How I’m Transforming My Social Change Approach With Wellbeing How I’m Transforming My Social Change Approach With Wellbeing

Stories from the Hearth

Guest post by:

Amos Leuka

Director, Living Culture and Climate Alliance (LCCA)
🌍 Loita Maasai community, Loita, Narok County, Kenya

Amos Leuka, director of the Living Culture and Climate Alliance (LCCA), from the Loita Maasai community in Loita, Narok County, Kenya, attended The Wellbeing Summit Dakar-Thiès in November 2023. Listen to his journey of learning, inner reflection, and motivation as he shares his reflections on the gathering.

The LCCA promotess culture and climate adaptations in Africa and in particular, Kenya. It enables indigenous communities to promote their bio-cultural rights and supports them to be economically and culturally resilient, capable of managing their land systems and biodiversity. By building this solid base, providing leadership, technical and facilitative support, and using Participatory Video, LCCA creates a space to connect all indigenous communities and enable them to gain influence on climate issues affecting them, maintain their languages and use indigenous knowledge systems to manage their lands, social change and shape their future.

EXPLORE THE REGIONAL SUMMITS FURTHEREXPLORE THE REGIONAL SUMMITS FURTHER

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Discover the Wellbeing Movement in Africa Discover the Wellbeing Movement in Africa

Meet and hear stories from the changemakers championing the wellbeing movement in Africa.

Building a Brighter Future for The Gambia, Africa, and Beyond Building a Brighter Future for The Gambia, Africa, and Beyond

Stories from the Hearth

Guest post by:

Dr. Margor A. Green-Harris, MD

Medical Officer, Edward Francis Small Teaching Hospital

🌍 Banjul, The Gambia

Once upon a time, in the heart of Sengeal “Rew Taranga” a diverse group of changemakers gathered for The Wellbeing Summit Dakar-Thiès —a transformative event that promised to reshape the future of the continent. Among them was I, a passionate advocate for social and behavioral change and holistic wellbeing.

As the Summit unfolded, I immersed myself in a rich tapestry of workshops, discussions, and cultural exchanges. I eagerly participated in sessions on yoga and mindfulness, recognizing their potential to enhance my wellbeing and activism.

During a panel discussion on “The Africa We Want,” I experienced a profound shift in perspective. Inspired by the vision of a continent united in peace and prosperity, I realized the power of collective action to bring about meaningful change.

However, I also became more aware of the challenges facing grassroots movements and community initiatives. Too often, well-intentioned projects were sometimes derailed by external interests and agendas, leaving local communities disenfranchised.

Determined to make a difference, I resolved to prioritize the voices and needs of my fellow activists and volunteers. I refused to let external sponsors dictate the direction of our work, advocating for autonomy and integrity in all our endeavors.

As The Wellbeing Summit Dakar-Thiès drew to a close, I felt a renewed sense of purpose and possibility. Armed with new insights and connections, I returned to my community with a commitment to holistic wellbeing, grassroots activism, and the Africa we all wanted to see.

And so, inspired by the spirit of unity and determination I had witnessed at the Summit, I continued my journey, knowing that together, we could build a brighter future for The Gambia, Africa and beyond.

EXPLORE THE REGIONAL SUMMITS FURTHEREXPLORE THE REGIONAL SUMMITS FURTHER

Dive Into Stories From Around the World

Discover the Wellbeing Movement in AfricaDiscover the Wellbeing Movement in Africa

Meet and hear stories from the changemakers championing the wellbeing movement in Africa.

Wellbeing in West Africa: How We Gather TogetherWellbeing in West Africa: How We Gather Together

Guest post by:

Carina Ndiaye, Chief Partnerships Office, Tostan

In Senegal, we call it Teraanga. It stands for openness and sharing, meaning: “we invite you to come in.” This cultural norm is present throughout the region and across the continent. Words like Ubuntu in southern Africa portray acknowledgment, respect, and coexistence. In Senegal, through Teraanga, the concept behind the Hindi word Namaste (meaning: “the light in me sees the light in you”) is extended and reinforced to say, “what is mine is yours.” This applies not only materialistically but also to the earth, the sun, the sea, and the unseen. From visitor to member, from transitory to influenced, in our culture, the ‘you’ never stands alone. What affects you also affects me and my community, and community includes anyone who walks our way and crosses our path.

As Tostan agreed to host the first African Wellbeing Summit, joining The Wellbeing Project and key partners hosting similar summits around the world, Teraanga has been a foundational concept for us. It is an entry point into the broader West African cultural systems that value people and their shared history and interconnectedness and that prioritize interdependence over independence.

