans la classe ou la communauté et la remontée d’informations vers Tostan ou les partenaires. Par l’envoi d’un message SMS codé avec des chiffres « au numéro magique jokko » l’ordinateur réglé pour comprendre ce que le facilitateur ou le CGC lui a envoyé traite et réexpédie ces informations aux personnes concernées et autorisées. Ce système permet de réduire le temps écoulé entre la tenue de l’évènement/la classe et le moment où les gens de Tostan en prennent connaissance. En effet, cela permet à Tostan de travailler de manière plus efficace, d’appuyer les communautés les plus dynamiques de manière réactive et immédiate.

Un membre de CGC et un facilitateur en train de déchiffrer les guides.

Des guides pour le facilitateur ou le CGC ont été remis aux participants avec des téléphones portables personnalisées (nom, prénom, statut de la personne, facilitateur ou CGC, localité).
Après la classe, le facilitateur pourra au travers du téléphone portable envoyer des informations sur l’âge des participants présents (adultes, ou mélangé, adolescents). Le module en cours d’exécution, numéro de la séance, nombre de participants présents, nombre de femmes, hommes, jeunes filles, garçons. Au début de chaque nouveau module, il peut renseigner sur le nombre d’abandons femmes, hommes filles et garçons. Avec le CGC, après chaque réunion, on peut connaitre le nombre de membres présents, le nombre des invités le sujet principal de la réunion et la planification de la prochaine réunion. Cela est aussi possible après chaque opération financière sur l’argent disponible dans la caisse communautaire, le compte bancaire du CGC. A la fin de chaque mobilisation sociale avec l’utilisation du téléphone portable et Rapid Suivi il est possible de connaitre le nombre de participants, les villages représentés, la nature de l’activité organisée, le lieu où elle s’est déroulée.

Cette expérimentation de Rapid Suivi ou le suivi par les communautés sera capitalisée avant éventuelle expansion avec tous les enseignements agrégés durant cette phase pilote.

Malick Niang

The RapidMonitor/RapidSuivi Guide is Ready!

2010-11-09T13:16:00.000-08:00

Sunshine and Mobile Phones. The Jokko Télécentres are launched.

2010-11-09T05:42:00.000-08:00

The suitcases getting some sun

click here for more télécentre photos!

The Jokko team (Guillaume Debar - project manager; Malick Niang - assistant to the national programs department ; and Amma Serwaah-Panin (me)- assistant to the Jokko Initiative) was recently in Kolda, in the Cassamance region of Senegal, conducting a four-day workshop which launched Télécentres Jokko, a project we are piloting in 7 communities in the Velingara department. The project is based on solar-powered suitcases which act as télécentres where customers can charge their mobile phones or purchase small amounts of credit through a phone-to-phone units transfer system known as Seddo (from the Orange service provider) or Izi (from the Tigo service provider.) The motivation behind the télécentres came from needs raised by participants during the Cell Phones for Literacy and Development module of Tostan’s Community Empowerment Program (CEP). Participants often raised concerns relating to the cost and difficulty of finding places to charge cell phone batteries, the high cost of mobile phone credit, and the limited access that women and girls have to technology.

A télécentre ready for action.

Thus, working with Rural Energy Foundation (REF), a partner NGO, the Jokko Télécentres were developed with two main aims: to act as an income generating activity, and to provide a base for awareness raising activities on the subject of access to technology for women and girls. The télécentres consist of a portable wooden “suitcase” equipped with a solar panel and multiple outlets where phones and other small electrical appliances can be charged.

Every community in which Tostan implements the CEP has formed a Community Management Committee (CMC) which is a democratically elected group of 17 members who help to coordinate Tostan’s work; they might organise social mobilisation events such as village cleanings, they might run a soap-making income generating activity, or they might manage a Jokko Télécentre.

The Telecentre workshop welcomed eight staff members from the Tostan office in Kolda, fourteen CMC members representing the seven pilot villages (two members from each community), three members of the Jokko team, three staff members from REF, and Diallo, the solar-products distributor who built the solar suitcases and who is in charge of their maintenance.

The suitcases are durable, ideal for rural communities. And baby-proof.

As the sessions began we debated whether or not participants should be allowed to answer personal phone calls during the workshop. During the debate I noticed that most conference participants had a phone that they seemed to consider indispensable to general life – an observation affirming the hype around the ubiquity of mobile phones in rural communities; an observation which also boded well for the utility of a solar-powered suitcase catering to cell phone needs. Eventually everyone put their phones on silent and the training sessions begun.

The discussion on cell phone use at the beginning of the workshop was an example of Tostan’s commitment to an inclusive, democratic environment and learning style. I noticed a lighter, more relaxed and more receptive atmosphere in the room after we laughed about how everyone – from CMC member to solar panel engineer – could describe their incoming calls as urgent.

Over the course of the four-day workshop, activities included songs, some dance, skits, games, action planning, brainstorming, and a technical adventure through the suitcases (“You can charge a maximum of 15 cell phones a day. It is like having a rain cistern outside your house. If the cistern can only store water for 14 people to bath a day, and you are the 15th person, you will have a problem.”). We covered the main objective of the télécentre training: to allow CMC members to return to their villages with enough information, technical and social, to launch the télécentres with the double pronged goal of creating income generating activities and social mobilisation events.

Diallo, Jasmien, Bathily, Binta and Malick on the radio.

At the end of the week, Binta Diao, a Tostan supervisor and radio broadcaster invited the training team to speak on her radio show. She took the French words of Malick and Jasmien (REF) and transformed them into streams of poetic Pulaar coursing over the airwaves of the entire Kolda region. After the show, Dialo’s phone rang almost incessantly as interested listeners called to get more information about the télécentres.

An REF brand assuring quality in solar products.

On Saturday, the day after the workshop ended, we held a pedagogical inauguration of the télécentres at Sare Dialo, one of the pilot villages just outside Velingara. It wouldn’t be Africa, and it wouldn’t be development work – although it would still be cliché – if I didn’t say we were welcomed to the village with a brilliant display of song and dance. We greeted the imams, and other heads of the villages, gave a few speeches, watched a quite fabulous skit that the CMC members had prepared for the village of Saré Dialo, and then sung the Télécentre Jokko song that had been written, set to music, and practiced during the workshop. Everyone was wearing their télécentre marketing material: t-shirts, caps, and flags with REF’s “Solar Here” quality assurance label displayed. Seven large banners advertising the télécentres had also been hung around Saré Dialo and members of the local press were present at the event. We are keeping an eye out for a Jokko spread in the Kolda News.

The Sare Dialo inauguration was “pedagogical” in the sense that it will act as a model for the CMC representatives from the 6 other villages who will return to their communities and hold their own télécentre inaugurations.

The entire workshop: CGC representatives, REF, Jokko team, Tostan Kolda staff.

At the end of the event, there was a chicken changing hands amongst the Tostan staff – Sare Dialo had presented it to us in gratitude. The Jokko team left with our REF partners to return to Dakar and Thies. The chicken went home with someone from the Tostan Kolda office. It was a successful training and a colourful inauguration. We drove off in a happy, post-inauguration glow which made me think of the many télécentre marketing phrases that had been discarded during the planning phases for being too schmaltzy. I thought at that moment that my personal favourite (and the most readily discarded) was quite apt : “Télécentres Jokko: Le soleil dans les portable et les cœurs..” Jokko Telecentres: Sunshine in our phones and in our hearts.

Contributed by Amma Serwaah-Panin; Editing by Sydney Skov.

Mobile and Women, a Global Opportunity

2010-10-20T06:07:00.000-07:00

The Cherie Blair Foundation and GSMA Development Fund published a groundbreaking report featuring Tostan's Jokko Initiative earlier this year, quantifying the gender gap in mobile technology across developing countries - Women & Mobile: A Global Opportunity. The report shows that, by extending the benefits of mobile phone ownership to more women, a host of social and economic goals can be advanced, but 300 million women are missing out on the mobile revolution.

Download the full report (5.4MB)

Using the findings of the report, GSMA is now leading in efforts to close the gender gap with an innovative new programme, "mWomen".

Key findings of the report:

There are 300 million fewer female subscribers than male subscribers worldwide
A woman is 21% less likely to own a phone than a man in low and middle-income countries
Regionally, the incremental annual revenue opportunity for operators ranges from US$740M in Latin America to US$4B in East Asia
Women in rural areas and lower income brackets stand to benefit the most from closing the gender gap
93% of women report feeling safer because of their mobile phone
85% of women report feeling more independent because of their mobile phone
41% of women report having increased income and professional opportunities once they own a phone

About the GSMA Development Fund

Founded in October 2005, the GSMA Development Fund has rapidly established itself as a leader in identifying and implementing new uses for mobile communications to help people at the bottom of the social and economic pyramid. Find out more at: http://d evfundblog.org

Guillaume

Lettre au staff de Molly Melching, Directrice Exécutive de Tostan (rencontre mWoman)

2010-10-20T05:54:00.000-07:00

Chère Famille Tostan,

Vous êtes sans doute au courant que j'ai été invitée hier par Hillary Clinton, la Ministre des Affaires Etrangères (Secrétaire d’Etat) du Gouvernement des Etats Unis, à participer au lancement de mWoman, une initiative destinée à promouvoir l'utilisation des téléphones portables, en particulier en direction des femmes. La cérémonie a eu lieu dans la salle Benjamin Franklin du Département d'Etat à Washington DC.

