Learning to walk together, as facilitators of change, not drivers.

There is a difference between learning something once…and returning to it again, differently.

Last year, we gathered for three days to begin understanding the Tostan Model, particularly addressing deep rooted social norms and traditional practices. It was our introduction, an opening into a way of thinking about community, dignity, and change.

This year, we returned. For five days, and what we realized, almost immediately, was that we were not starting from the beginning. We were deepening our understanding, questioning more, listening differently and hearing things we had not yet been ready to hear the first time.

From January 19–23, 2026, in Dar-es-Salaam, we came together again as the KUWAZA Consortium, C-Sema, Pathfinder International, Action Aid Tanzania as co-learners in a shared journey.

For this is what this work asks of us.

Our partnership with Tostan is not incidental. For decades, Tostan has shaped a quiet but powerful movement rooted in human dignity, community leadership, and sustainable social change. The philosophy we are engaging with has been carried and refined by leaders such as Demba Diawara, whose work in organized diffusion demonstrated how change can ripple across communities; Cheikh Anta Diop, whose leadership has strengthened the vision and reach of Tostan’s approach; and Marieme Bamba, whose contributions continue to shape how this model is practiced and sustained in promoting community-led development.

To learn within this lineage is not a small thing and yet, what made this experience truly come alive was how these ideas were held in the room, through our facilitator, Godfrey Okumu.

Godfrey Okumu (R) Fatuma Kamramba (L)

Godfrey did not teach us in the traditional sense. He guided, he asked, he listened. He created a space where reflection was natural, where participation was not forced, and where learning unfolded through experience rather than instruction.

In many ways, he embodied the very principles we were there to understand.

On the first day, we returned to the circle and revisited values. Not as abstract ideas, but as living, breathing forces within communities.

We were reminded that shared values, those shaped by history, culture, and collective experience are the true entry point for meaningful engagement. That when we build from what communities already hold, rather than what we think they lack, something shifts.

As the days unfolded, we moved deeper into the heart of the Tostan Model.

We explored well-being, a rational outcome that should be felt. We questioned development approaches that prioritize what can be measured, and began to center what can be experienced: dignity, belonging, connection. 

Recognizing that for us to be effective facilitators of change, we too need structures that support our well-being, spaces to pause, to reflect, to reconnect with purpose. Whether through moments of rest, retreats, mental health check-ins, or creating environments where we can fully lead with authenticity as people, not just practitioners.

When we are well, we tend to listen better and engage more openly. Automatically holding space with greater empathy and ultimately, we will be able to do this work more sustainably.

In true Tostan fashion, we also spoke about the capacity to aspire, and understood, with honesty, that not everyone is given equal space to imagine a different future. That for many, especially women, children and young people aspiration is not just about dreaming bigger. It is also about being allowed to dream at all.

So, our role became clearer: Not to hand over solutions. But to create environments where possibility can be seen, named, and pursued.

One of the most powerful shifts came as we revisited social norms and how they change.

Last year, we understood this conceptually. This year, we saw how deeply behavior is tied to collective expectations. How people move not in isolation, but in response to those around them. And we understood why organized diffusion matters. For change that is shared through relationships, through trust and through everyday conversations travels further, and lasts longer. It does not need enforcement.

As we reflected on communication, we found ourselves confronting a familiar tension. The urgency to change harmful practices…and the reality that pushing too hard can close people off. Through exploring psychological reactance, we understood why. And so, we returned to something simple, storytelling. Sharing stories of hope, of possibility, stories that invite reflection rather than demand compliance.

Stories that say, this is what change can look like and allow communities to find their own way toward it.

As the day came to a close, we found ourselves looking ahead to Tostan’s ten-day immersive program in Senegal as an opportunity to fully live this approach in its original context.

To learn through discussion witnessing how these principles are held within communities over time. It is something the KUWAZA consortium now carry as a shared aspiration. And truthfully, the more we learn, the more we realize how much there is still to understand.

On the final day, we asked ourselves a necessary question: If this is how we believe change happens… are we living it? Because KUWAZA will not succeed only because of what we do in communities. It will succeed because of how we work together, recognize, value and utilize existing knowledge and skills within communities.

And so, alongside our plans, our KPIs, and our strategies, we aspire to embody the same values internally that we seek to nurture externally.

We leave this experience more aligned, more reflective, and more aware of the responsibility we carry as facilitators of change, not drivers.

And perhaps most importantly, we leave knowing that we are not walking this journey alone. We are walking it together as a consortium and along with communities we serve.

This story was prepared by C-Sema's Communication Team.