FYI


-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Molly Melching visit
Date: Tue, 7 Nov 2000 12:01:43 -0800
From: Bruce Kochis <[log in to unmask]>
To: "'Sandra Chait'" <[log in to unmask]>,"'Julie
Beschta'"<[log in to unmask]>
CC: "[log in to unmask]"
<[log in to unmask]>,"[log in to unmask]"
<[log in to unmask]>

Sandra (Program on Africa) and Julie (International Health Program),
        We're working on organizing the visit of Molly Melching to UW (Nov.
27-29).  Below is a short bio that helps put her work in a little
perspective; more material to follow.  She has one other commitment here
at
UWB and a visit to my human rights class on Monday, Nov. 27, 1:15-3:20
or
so.  We also have her scheduled for a UW talk in the HUB on Tuesday,
Nov.
28, at 2p.  Now, I need to know where else you'd like her to visit on
Tuesday (preferable) or Wednesday.  I'll be out of town the latter part
of
this week but Ruth Honour will be coordinating the calendar, so
communication with her should help get things settled.
        I also need to know about the ability of your programs to contribute
to a much needed honorarium.
        More info to follow, but we should get cooking on this one.

cheers,
Bruce

As a student at the University of Illinois, Molly Melching arrived in
Senegal in 1974, enrolling as an exchange student at
the University of Dakar.  Ms. Melching described the experience in a
published interview as "love at first sight."  After finishing her
Masters
Degree, Ms. Melching remained in Senegal as a Peace Corps volunteer and
then
created a children's center through the Senegalese Ministry of Culture.
She has remained in Senegal ever since.
 An energetic and charismatic leader, Ms. Melching created Tostan in
1991.  Tostan is a non-governmental organization that developed and
implements an innovative non-formal education program in national
languages
for women and adolescents in hundreds of villages throughout Senegal and
now
in Mali, Burkina Faso and the Sudan.
Although founded by Melching, Tostan is in reality a grassroots
organization.
It provides women and adolescents with skills and concepts of
practical use, but leaves application of the lessons up to the
participants.  For example, it was village women educated by Tostan who
decided
to combine their lessons in human rights with information they had
learned
about health and hygiene to start a grassroots movement against female
circumcision.  This movement, started by women in one village, soon
swept to
many
villages across Senegal.  Many articles and films have been produced on
this
historic
experience, including a CNN special for People Count.  Tostan
was a finalist for the Conrad N. Hilton Prize and was chosen by UNESCO
in
1995 as one of
the most innnovative non-formal eduation programs in the world.
Ms. Melching won the 1999 University of Illinois Alumni Humanitarian
Award.





Bruce Kochis
Interdisciplinary Arts & Sciences
Director, Human Rights Education & Research Network
University of Washington, Bothell
18115 Campus Way NE
Bothell, WA  98011-8246
(425) 352-5364     FAX: (425) 352-5335
Campus mailbox:  358530

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