J'ai rencontré Hillary dans une salle à part avant la cérémonie. Elle m'a demandé des nouvelles de tous les membres du staff de Tostan et elle m'a dit qu'elle a entendu de bonnes choses par rapport au travail que nous avons accompli dans plusieurs pays de l'Afrique. Elle m'a demandé de bien saluer tous les membres de l’équipe, ainsi que les participants qui continuent à œuvrer pour le bien-être de leur communauté. Nous avons pris des photos que je vous enverrai bientôt.

Dans son discours pendant la cérémonie, elle a cité le travail important réalisé par Tostan devant des membres du Gouvernement des Etats Unis, des Directeurs de sociétés de téléphones portables (Nokia, Eriksson, etc.) et d'autres invités de marque.

Son Directeur de Cabinet m'a informé que la Secrétaire d'Etat parle très souvent de Tostan dans ses discours. Elle répète inlassablement que Tostan est un modèle d'ONG dynamique et à fort impact qui continue à innover et s'occuper continuellement du bien des populations.

J'ai participé ensuite à un panel de grandes personnalités dont Cherie Blair, la femme de Tony Blair (qui cite souvent Tostan également), pour parler de notre Initiative Jokko - l'utilisation du téléphone portable pour l'alphabétisation et le développement. Les gens étaient très impressionnés par le travail accompli et les résultats de notre récente évaluation. Plusieurs sont venus après demander une collaboration - Nokia, GSMA et d'autres.

Je tenais à partager avec vous cette journée importante pour Tostan et par la même occasion vous féliciter pour tout le travail que vous avez accompli. Aujourd’hui, je suis très fière et j'espère que vous l'êtes aussi : vous êtes des modèles observés, écoutés et respectés partout dans le monde.

Wow !

Molly

Jokko Telecenters

2010-10-12T05:00:00.000-07:00

The solar-powered charging station, a critical part of the Jokko Telecenter

During the course of the CEP, Tostan establishes community-based organizations – called Community Management Committees (CMCs) – composed of 17 democratically-elected community members whose role is to manage and coordinate CEP activities and ensure collaboration between CEP participants and other community members. After having received project management training, the CMCs are provided with sums ranging from $400 to $1,000 and support from Tostan to implement income-generating activities in order to generate funds for local development and initiatives.

Once the CEP has ended, CMC members continue to serve as social entrepreneurs and activists in their communities. With the necessary development tools and leadership skills in hand, CMCs develop and implement specific action plans through subcommittees focused on topics of importance to the community: from environmental issues, to community health topics, from education and social mobilization, to income generating activities and child protection. Over time, many CMCs register as official community-based organizations in their respective countries, which reinforces community capacity while ensuring that funds, projects, and campaigns are managed in a transparent and professional manner.

In 2006, Tostan created the Empowered Communities Network (ECN) to support the more than 1,500 existent CMCs in their grass-roots development processes by facilitating linkages with other development partners, microfinance institutions, businesses, and government authorities. The ECN is the tool developed by Tostan that guarantees the sustainability of the CEP’s local impacts.

[Read more about the ECN]

In October 2010, Tostan will be expanding activities to additional villages and identifying new mobile technology-based income-generating and social mobilization activities to serve the needs of rural communities. In June 2010, Tostan will support the implementation of community tele-centers in the Vélingara department in southern Senegal.

With the implementation of community tele-centers, the Jokko Initiative seeks to address key challenges faced by rural communities in accessing mobile technology - as identified in the continuous monitoring of the pilot phase – at the community-level, while providing the means for people to improve their lives and those of their children in a sustainable manner.

85% of rural Senegal is not covered by the national electrical grid. All the villages targeted for this project are off-grid. Observations in the field and preliminary feedback from CEGA show that the lack of electricity in these villages makes charging mobile phones (and by extension, all electronic devices) extremely problematic, requiring people to (1) Improvise with local power sources that prove hazardous to the village’s health (fuel lamps, etc.) and damaging to phone batteries (use of lead-acid car batteries to charge multiple electronic devices at once) or (2) Travel long distances to urban centers in order to have their mobile phones charged by small entrepreneurs. The latter often entails heavy expenditures on transport; a considerable loss of income due to time spent traveling; and increased risk of theft of and/or damage to phones (i.e. the replacement of good phone batteries with those of inferior quality when given to be charged in urban centers).

Also identified by community members and Tostan’s field workers as prohibiting the use of mobile phones is the unavailability - or otherwise high cost of - phone credit. People in rural Senegal often must travel to urban centers in order to purchase credit. When credit is available in rural villages, denominations are often more expensive by as much as 25% (i.e. credit sold at 1000 CFA in an urban center is sold for 1250 CFA in a village). As a result, many rural people cannot afford to use the mobile phones that they own or share with others.

A vast body of scholarly research reveals the disproportionate access of women and girls in the developing world to mobile technology (reference: Women and Mobile, GSMA and Cherie Blair report). Tostan’s experience and CEGA’s evaluation of the pilot phase confirms these findings.

In the baseline study of the pilot phase, CEGA identified a strong disparity between men and women relative to the use of mobile phones. The men interviewed were found to have both greater access to and better competency at using mobile phones than the women interviewed.

(1) Compared to 31% of men, only 12% of women had access to a mobile phone.

(2) Compared to 33% of men, 45% of women had never used a mobile phone.

(3) Men knew how to use the mobile phone’s calculator function 3 times better than women.

Solar energy household solutions, such as solar lanterns and solar home systems, are highly attractive to off-grid households. Households can considerably reduce their energy costs (kerosene, batteries) in the medium to long run, while access to electricity improves their living standard. People can become more productive, children can study after sunset. Moreover, these solutions do not require expensive and maintenance-sensitive electricity grids.

Rural Energy Foundation (REF) is a Dutch NGO which facilitates access to renewable energy to hundreds of thousands of rural people in sub-Saharan Africa. It does so by establishing effective and efficient supply chains (through the establishment and training of entrepreneurs and technicians in solar energy solutions), by stimulating demand (through large awareness campaigns), and by facilitating access to loans to entrepreneurs and end users. The approach works: during the past 3 years REF has facilitated access to electricity to more than 332,000 people at a cost of less than EUR 4 per connected person.

REF identifies, trains, and supports commercial retailers and distributors, so that these entrepreneurs start and expand a business in renewable energy household solutions. REF also provides solutions to their financial constraints, for example by guaranteeing the outstanding part of a loan with a guarantee fund. In addition, REF initiates large-scale marketing campaigns to stimulate demand for renewable energy products. Finally, we facilitate solutions where end users obtain credit to make the upfront investments.

REF is active in several countries in both East and West Africa, and has already developed a network of importers, distributors and retailers that covers a vast portion of Senegal. REF works with this network to develop the supply chain, ensuring the quality of the products and service, while working with MFIs to extend credit to micro-entrepreneurs.

In collaboration with REF, Tostan seeks to implement 2 income generating activities for CMCs in the department of Velingara, Senegal:

Small Business Applications (SBA)

The SBA consists of solar income-generating activities such as mobile phone and small electronic device charging, and solar-powered small businesses such as tailors and hair salons. When up and running, the system needed to run the SBA could be earned back in less than half a year.

There are several advantages to placing an SBA in the heart of the rural areas, such as lower expenditure of money on travel for charging purposes. Moreover, by involving the community leaders, there is a significantly reduced chance of theft or damage due to increased social control. Part of the revenue from the charging business can be reinvested in the community, making the customer the ultimate beneficiary.

Furthermore, other advantages include: the use of the portable solar system to power other micro-enterprises (tailor, salon, bush-cinema); the portability reduces risk of theft, and allows the entrepreneur running the business to even frequent weekly markets or other places where people from neighboring villages often gather, to create awareness and earn an income by e.g. charging phones.

Sales Agents

The sales agents program entails that local entrepreneurs start acting as representatives for retailers endorsed by REF, and help sell solar products and provide maintenance for solar installations in their villages. For large installations, the sales agent will refer the potential customer to the retailer’s shop, but smaller products (such as solar lanterns) could be sold on the spot. The sales agent is often paid a commission per system sold in that specific community.

The sales agent is therefore directly linked to a specific retailer (holder of the “Solaire Ici” quality label develpped by REF), and receives the needed training and material from the retailer (with guidance from REF). The sales agent’s responsibilities then include: convincing the potential customers, sensitizing the general public to increase awareness and help disseminate information regarding renewable energy solutions, and do promotional activities in collaboration with the retailer. From the part of the retailer, responsibilities include: delivery of promotional materials, providing the actual selling point for renewable energy solutions, and perform the installation and maintenance.

Microfranchising is a development tool that seeks to apply the proven marketing and operational concepts of traditional franchising to small businesses. The primary feature of a microfranchise is its ability to be streamlined and replicated in the most remote areas.

