On October 16-17, 2014, Alassane Diedhou, the Guinea-Bissau National Coordinator, organized a national coordination meeting in Bissau to prepare for the next phase of the Generational Change in Three Years Campaign (GC3Y), the meeting touched specifically on the activities implemented by the supervisors and the Community Management Committees(CMC) in August and September 2014, but also to inform the team of the agenda for the next year. In attendance was the dynamic and diverse field team of nine supervisors, who operate in the regions of Gabu, Bafata, and Oio.
The meeting was also an opportunity to discuss the status and progress of the Associação de Desenvolvimento e Educacao Comunitária (Association for Community Development and Education- ADEC), which is a union, started in 2011 and led by the Tostan-Bissau team to further empower communities working with Tostan and to reinforce support for their development initiatives. It has since shown to be a model for community-led development in Guinea-Bissau.
A week after the meeting, from October 23 -29, each supervisor, who was assured of their roles and responsibilities as leaders in the GC3Y campaign, convened in Bafata to attend a seminar on the adaptation and validation of the Kobi 2 and Child Protection modules – which are part of the Community Empowerment Program (CEP) – in local languages (Fula and Mandinka). Invited guests to the seminar included the sector administrator of Bafata, a Government representative of Guinea-Bissau, the officer-in-charge of literacy initiatives in Gabu, and an official from Bafata Community Radio. In addition to welcoming speech, the guests also commended Tostan on the profound influence that the organization has had in partner communities.
One of the most memorable aspects of the seminar was the admiration the supervisors showed for the leadership qualities of Alassane Diedhiou. They expressed their admiration through a song in which the chorus addressed their journey with Tostan and described Diedhiou’s tireless effort and flexible attitude towards their individual and shared challenges.
With such a vibrant and dedicated collective of leaders working in the field, it is certain that Tostan will continue to establish more partnerships with communities in Guinea-Bissau.