Seddo and Izi are two services developed by respectively Orange Sonatel and Tigo Sénégal (the two major telecommunication companies in Senegal). They allow small entrepreneurs and street vendors to use Orange’s and Tigo’s franchises to retail phone credit and SIM cards.There are two ways to retail phone credit in Senegal.

Sell credit cards, ranging from 1000 FCFA (approx. 2 USD) to 10000 (approx. 20 USD)
Sell small amount of phone credit (100 FCFA and more) via a phone-to-phone transfer system.

Through their Community telecenter activities, CMCs will engage in micro franchise: retail of credit, via transfer and selling Seddo and Izi cards and provide calling and texting services. For each transaction, they will earn a small commission. Tostan will support them into contracting with Sedd and Orange, and will provide an adapted training on marketing methods and management of this new income generating tool.

A portion of the funds yielded by the income-generating activities of the community tele-center will be dedicated to providing SMS texting free-of-charge for women of girls. Under this initiative, SMS texts must be development-related and sent to a specific list of contacts, using the RapidSMS Forum (cf. annex). A paper phone book as well as mobile directories with listings for local development actors (including Tostan regional staff, RapidSMS, CMCs in the region, and SAV distributors) will be provided.

This social mobilization activity will facilitate increased access of women and girls to mobile phones, serving to help close the gendered mobile gap while enhancing opportunities for women and girls to practice their literacy skills and expand their communicative network.

Guillaume

2010-10-01T03:37:00.000-07:00

Relecture et Correction du Module TPAD à Kolda

Le nouveau module TPAD (Téléphone portable pour l’alphabétisation et le développement) est constitué de 23 séances exécutées durant l’Aawde 1 et 2. Il permet aux participants d’apprendre à :

• Reconnaitre les éléments de base du téléphone portable

• Ecrire avec le téléphone portable

• Calculer avec le téléphone portable

• Ecrire, envoyer et recevoir un message SMS

• Utiliser le téléphone portable à des fins de développement communautaire (santé, AGR, mobilisation sociale etc..)

En faisant du téléphone portable à la fois un support pédagogique fiable pour renforcer l’Aawde et un outil de développement efficace par et pour les communautés, les bénéficiaires du PRCC pourront :

- Pratiquer la lecture et l’écriture régulièrement en particulier en envoyant et recevant des messages SMS

- Pratiquer leurs connaissances en calcul et en gestion de projet, au travers de leur maitrise des autres applications du téléphone portable (calculatrice, convertisseur, agenda etc)

- Avoir un meilleur accès à l’information de base et prendre des décisions importantes en fonction des ces informations ( par ex : les prix au marché, médicaments, feux de brousse etc)

- Communiquer davantage avec les membres de la diaspora et inclure ces derniers dans le processus de réflexion autour du développement de leur communauté

- Favoriser la rétention des connaissances en lecture, écrire, calcul et gestion etc..

Après les observations de terrain, suggestions, recommandations et suite à l’atelier de capitalisation Jokko, un nouveau module TPAD a été retravaillé en intégrant autant que possible les remarques soulevées.

Le nouveau module TPAD a été retraduit en langues nationales par des consultants. A la réception des documents, un atelier de relecture, correction s’est tenu à Kolda du (15 au 17 sept 2010) pour partager avec les collègues agents de terrain des coordinations régionales de Kolda et Ziguinchor. Le choix de cette zone est judicieux en raison de la présence des langues de travail sur place.

La mission s’est bien déroulée avec le remarquable travail de relecture détaillée et la correction des modules TPAD en langues nationales.

L’implication et le partage avec les agents exécutants et utilisateurs (assistants coordonnateurs, superviseurs et facilitateurs) ont abouti à la finalisation d’un produit opérationnel et performant. Avec les boites à images TPAD qui accompagnent le module les bénéficiaires sont outillés pour une utilisation optimale avec cette importante innovation « Initiative Jokko » très appréciée par les communautés.

Malick Niang

Assistant Département des Programmes

Clinton Global Initiative - Annual Meeting (September 21 - 23)

2010-09-21T15:33:00.000-07:00

UPDATE: You can re-watch Molly Melching, Tostan's Executive Director, speak on the Jokko Initiative at the CGI here.

Thursday. September. 23rd, from 10.30 to11.30 am, do not miss "Mobile Revolution: Transforming Access, Markets, and Development", a discussion at the Clinton Global Initiative annual meeting between:

Cherie Blair, Founder of The Cherie Blair Foundation for Women
Mohammad Kilany, Co-Founder of Souktel Mobile
Molly Melching, Founder and Executive Director of Tostan
Judith Rodin, President of The Rockefeller Foundation
Jack Dorsey, Creator, Co-founder and Chairman of Twitter
John W. Stanton, Founder and former CEO of Western Wireless Corporation
[To watch the live stream video]
[To learn more about the Clinton Global Initiative]
[To learn more about Tostan's CGI commitment]

Press release

2010-09-08T10:33:00.000-07:00

Study Shows Promise for Innovative "Text Messaging for Literacy" Approach in Africa

DAKAR, Senegal September 8, 2010- On International Literacy Day, Tostan, along with partners UNICEF and the Center of Evaluation for Global Action (CEGA) at the University of California, Berkeley, have released initial findings of an evaluation that shows great promise for using text messaging as a means for improving literacy and community development.

The evaluation centered on a pilot of the Jokko Initiative, which was implemented in 25 villages in the Velingara region of Senegal, bringing innovative mobile technology education to 800 program participants. These villages were already engaged in Tostan's Community Empowerment Program (CEP), a 30-month holistic education program covering human rights, democracy, health and hygiene, problem solving, literacy, and numeracy.

Focusing on improving communication and reinforcing literacy during and after the CEP, the Jokko Initiative teaches participants to use cell phones and send text messages in local languages. It is designed to give participants a vital literacy practice tool and enable them to better reach out to their communities and social networks.

According to the evaluation conducted by CEGA in these villages, women and girls, who had the lowest rates of literacy and numeracy before the Jokko Initiative began, greatly improved over the course of the project. The percentage of women and girls who scored in the highest category for literacy and numeracy increased from 12% for women and 8% for girls at the baseline, to 29% and 33% at the follow-up. Moreover, the number of participants who were able to write a text message jumped from 8% to 62%.

To power the text message system, UNICEF contributed knowledge and expertise around the RapidSMS tool--a free and open-source framework for interacting with mobile phones. Much of the RapidSMS framework has been built and tested with users in sub-Saharan Africa.

During the evaluation, two rounds of data collection took place: a baseline and a second round after the first four months of Tostan's literacy and numeracy training. At the outset of the program, only 22% of the participants--the majority whom are women--reported being literate. Only 18% reported having any formal schooling. CEGA's research shows that after the four months, both literacy and numeracy increased substantially.

"While more research needs to be done to identify how best to harness cell phones in promoting literacy--the results from the pilot study are promising as they show that teaching people how to read and write messages on a cell phone can be a positive addition to a successful literacy program," says Theresa Beltramo, Economist and Evaluation Coordinator for CEGA.

Molly Melching, Executive Director of Tostan, said that this program, in her opinion, has incredible potential. "For years we have been looking for ways to address the challenge of making literacy relevant, finding ways for participants to practice their new skills, all the while engaging women and girls in the process and reinforcing existing social ties. This project does all of these things."

Today, International Literacy Day, is an occasion to celebrate these women in Senegal as well as women the world over who empower themselves and their communities through education and literacy.

Find more information about RapidSMS on their website www.rapidsms.org. To read more about the Jokko Initiative, visit www.tostan.org or follow the blog http://www.jokkoinitiative.org/.

RapidSuivi, Tostan’s Future Real-Time Monitoring System

2010-07-22T03:56:00.000-07:00

Tostan’s collaboration with UNICEF provides a unique opportunity for Tostan to improve the monitoring and evaluation capabilities of its Community Empowerment Program (CEP). By adopting UNICEF’s RapidSMS technology, Tostan aims to design a platform for real-time monitoring in combination with geographical analysis that will facilitate strategic decision-making regarding how to employ resources, work with communities, and track impact.

The purpose of RapidSuivi is to address certain issues that can hinder adequate monitoring and evaluation of Tostan’s CEP. The CEP lasts for 30 months, consisting of in-the-field learning, community organization, and outreach and grassroots advocacy, and contributes to the overall development of participants as they engage with their community in designing, carrying out, and sustaining community-led activities.

"How It Works" - Tostan 2010

Challenges that Tostan faces in monitoring activities include inadequate follow-up and capitalization on the success of field operations. The lag in receiving data in Tostan’s main offices hampers timely data analysis and digestion. Simply put, community-led activities can be spontaneous and Tostan representatives cannot be present at every event or report on all of them. The implementation of RapidSuivi would address this issue by providing up-to-the-minute data to be reviewed and analyzed by Tostan’s Monitoring, Evaluation, Research & Learning (MERL) Department. Naturally, it is in Tostan’s best interest to identify where programs are achieving results and to continue to allocate support to those villages. RapidSuivi will provide the MERL department with the most recent data, helping Tostan to identify areas where results have been achieved and where progress is still needed.

Another issue the real-time platform will address is the demand for increased CEP supervision by Tostan. The real-time monitoring system will provide Tostan with the unique ability to view current data and information sent from the villages where it has programs. This provision of real-time data will further help Tostan in analyzing the effectiveness of its programs as well as identifying areas where a program may be lagging, and thus requiring more assistance or oversight from Tostan headquarters.

While achieving better efficiency in analyzing and organizing data will help increase Tostan’s supervisorial abilities, another main benefit of the real-time system will be the establishment of a database of up-to-the-minute information that will allow Tostan to create a more effective system of support for its village programs. As stated, there are many benefits to having instant access to the most recent data. The creation of the real-time database will assist in the objectives of monitoring and evaluating Tostan projects. It will also help to identify areas where Tostan’s programs have been successful and thus require further assistance in continuing program activities or where the programs have been ineffective and more oversight may be required.

Benjamin Bryan,

Project Assistant MERL Dpt

Talking RapidSMS in Vélingara

2010-07-08T03:09:00.000-07:00

Last week I traveled to Vélingara, a department in Southern Senegal, to talk to community members about their experience with the Jokko module and with the RapidSMS-based Community Forum. Once there, I met up with Malick Niang (Proj. Coordinator for Senegal), Finté Boiro (Assistant Coordinator, Kolda), Alimatou Diao and Almamy Yoro Badji (Supervisors, Kolda), and we headed out into the villages.

For those of you who are new to the Jokko Initiative, a brief recap : In April 2009, Tostan collaborated with UNICEF to launch the RapidSMS-based « Community Forum » in 15 villages in the department of Vélingara where the Jokko module was being taught.

Vélingara department, Senegal. Villages where the Jokko module was taught marked with a pink dot.

In a nutshell, the Community Forum is a practical, SMS-based application that allows a community member to disseminate information to a virtual network of his or her peers by sending a single text message to Tostan’s server. In the villages where we piloted the Community Forum, participants in the Jokko module not only learned how to use a mobile phone and send text messages, but received training in RapidSMS technology. Our goal : to provide community members with tools to bolster their local development initiatives- especially those that involve mobilizing people around common causes to effect positive social change.

One year later, it was high time for a field visit to talk RapidSMS with community members. We split our time between two primarily Pulaar villages, Sare Dialo and Barkatou, in which we had identified many "power users": people who frequently send messages to the Community Forum on themes related to development and social mobilization.

With this tool, the Jokko team is able to visualize all text messages sent in the Community Forum.

The feedback we received confirmed many of our initial hopes. Overwhelmingly, community members find the Community Forum to be extremely beneficial to their communities and would like to see the system expanded to other villages and regions of the country. We also found that many of those using RapidSMS were not participants in the Jokko module, and some don’t even live in the villages- news and know-how traveled fast!

Alimatou and I jump into a group shot of the women and children of Barkatou.

So what did RapidSMS users have to say? Those interviewed confirmed much of what we already knew as members of the Community Forum ourselves : community members use RapidSMS to disseminate information and to organize meetings and events on an array of themes including vaccination campaigns, bed net distribution for malaria prevention, village clean-ups and school enrollment for children.

For me, two anecdotes were particularly illustrative of the beneficial potentialities of RapidSMS technology, and of SMS technology in general.

In Sare Dialo, we spoke with two RapidSMS users, Khadiatou M’Ballo and Dieynabou Baldé, who are physically disabled. Both are also extremely active in local development issues and described how they used the Community Forum for these purposes. Of greater interest to me, however, was the story of social empowerment that emerged from their testimonial. Dieynabou learned how to read, write, and send a text message in Tostan's education program. Now she uses the Community Forum to arrange transportation to community events that shy might not otherwise be able to attend.

Khadiatou M’Ballo and Dieynabou Baldé, local activists and RapidSMS users in Sare Dialo.

A second anecdote, related to me by multiple users, is emblematic of the potential of RapidSMS technology to accelerate the diffusion of and to help reinforce positive social change : A man wanted to have his young daughter cut, despite the fact that his village had collectively decided to abandon the harmful traditional practice of female genital cutting. Other villagers sent messages to the Community Forum to warn community members of the man’s intentions. The news spread rapidly, and in the face of overwhelming social pressure, the man renounced his intention to have his daughter cut. As many community members we spoke with pointed out, mobile technology can be harnessed to accelerate the grassroots movement in Senegal for the nationwide abandonment of FGC and early/forced marriage.

Back in Dakar, the Jokko team is finalizing a new and improved Jokko module- the fruit of our Capitalization Seminar back in May- and preparing for the early Fall launch of the Jokko community telecenters, in collaboration with Rural Energy Foundation.

Lindsay Powell

Documenting the Jokko Experience in Touba

2010-06-23T11:15:00.000-07:00

Last week, Guillaume (Project Manager, Tostan International), Malick (Project Coordinator for Senegal) and I traveled to Touba, Senegal, to sit in on classes at four different centers where the Jokko module, which teaches participants how to use mobile technology to improve their lives, is currently being taught.

The majority of participants in Tostan’s programs are women and girls, but in Touba all of the participants in the Jokko module - as well as all of the Facilitators leading the classes - are female. Given the conservative environment of Touba – a holy site that is a destination of pilgrimage for Muslims across the globe – this fact is all the more remarkable.

The dynamism of the participants was unmistakable. Despite the potential distractions posed by the presence of three newcomers with video cameras and lots of questions, the participants remained highly engaged with the Facilitators. In fact, the only time that any of the participants seemed to pay us any attention at all was when they snapped our photos with their own camera phones (!).

What made me think I would be the only one snapping pictures?

The sheer motivation and the level of skill that participants demonstrated with mobile phones in each of the classes we visited was excellent. Over the course of two very productive days, we managed to gather a tremendous amount of feedback and to make important observations that will help us as we scale up and implement new activities in the coming months.

DAY 1

Khai-ra 2

At the Khai-ra 2 center, the class was working on Session #6 : The Mango Tree Workshop. Participants learn how to navigate the main menu of a standard mobile phone with the help of a visual aid in the form of a mango tree.

A participant at the board explains how to access the calculator function by tracing her steps along the branches of a mango tree representing the different manipulations possible.

Participants walk through a larger, more interactive version of the mango tree excerise outdoors.

Once the session had ended, we interviewed two young women who explained that one of their reasons for participating in Tostan’s program was so that they could learn to read and write in their national language, Wolof. After participating in the Jokko module, they can now compose text messages in Wolof without assistance.

Touba Bêgg Bamba

At the second center of the day, participants greeted us with a skit demonstrating the cost-efficiency of SMS texting relative to placing a call. An animated discussion with participants brought forth some interesting stories about how the knowledge gained in the classes has affected their everyday lives. One adult participant related how her husband had prevented her from using the household mobile phone, fearing that she would waste the credit, as she did not know how to properly use the phone. Once she demonstrated what she had learned in the Jokko module, her husband began to let her use the phone and now plans on purchasing a second.

Participants who have their own mobile phones - some being relatively sophisticated - bring them to class.

Like at the Khai-ra 2 center, a major theme that emerged from the participant’s personal stories was that of social empowerment. Facilitators and participants explained how friends, relatives and community members now sought their help in using mobile phones and how they frequently shared their newly acquired knowledge with those around them.

Participants also spoke of the sense of autonomy and independence engendered by knowing how to use certain mobile phone functions. For example, several young women explained how before they began the Jokko module, they did not know how to send text messages and were forced to ask someone to send text messages on their behalf. Now, mid-way through the Jokko module, they no longer need assistance to send text messages and appreciate the discretion this allows them.

Boys are eager to get in on the action. The doorways and windows of most classrooms are typically crowded with other community members curious about mobile technology.

DAY 2

Touba Palléne

Participants follow along on the Nokia 1202 handsets provided by Tostan in classroom.

At the Touba Palléne center, Session 12: "SMS and Health" was being covered. At this point in the module, participants apply the skills they’ve gained to specific themes (such as health, agriculture, and the environment) relevant to their everyday lives. In this session, participants learn how to send text messages to spread news about vaccinations and awareness-raising campaigns, to make appointments at health clinics, and to ask for advice on matters concerning health and hygiene.

Touba Diémoule

Our last stop was the Touba Diémoule center, where we engaged in a lively discussion with the participants about their experience both inside and outside the classroom. A major topic was access to mobile phones: To what extent do our participants have access to mobile phones outside of the classroom? What kind of barriers to access do they face ? . The more surprising answers we received concerned utility: participants did not fully grasp the usefulness of mobile phones prior to starting the Jokko module. Once they understood that a mobile phone could be used for far more than making and receiving calls, and how functions such as the alarm and the calculator were relevant to their everyday lives, they were much more motivated to use them.

Participants often share mobile phones in the classroom and help one another to learn. However, participants and Facilitators alike expressed a demand for additional mobile phones to use in the classroom.

We’d like to thank Madame Bousso Gaye Diop – Supervisor for Tostan’s Touba Coordination – for her careful planning, Serigne Fallou Fall for his time and for hosting our classes at Touba Pallène, our talented Facilitators – especially N'deye Fatou Fall, N'déye Binta N'diaye, Aminata Basse, Fatou M'backé N'diaye - and all of our highly engaged and motivated participants in Touba.

Contributed by Lindsay Powell, Edited by Sydney Skov

Wrapping-up of the Jokko Initiative Capitalization Seminar

2010-05-12T11:39:00.000-07:00

Rose and Oumou formally opened Panel 2 with a song about democracy.

The Jokko Capitalization Seminar came to a close on Monday evening. A big thanks to all who participated ! The Jokko team really appreciated your hard work and sacrifice of your weekend (for a good cause, of course). Here’s what went down :

Panel 1 focused on the pedagogical aspect of the Jokko Initiative and spent several days scrutinizing the module, session by session. The result : the groundwork for a longer, denser, new and improved module, to be translated in national languages.

Josephine takes notes in a small group discussion of income-generating activities.

Panel 2 worked on ensuring the sustainablity (socially, economically, and environmentally-speaking) of the Jokko Initiative through the development of an exit strategy—a means of ensuring the long-term sustainability of the results and impacts of this project, all while withdrawing from the community in a responsible and efficient manner. With this definition in mind, we brainstormed income-generating and social mobilization activities that incorporate mobile technology and that Community Management Committees (CMCs)- the community-based organizations that Tostan helps found during the course of its education program- could undertake. In developing these activites, we also sought to address some of the challenges and problem areas we identified in the pilot phase of the Jokko Initiative. Two major themes emerged : (1)the lack of electricity in the vast majority of the communities reached by the Jokko Initiative, which renders the charging of mobile phones extremely difficult and/or costly and (2)the disproportinate access of women and girls to mobile phones- meaning that these groups have diminished opportunities to communicate with their peers and to practice the skills they’ve learned using mobile phones in the Jokko module.

Over the course of three days, we explored areas for potential collaboration with several non-profit organizations and social entreprises in the implementation of income-generating and social mobilization activities. On Day 2 of the seminar, Rural Energy Foundation – a non-profit organization working to bring renewable energy to rural Africa- shared its work in Senegal with us.

Luc of Rural Energy Foundation demonstrates to Khalidou Sy, National Coordinator of Tostan Senegal, the financial advantages of solar energy for a rural household.

With Luc and Jasmien, we explored the vast potential of solar energy for rural Senegal and the possiblity of establishing solar micro-entreprises, such as solar-powered charging stations and community telecenters and a network of local entreprenuers selling solar products and providing maintanence for solar installations in their villages. These income-generating activities would, in turn, provide funds for the CMCs to invest in local development initiatives and social mobilization activities aiming to increase access to mobile technology for women and girls, such as community-led discussions on this issue, mobile phone libraries, and free SMS texting for women and girls at the community telecentres.

Over the course of the next couple weeks, we hope to finalize our approach and implementation strategy and to negotiate a partnership with an organization like REF. And we hope to be posting soon about the training of CMCs to implement these activities in 5 to 10 villages in Vélingara.

Again, a big thanks to the participants in our seminar, and a special thanks to Luc Severi and Jasmien Bronckaers of Rural Energy Foundation, to Simon Willans of Energy for Opportunity, Matt Berg from BuildAfric.org and Jeff Wishnie for sharing their time and expertise with us.

A group shot of the seminar participants.

The Guediawaye CMC : Exemplary Social Entrepreneurs and Activists

2010-05-03T08:42:00.000-07:00

Last week, Guillaume, Malick and I had the opportunity to sit in on a Community Management Committee (« CMC » in Tostan-ese) meeting in Guediawaye, on the outskirts of Dakar. Tostan is currently running its 30 month-long human rights-based non-formal education program in Guediawaye. While participants won’t be starting the Jokko module for literacy and social empowerment until October 2010, we have a lot to learn from this village in the meanwhile!

Some context : During Tostan's education program, we help found a community-based organization to support local development projects long after we've left the village. The CMCs are composed of 17 democratically-elected community members – including a minimum of 9 women – who engage in income-generating activities in order to raise funds to support advocacy efforts and development initiatives.

Barely 2 years old, the Guediawaye CMC serves as an exemplar and is close to obtaining GIE (Groupement d'Intérêt Economique / Economic Interest Group) status, which is the most fundamental economic unit recognized by the Senegalese government. With the funds generated from fabric dying, millet grinding, table gardening and soap-making the Guediawaye CMC is able to support awareness-raising for the prevention of HIV /AIDS and malaria and to lead neighborhood clean-up activities.

The discussion in the CMC meeting was lively and inclusive (I only wish that my understanding of Wolof had been a bit better!).

Roof-top table gardens.

Ground millet, ready to be sold.

Dame Guéye leads an interactive exercise.

Malick and Guillaume discuss serious stuff.

Guediawaye CMC members talk strategy.

Lindsay Powell

This Week: The Jokko Initiative Capitalization Seminar

2010-05-03T07:45:00.000-07:00

Here in Dakar, we're busy with preparations for the Jokko Initiative Capitalization Seminar- the aim of which is to take advantage of the various lessons aggregated over the course of the pilot phase (April 2009 - April 2010). More than 30 supervisors, facilitators, and regional and international staff members will convene in Thiès from Wednesday May 6th to Tuesday May 11th to discuss 3 major themes: Implementation, Monitoring and Evaluation; Pedagogical Approach and Curricula; and Exit Strategies and Sustainability.

Stay posted for updates on our progress throughout the course of the seminar.

Jokko Seminar, Live

2010-04-06T08:54:00.000-07:00

Many thanks to Ilmari Soininen and Rebecca Tapscott for putting together this great video.

Training Days

2010-03-31T10:19:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday, March 16th, 30 Tostan facilitators traveled from regions across Senegal to attend a four-day Jokko Initiative training seminar in Thiès.

Below are some photos of the event...video to come!

Photos by Rebecca Tapscott

RapidSMS Seminar, Vélingara Dpt.

2009-12-26T13:58:00.000-08:00

The objective of this field visit was to train 20 villages on the use of Tostan/UNICEF's SMS social networking plateform. So - as usual - we started by training our community trainers. And quite logically, the first question we asked them was: "C'est quoi Rapid SMS?"

News travels fast in Senegal. Each attendee knew already something about it and was eager to respond: "It's when you send multiple messages at once." "A cheaper method of communication."

Well, first non-decision of the day, we don't have to find a name for this service anymore: apparently everyone already calls it "RapidSMS"... And honestly, who cares about this kind of approximation when you have been in situ for 15 minutes and ownership is already showing promises?

While those present all understood the general concept of RapidSMS and its advantages, we went ahead and walked the group through a review of the workings of the system. With the exception of a few minor misunderstandings the group demonstrated a sound understanding of the system that they all hope will - hopefully - revolutionize communication in their communities. Recognizing the benefits and risks inherent in the RapidSMS system, one supervisor reminded the group, for example, of the financial responsibility taken on by Tostan and UNICEF. The group also participated in an exercise used to identify different types of messages that might be sent with RapidSMS and discuss how various community actors might react to them. The supervisor training ended with the establishment of an action plan and schedule for the village trainings, to take place through December 25^th.

Keep on keeping on

The second phase of the seminar was opened with renewed energy. Both Soninke and Pulaar facilitators came together to hear an explanation of the system and to establish their objectives and expectations for the seminar. After the general meeting, they split into their respective language groups to work on the sessions, finally complete thanks to long hours of translation by assistant coordinator Finté Boiro (Pulaar) and facilitator Bathily Diabé (Soninke). Following some tinkering by tech expert Rowena, who both fixed both the printer and solved the ever-persistent Pulaar character difficulties by teaching us how to install the Pulaar fonts, we even managed to print copies with the correct words! Victory!

The supervisors gave the facilitators 15 minutes to look over each session before introducing them, as the facilitators will do in their respective villages in the coming weeks.

The days wouldn't have been complete without some lively expression of the participants' excitement. A number of songs set the whole group into motion, as they took turns jumping into the circle to celebrate the event through dance. The sole Anglophone facilitator, Idrissa, originally from the Gambia, and Boubacar Baldé presented an amusing skit on the advantages of RapidSMS.

"It's very good! It's very nice!" "C'est très bien, c'est très bien!"

In closing, Alimatou Diao, consultant from Casamance for the Jokko Initiative, passionately expressed her commitment to the project. "I think the project will be a success!" she declared, followed by the applause and cheers of her colleagues, eager to see her words proven right. She admitted that her involvement in the project had sometimes kept her from her usual responsibilities to her family. "We've made sacrifices, and we'll keep making sacrifices," she pledged.

Kandia

The first village we visited for the "community training" was a village not far from Velingara, called Kandia. We were welcomed with music and dancing and presented with gifts of cotton and rice in colorfully decorated calabashes. The Tostan supervisors prepared the room for the training, rolling out poster-sized papers with explanations of RapidSMS as well as blank sheets for participants to brainstorm about the uses and advantages of the system. Supervisors Abdoulaye Kande and Thierno Diallo taught those present about the system, answering questions posed. The day was used to prepare the participants for learning how to manipulate the system and practicing sending messages, activities which would take place the following day.

The second day was the day of triumph: frowning faces turned to smiling ones as the participants successfully managed to enter their "community" and subsequently send messages to the server. The room was filled with sounds of practice messages arriving in inboxes, each beep and ring coming to the surprise and delight of the cell phone-toting villagers. Not only did they seem to understand the benefits the system could bring to their community, they were visibly excited about the project.

Doubirou

The villagers in Doubirou were no less enthusiastic about the arrival of the Tostan team. The villagehad killed two goats in our honor, a gift we all enjoyed during our tasty and plentiful afternoon meal. The training took longer than expected, but the extra hours paid off. Each group was very proud to send their own message to the server and receive those of the other groups.

"We're happy to learn about RapidSMS," said the president of the Mutuelle de la Santé of Kolda. "It helps us a lot. The message can be sent to everyone.

When someone dies, I can't call everyone at one time; with RapidSMS I can. But with it comes responsibility. Inchallah, people will take the project in their own hands and be responsible in their use of the tool."

For Rowena, Malick, and me, this was the final village visit. We had come to the end of a busy but fun-filled two weeks in Velingara. Having grown more or less accustomed to our daily routine there, I think each of us was at least a little sad to say goodbye. For me, this also marked the end of my six months of work for Tostan. I felt grateful to have spent this time in Velingara. What better way to end than by seeing the project put into action?! The coordinators, supervisors, and facilitators truly inspired me with the hard work and energy they put forth to maintain the momentum of the Jokko Initiative. Congratulations Tostan and UNICEF! Keep up the good work!

Amy Van Dyke

Baseline line survey, Velingara (South East Senegal)

2009-11-30T09:45:00.000-08:00

Credits: Leigh Jaschke

Learning from the Jokko Initiative Pilot Phase: Tostan, CEGA and UNICEF collaborate on evaluation design and baseline study

2009-11-02T01:27:00.000-08:00

As the Jokko Initiative starts up its pilot phase, we wanted to share more on this blog about the monitoring and evaluation strategies of the project. Tostan and UNICEF have been collaborating with the Center of Evaluation for Global Action (CEGA) of the University of California Berkeley for the past nine months on co-designing the outcomes and evaluation design of the project.

In the upcoming weeks, Tostan and CEGA will be implementing a baseline study just before the start of the SMS module in the Tostan classes in the Velingara Region, the focus zone of the project. The objective of the baseline, which starts on Monday, Nov. 2, is to capture the knowledge and practices of the class participants before the modules so that this information can be compared to the participants after the end of the module. The evaluation will take place in March 2010.

The main areas under study will be the project's outcomes on literacy, social networking and youth participation with a sample of about 20 villages and 800 direct beneficiaries. The design will also include about 200 comparison participants in 5 comparison villages without the RapidSMS roll-out. Through this evaluation cycle, Tostan hopes to learn more about the project's hypotheses:

--Introducing SMS into literacy programming will reinforce literacy practice during and after the intervention
--Empowering women and youth to use cell phones will widen their communications sphere, and allow them to be more effective changemakers and economic actors
--Using RapidSMS will activate youth participation and help make community mobilization and projects more effective

The team hopes to use not only the surveys themselves to gather this information, but to also monitor how the system is being used through the RapidSMS interface itself. Tostan supervisors and facilitators will be in place throughout the pilot phase.

Results will be ready in June 2010 on the evaluation, and CEGA, Tostan and UNICEF hope to conduct a follow-up survey in September 2010 to see the longer term effect of the training on participants.

Contact:
Cody Donahue
cody@tostan.org
Tostan / www.tostan.org

Theresa Beltramo
tbeltramo@berkeley.edu
CEGA / cega.berkeley.edu

On your marks, get ready...

2009-10-08T09:17:00.000-07:00

The Tostan team takes the next step towards implementation of the Jokko Initiative in 200 of its villages.

From the 27^th to 30^th of September, Tostan implementation staff gathered in Thies for the Jokko Seminar. Over the course of the four days, the 70 participants from all over Senegal and Mauritania were introduced to the new module on the use of mobile phones for literacy and community development(see picture).

During the training, participants became familiar with the Nokia 1202 phones to be distributed to facilitators and Community Empowerment Program (CEP) participants within the next month. They also brainstormed on potential uses for RapidSMS for social mobilization, health, the environment, local business, Tostan’s radio programme and Community Management Committees activities.

Demonstrating their commitment to the project and Tostan’s mission, the enthusiastic attendees listened to presentations on the project and contributed their suggestions and ideas for the development of the Initiative. At the end of each day, participants met in their assigned groups to plan for the following day’s activities, including each group’s presentation of one of the module sessions.

The seminar proved to be a success, thanks to the dedication and cooperation of those who attended and organized it. Supervisors and national trainers packed their bags and headed to their next destination: the community trainers’ training, which began just days later.

Focus Zone

2009-10-06T07:41:00.000-07:00

The evaluation of the Jokko Initiative will be conducted in the Focus Zone, in the Kolda region (South Senegal). This is aslo where the SMS-based community forum will be launched first to be tested on a bigger scale.

This map was made with our new software ArcGis. In a few weeks, we will be able to click on each Tostan center (red stars) and a list of informations about the village will pop up (number of participants, infrastructures, phone coverage, etc.).

And eventually, we'll get the last Rapid SMS message sent from the community you click on !

Tostan's web UI, developped by RapidSMS team

2009-09-11T04:55:00.000-07:00

This website allows Tostan and its partners to visualize and keep track of all text messages sent to the system by our test communities. As you can imagine, this is an extremely powerful tool for monitoring and evaluation of the program, that CEGA (the Center of Evaluation for Global Action, UC Berkeley) and Tostan's M&E dept. will use for future impact evaluation and mapping of social networks in Senegal.

Tostan Featured in Half the Sky by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn

2009-09-06T08:27:00.000-07:00

"'[Tostan has] done what UN conferences, endless resolutions, and government statements have failed to do,' Foege told us. 'When the history of African development is written, it will be clear that a turning point involved the empowerment of women. Tostan has demonstrated that empowerment is contagious, accomplished person by person and spreading village by village.'" (Half the Sky, p. 228)

Tostan's work is praised in a full chapter of Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn's new book, Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide. The book is both a hard-hitting description of the difficulties women face around the globe, and a call to action, with inspiring stories of how a little help goes a long way in transforming the lives of women and girls abroad.

I read Half the Sky in one sitting, staying up until 3 a.m. to do so. It is brilliant and inspirational, and I want to shout about it from the rooftops and mountains. It vividly illustrates how women have turned despair into prosperity and bravely nurtured hope to cultivate a bright future.

— Greg Mortenson, author, Three Cups of Tea

Keur Samba Laube, field visit

2009-07-31T05:36:00.001-07:00

Guillaume goes over some notes with Awa (in black) and her friends Khoudjia and Binta.

The SMS team, led by its newly named local leader, Awa, meet with village members while taking a walking tour of KSL and explaining the SMS Forum program.

Tostan class members met to better understand the SMS Forum program and the potential for its use in promoting their community activities.

Another house visit with Awa.

Back in KSL

2009-07-31T02:43:00.000-07:00

It was great being back in Keur Samba Laube, our inaugural test village. The little urban community on the edge of Mbour welcomed us back for a two day follow-up to our initial visit just over a month ago. It was great getting to reconnect, work, and hang out again with the villagers and our hosts.

Having demonstrated and set up the initial group for KSL during our first visit, we wanted to check back in with them, see how it was being used, clarify any confusions in the system, and see what advice they had for improvements. From Dakar we were able to identify two main problems we were hoping to address: a low volume of messages and slow growth of the network’s size.

Discussions with the villagers gave valuable insight. We quickly confirmed what we had been weary of following our experiences in Ouonk and Badioure, that we had been too restrictive in our initial implementation effort. Instead of limiting system use to large-sized community development activities, we decided to broaden the scope of accepted and encouraged messages to include social events like weddings and baptisms as well as any community-wide discussion that villagers felt was appropriate. In essence we want the system to be used not just as an event notification tool, but as a veritable community forum, free to be used as the villagers deem appropriate.

We are additionally hoping that this increased message volume will help address the problem of slow network growth. More volume will give villagers more interest in joining the network and in recruiting their friends. It will also get them more comfortable with the technology and give them more opportunities to practice their literacy skills.

Youth in particular continued to face the problem of lack of credit and also made clear that they had not been comfortable contributing to a full community discussion. The former remains a problem we would like to resolve with the phone company. The latter we addressed by creating a unique group for the KSL youth or “ksl jeunes”. Hopefully, this will serve as a safe space for KSL youth and they will feel more motivated to use and grow the system.

We also identified and trained two local community leaders, one for the youth and the other for the adult group, to be in charge of helping people join and serving as the first line of problem solving in the village. The local Imam was placed in charge of the adult group while Awa Diop, a 17-year-old college student was handed the reigns of the youth group. As we set up the youth group, Awa took us on a tour of KSL. We were all impressed as she explained to each group of people we encountered how the system works and its benefits in convincing them to join.

Finally, two Tostan facilitators in Mbour were extremely excited by the forum system. While they do not serve in insular “villages” like most Tostan classes, they were excited to use the system as a community discussion tool for their women’s groups. It will be interesting observing how their systems progress with almost nonexistent help in direct implementation from Tostan Dakar staff… stay tuned…

It was clear when we left that the people of KSL and Mbour understood the SMS system much more thoroughly than after our initial visit and that they were more motivated to use it. We’ll be eagerly following their progress.

Pictures: Awa Diop (bottom, in red hat) and the Imam, Ousseinou (top), our two local replicators in KSL

- SH

How to leave the SMS Forum

2009-07-21T04:24:00.000-07:00

System users are not prisoners! For those who leave a given community or no longer wish to remain in the virtual forum, leaving the system is simple. The message again starts with "123" followed by the word "leave" in any of the system's languages (Wolof, Pulaar, Diola, English, or French). Including the community name will tell the system which community you would like to leave (if you belong to more than one), but is ultimately unnecessary.

A simple message of "123 leave" will remove the user from all communities, though they will be free to reenter later should they so choose.

How to send a message to the SMS Forum

2009-07-21T04:03:00.000-07:00

Once someone has entered into a community they are ready to send and receive messages with the other users. Now, Fatou only has to write a message and send it to the "magic number" for it to then be distributed to all of the other registered users (represented in green). She pays only the cost of the initial message, while the message replication remains free. Those who have not registered in the system will not receive the message. This serves as a powerful community-wide forum that can be used to notify community members of important events or to engage a broader audience in community dialogue and discussion.

How to join the SMS Forum

2009-07-21T03:58:00.000-07:00

Before users are able to send messages to the group and receive messages from other users, they must join an identified "community". This is done by sending a simple SMS text message that follows a certain formula to the "magic number". The message must start with "123" so that the system identifies the message as a system command (ie the sender wants to join or leave the system, or register their name). The "123" is followed by a space and the then word "join" and finally, the name of the community the user would like to join. They are now ready to send and receive messages within the community they identfied. Above, Fatou has just joined the group "tostan".

"Join" can be written in a range of languages including Wolof, Pulaar, Diola, English, and French. Following this initial command, the system will remember this initial language preference and send system messages in that local language (note- content messages sent by other users will remain as they are written, but system communications such as message confirmation/failure, name registration etc. will all be in local language).

SMS poetry

2009-07-06T11:36:00.000-07:00

This is a message sent from the Badiouré network (anonymous author). And it's awesome.
"Puvoir tuché tt l monde come si l monde été une ronde: simpl ingégn 1guin d temp TOSTAN ns t some reconéçen"

Translation:
"Being able to reach the world as if the world was just a round dance: easy, well-thought, a gain of time. Tostan, we are grateful"

And it actually rhymes in French !

-GD

Ouonck

2009-07-06T07:02:00.000-07:00

The only source of power in the village: the Orange phone tower. A guy is there full time to look after the phones.

Unoken = « enter » in Diola. The hut represents the SMS community. The stick figures represent the participants… Together they represent our attempt to reduce two months of work into a children’s picture.

The first attempt to use the system by Ouonck’s women’s association.

Guillaume’s telephone broke the system! Luckily, Jeff saves the day and repares it without too much complaining.

A quick review of the necessary commands to open an SMS message.

Yoro and Alimatou, our wonderful local Social Mobilization Agents, help a participant.

SMS social network

2009-07-05T07:25:00.000-07:00

Here’s a glimpse of the community SMS service we’re developing…The basic idea for the project is to reinforce the “organized diffusion” social mobilization approach, used to spread development initiatives led by Senegalese communities. The project aims to increase awareness about activities and, consequently, increase their impact.

So how’s it work?
Let’s leave the technical aspects aside for the moment and focus on the overall idea.
Tostan is looking to bring its most enthusiastic community development actors together in a network based entirely on SMS messaging. In other words, through one quick and simple action (sending an SMS to our server), a user subscribes to a service that will simultaneously send messages to multiple users located in his/her village and the immediate surrounding areas.
Everyone can be part of the same SMS community: the community nurse and his/her counterparts in neighboring villages, teachers and student groups, women’s groups, Tostan classes, the village chief, the imam, etc. When one person sends a message to the regular, non-premium number, everyone in the SMS community receives it.
For example, the Community Management Committees formed by Tostan frequently organize awareness-raising events surrounding various themes such as malaria, human rights, income-generating activities or the importance of a healthy environment. The only two real ways to spread the word about such occasions are by word of mouth or going door to door. With the community SMS system, the CMCs can inform the most influential members of the community cheaply and efficiently. These people can then pass on the information within their own circles (during the prayer for the imam, during class for teachers, at weekly youth or women’s meetings, etc.).

The SMS community is open to all and only costs the price of a message. When we went to lead trainings during the program’s discovery process, we were surprised at how easy the service was to use in these communities with such an urgent need for communication. The observed levels of motivation and adoption seemed to be extremely high following the three initial trainings in Keur Samba Lauvé, Ouonck and Badiouré.
With simplicity remaining our main goal, we would like to learn more about the communication needs of the villages in order to develop (incha’allah) other SMS services that are ever more practical and user-friendly, and thus, in theory, accessible to all.

-GD

Keur Samba Laubé

2009-07-03T05:43:00.000-07:00

Quick video camera training of one youth by Guillaume. The videos will soon be posted, incha’allah!

Sountou Ndiaye (a Tostan supervisor) and Mamoudou Ba (community trainer or “facilitator” in Tostanese), at a meeting where participants gathered to try to come up with the best methods for the system’s introduction into an urban environment.

Keur Samba Laubé youth during the training.

Terra conducts a participant interview (here, with the Imam of KSL), in order to better understand the behavior of our target group when it comes to cell phone use.

Same, here with Annette and a teacher from the community.

Sylvan facilitates a discussion with more advanced users on system usage.

It’s a learning experience for all… Even for the programmers, who learn that the system doesn’t like accents and other irregular characters. That’s a problem when you’re working with Wolof, Pulaar and Diolaa!

Ibrahima Ndiaye, host of the local Tostan radio show, which began in Mbour and aims to combine two approaches to social mobilization.

Back in Ziguinchor

2009-06-25T07:50:00.000-07:00

Kassumay,

Back in Ziguinchor (in the south of Senegal) as of this morning, after an intense workweek with our hosts in the village of Ouonck, unarguably a “golden child” of Tostan. Judge for yourself:

Ouonck is a previous Tostan center (a recipient of the program thanks to funding from UNICEF, 2005–2007), with a Community Management Committee that remains extremely active to this day (it has actually just procured funding, almost entirely on its own, for a classroom to be shared with teachers from the community school). It has no electricity or running water but boasts a small cybercafé and an algae farm (containing Spirulina algae, which is cultivated in tubs then distributed as a food supplement) and a network of associations—including youths, women and farmers—as dense as a good ceebu jen.

In other words, it’s a dream village for our team.

We conducted four days of training and data collection to help us better understand the behavior of the rural populations of this part of Senegal when it comes to the use of cell phones.

We recognized from the outset an urgent need for communication within the community and the lack of efficiency of the “traditional” social mobilization mechanisms (spreading information by word of mouth and door to door).

Our main concern is the absence of a system for organization between different local development actors (community health workers, literacy trainers, women’s and youth associations, traditional leaders, teachers, etc.). The members of the community are available, active and motivated, but they lack a practical, low-cost system that would allow them to organize and plan events efficiently. As a result, the task of mobilizing the residents of Ouonck for raising awareness on malaria, community clean-ups or even intervillage football games can be a slow and at times discouraging one.

Our plan—rather than seeking to brusquely replace the current mobilization tools (which have the positive characteristic of encouraging human contact) with a foreign system having no real legitimacy in the community—is to introduce a practical, low-cost system that encourages group decision-making among local development actors.

This system, or at least its first version, has been jointly developed by Tostan and ___. It makes it possible to link up and communicate with a community network by simply sending a text message. That means, if a nurse, literacy leader, representative of a women’s association and village imam are looking to inform the community about something important, they can send a message to a number that then forwards the message to all phone numbers belonging to the network—much more efficient than walking from door to door. The system’s commands and options are all available in local languages, and we hope that our emphasis on accessibility will ensure the system’s adoption by the largest number of users possible.

Diffusion of the system should occur naturally: Tostan is training some fifteen “catalysts,” figures who are active in community development, who then contribute to the growth of the network by informally training other members of the community. This service also reflects Tostan’s philosophy on community-led development, with villagers deciding for themselves the size and the focus of their network and also managing possible abuse of the system by defining its limits.

- GD

Introduction

2009-06-15T13:10:00.001-07:00

Salaam Aleïkoum,

The post below, courtesy of Cody Donahue, who recently found it on a Senegalese forum, had a huge impact on me. Its anonymous author confirmed the importance of our project in her own way. African youths, both rural and urban, are confronted by an urgent need for communication. They are progressively adopting information technology. The next step is to make the adoption of these new tools more universal, so that they can support the attitudinal changes necessary for the abandonment of harmful traditional practices such as FGC or forced/child marriage.

“[…] my mother is Pulaar and my father is Wolof and my father never liked that. They did it to me when my father was on mission and my mother, little sister, and I were on vacation at my grandmother’s, who believes in the tradition. Her cousin performed the operation on me and my sister and the thing I’ll never forget is the memory of how sick I was at first and how my mother was afraid that my father would find out. He still doesn’t know to this day. My little sister said she was going to tell, but I was afraid there would be a divorce. I got married but it still troubles me and it’s not pretty. I’ve never forgiven them and I will never do this to my children because it’s dangerous.”

-GD

2008-08-07T08:26:00.000-07:00

September 30, 2010

From Illiteracy to mCommunity, Jokko Initiative Empowers Women with mLearning

By Wayan Vota (Inveneo, ICT Works, etc.)

Since 1991, Tostan has brought its holistic, 30-month Community Empowerment Program based on human rights to thousands of communities in West Africa. As part of this program, they teach basic literacy and numeracy to community participants, particularly women and girls, but not without problems.

[Read more]

September 13, 2010

C8 L8ter? Using Mobile Phones as Literacy Tools in Niger

I recently received a text message from my friend Karim in Niger, asking “Keski ce passe?” (What’s happening?). Those of you who know French might notice his text is an abbreviation of the much longer expression for “Qu’est-ce qui se passe”, which is formal and proper but a bit long when you only have 140 characters.

[Read more]

June 24, 2010

Tostan Talks Jokko at Tech Salon

On June 10th, Gannon Gillespie (Tostan Director of US Operations) represented the Jokko Initiative at The Cloudy SMS4D-2 Technology Salon, focused on cloud-based solutions. The Technology Salon - sponsored by the UN Foundation and the Vodafone Foundation - was started in 2008 by Wayan Vota as a forum where technology and development professionals could share their opinions on emerging trends in ICT and international development in an intimate and informal discussion.

Gannon shared Tostan's experience with the Jokko Initiative's RapidSMS-based Community Forum, which allows a community member to disseminate information to a virtual network of her peers by sending a single text message to the Tostan server.

[Read more]

May 26, 2010

Published conconversationsforabetterworld.com (25.05.2010)
Also featured on humanitariannews.org (26.05.2010)

Tostan and the Jokko Initiative: Mobile Technology Amplifying Social Change

With mobile phone networks rapidly expanding to reach the vast majority of Senegalese citizens, and with mobile phones already commonplace in even the most remote villages, mobile technology quickly appeared to us as to be a promising new pedagogical tool for literacy.

[Read more]

March 25, 2010

Published on clintonglobalinitiative.org (03.2010)

The Jokko Initiative Named "Exemplary" by the Clinton Global Initiative

The Clinton Global Initiative is a non-partisan catalyst for action, bringing together global leaders including heads of state, non-profit organizations, charities, and business leaders to discuss challenges facing the world today and to devise and implement innovative solutions to some of the world's most pressing challenges.

Commitments to Action are a unique feature of CGI membership and serve to translate practical goals into meaningful and measurable results. Tostan's Commitment to CGI, « Extending a Model for Community Empowerment across Africa », describes the Jokko initiative and has been recognized as "exemplary" under the CGI 2010 Action Area « Enhancing Access to Modern Technology » .

[Read more]

March 18, 2010

Published on GSMWorld.com (03.2010)

The Jokko Initiative: Building Literacy, Building Leaders

The Jokko Initiative is featured in Women & Mobile: A Global Opportunity, a comprehensive global research report on the gender gap in the mobile phone industry in develop

ing and transition countries produced by the GSMA Development Fund in partnership with the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women and launched at the Mobile World Congress held last month in Barcelona.

The report highlights the Jokko Initiative's success in reinforcing women's literacy skills and building their confidence as agents of social change.

[Read more]

March 7, 2010

Published on TheDailyBeast.com (03.07.2010)

Connected Communities: Mobile Technology and Positive Social Change

The Jokko Initiative is featured in Tom Watson's article, "Technologies that Empower Women."

[Read more]

August 10, 2009

Published on ICTWorks (08.10.2009)

SMS Forum, Creating Mobile Phone Communities with RapidSMS

Everyone knows how SMS works - you can send an email to one other person. And there are SMS aggreators like Frontline SMS that allow you to send text messages to multiple people. But now we have RapidSMS, which promises to take SMS text messaging to a whole new level.

[Read more]

August 9, 2009

Published on Global Development Commons (08.09.09)

The New Jokko Initiative from Tostan and UNICEF Brings LiteracyThrough Mobile Phones

The Commons congratulates Tostan and UNICEF on their partnership with hundreds of African communities in the new Jokko Initiative in Senegal. Jokko, which means “communication” in Wolof, is opening up new methods of communication and education for people using mobile phones.

[Read more]

August 6, 2009

Published on MobileActive.org by Leigh Jaschke (08.06.09)

Tostan is Using Mobiles: Literacy and Community Empowerment

The number of women in Tostan villages that have abandoned the practice of female genital cutting is powerful testimony of the organization's impact. The tradition is centuries old. “Since 1997, 3,792 communities in Senegal, 364 in Guinea, and 23 in Burkina Faso, as well as villages from three other African countries, have joined other women [who have participated in Tostan's basic education program] in abandoning this harmful practice,” notes the Tostan website.

[Read more]

Contacts

2008-08-05T08:08:00.000-07:00

Guillaume Debar, Project Manager, Tostan International

E-mail: jokkoinitiative@tostan.org
Tel: (+221) 33.820.55.89

Malick Niang, Project Coordinator, Tostan Senegal

E-mail: malickniang@tostan.org

Tel: (+221) 77.648.81.14

About the Jokko Initiative

2008-08-05T07:37:00.000-07:00

What Tostan Does

Tostan means "breakthrough" in the West African language of Wolof. Tostan’s mission is to empower African communities to bring about sustainable development and positive social transformation based on respect for human rights. Since 1991, Tostan has brought its holistic, human rights-based, 30-month nonformal education program - the Community Empowerment Program (CEP) - to thousands of communities in ten African countries: Burkina Faso, Djibouti, The Gambia, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Mali, Mauritania, Senegal, Somalia, and Sudan. The goal of the CEP is to provide its participants – approximately 80% of whom are women and girls - with the skills and knowledge to improve their lives in a sustainable way. Developed methodically over the past 20 years through an ongoing process of community consultation and careful revision, the CEP has become one of the most unique and effective community development programs in Africa.

Mobile Phone = Pedagogical Tool + Social Mobilization Catalyzer + Economic Resource

With mobile phone networks rapidly expanding to cover the vast majority of African citizens, and with mobile phones already commonplace in even the most remote villages, mobile technology is a promising platform for more empowering and inclusive systems of communication. The increasing accessibility of mobile technology and the cost-efficiency of SMS texting relative to placing a call present a new motivation for literacy while providing an ideal training tool. Mobile technology also has the potential to increase the scope of community-led events and more efficiently diffuse innovations and collective decisions while amplifying the voice of traditionally marginalized individuals. Furthermore, mobile technology is a powerful economic tool that has a variety of innovative potentialities for income-generating activities in rural communities.

The Jokko Initiative: Empowering the BoP with Mobile Technology

Jokko means “communication” or “dialogue” in Wolof, a national language in Senegal, West Africa.With the launch of the Jokko Initiative, Tostan and UNICEF have formed a partnership that positions them at the forefront of SMS-based innovation and focuses on empowering hundreds of rural African communities to use accessible mobile technology to improve their lives and those of their children. This partnership links UNICEF’s reach, resources and technical expertise with Tostan’s ground-level experience and understanding of local realities. In April 2009, Tostan added a new component to its CEP to teach the practical uses of standard mobile phone functions and SMS texting. The "Mobile Phone for Literacy and Development” (MPLD) module uses mobile phones as (1) pedagogical tools to teach and reinforce literacy, organization and management skills and as (2) social mobilization tools that help to build consensus around local development initiatives by providing a platform for exchanging information, broadcasting ideas and organizing advocacy efforts, while amplifying the voice and influence of women and girls in community decision-making processes. The Center of Evaluation for Global Action at the University of Berkeley conducted an independent evaluation of the pilot phase. Preliminary results on youth participation, social mobilization and literacy has been delivered in September 2010.

Innovative RapidSMS Applications for Community-Led Development

Developed using UNICEF’s RapidSMS platform, the “Community Forum” is a practical, SMS-based application that allows a community member to disseminate information to a virtual network of her peers by sending a single text message to the Tostan server. The Community Forum has been vital in publicizing community activities and events such as vaccination campaigns and literacy group meetings and in spreading news about positive social change. In 2010, Tostan will be launching two new projects using RapidSMS: (1) “Jokkondiral!”, an innovative website that will allow Tostan’s rural participants to communicate via SMS texting with their relatives in the diaspora and (2) a real-time monitoring system that will allow Community Management Committees- community-based organizations that are trained by Tostan during the CEP to lead local development initiatives- to report on their activities.

Community Telecenters for Income-Generating and Social Mobilization Activities

Tostan is currently piloting community telecenters in rural, off-grid communities that will provide much-needed mobile technology services, including the sale of credit, calling, and phone charging through the use of solar energy. The income generated from these activities will, in turn, provide funds for community social mobilization activities, including the provision of free SMS texting for women and girls in order to increase their access to mobile technology, amplify their voices, and allow them to practice their literacy skills.

UNDER CONSTRUCTION

2008-04-01T07:23:00.000-07:00