Our upcoming African Regional Wellbeing Summit Dakar-Thiès 2023 reflects our dedication to embracing community-centered models that resonate with our core values. Locally-driven initiatives and capacity development for communities are critical paths forward, as our CEO Elena Bonometti has pointed out. But at the heart of our vision is Teraanga, where openness and sharing guide us in meeting the multifaceted challenges that our world faces. In Senegal, when challenges arise, a community gathering – referred to as a “pénc” in Wolof – is called to bring together the community for discussion. The Summit will be a globally-connected pénc, embodying the essence of African-based, African-led collaboration and growth in wellbeing. This is not just a “nice to have”; it is essential to our collective wellbeing and social cohesion.

There is a deep respect here for where people come from and for who and how they are. Many traditions create space for people to be seen, acknowledged, and recognized. Through greetings, names, joking, showing respect, and almost countless ways of engaging, we witness and reinforce one another. We see more clearly the threads interweaving our collective well-being. These traditions aren’t technical solutions or abstract topics; they are ways of meeting and gathering together, of creating spaces and openings where we can understand one another, share our perspectives and passions, and work better together.

With over 32 years of experience as a Senegal-based organization, welcoming partners from more than 50 countries far beyond Africa’s border, at our Tostan Training Center, we have come to understand that these ways of welcoming, these traditions for creating space, for seeing and being seen, can be powerful. As our global community seeks to find ways to support increased wellbeing in a context of increasing urgency and challenge, we hope our African Regional Wellbeing Summit Dakar-Thiès 2023 can contribute and share these ways of coming together.

Through our collaborative planning for the Summit, we have found some important themes to explore together. These include mental health, digital wellbeing, wellbeing in the workplace, and others. But the success of our conference won’t be limited to topics, action plans, or best practices. It will also depend on how people feel when they leave, how they can sustain connections, and whether they have found some new ways of inviting change into their lives, their organizations, their work, and our world.

About the African Regional Wellbeing Summit in Dakar and Thiès, Senegal

Join us for the first African Regional Wellbeing Summit in Dakar and Thiès, Senegal, hosted by Tostan from November 29th to December 1st, 2023.

The Summit will be an opportunity to engage in workshops, panels, and social moments to explore wellbeing, especially for those working in service for community-led development, from diverse African perspectives. Discover themes including mental health and its impacts on wellbeing, the role of religion, youth, and digital health.

A “Pénc” for African Wellbeing: Convening social change actors at a critical moment A “Pénc” for African Wellbeing: Convening social change actors at a critical moment

Guest post by

Elena Bonometti, CEO of Tostan

African, community-centered, collaborative models are showing a way forward that is organized around locally driven and globally supported efforts. Locally-led initiatives, capacity development for communities and agency-first programs are mapping ways to both address unequal and antiquated power dynamics, and ensure that communities are centered and leading as they face shared global challenges.  

Yet even with promising directions like these, the realities of rapid, multiple global crises and growing challenges have also created a largely unaddressed and growing risk: those at the center of social change and wellbeing efforts are being stretched increasingly thin. In particular, there is a growing risk that the wellbeing of the social sector and community leaders is declining when the world needs it the most. 

Wellbeing can be defined in numerous ways. In Tostan’s work in partnership with communities, it is communities that define what wellbeing means for them and their goals. Commonly we see themes around health, finance, education, women’s leadership, equality, and governance emerging. These are lessons we must take into professional, personal and community-wide projects to consider wellbeing not as a “nice to have” but as absolutely essential to social cohesion. 

The potential challenge  of a decline in wellbeing is especially relevant  in West Africa, where a  social sector already confronted in recent decades by major issues — in health, education, economic hardship and many others — now faces many new challenges simultaneously – as climate change joins pandemics, challenges to peace and security and the erosion of democracy, and increasing inequality. 

Yet West Africa also has many positive aspects and major contributions to make to our world – ways of seeing and being that promote inclusion and respect and increasingly feel relevant to a fragmented world. As my colleague Carina Ndiaye, Chief Partnerships Officer for Tostan puts it:

In Senegal we call it Teraanga. For openness, sharing. It means: we invite you to come in.  But this cultural norm is present throughout the region and throughout the continent…Through Teraanga, the concept behind the Hindi word Namaste (meaning: the light in me sees the light in you), is extended and reinforced to say, what is mine is yours. Not only materialistically, but the earth, the sun, the sea, and the unseen as well. From visitor to member. From transitory to influenced. In our culture, the ‘you’ never stands alone. What affects you, what ails you, what reinforces you also affects me and my community. And community means any, and everyone, who walks our way and crosses our path.

In Senegal and across West Africa, when challenges arise, a community gathering – referred to as a pénc in Wolof – is called to bring together the community for discussion. 

For all these reasons Tostan and our partners will host an African-based, African-led, globally connected pénc – a convening at the intersection of wellbeing as a global goal–and growth of wellbeing as a daily practice in our organizations, communities, and personal lives. To support the emergence of sustained impacts in wellbeing through practices of wellbeing. wellbeing within ourselves, our organizations, our communities, our nations, and around our world. 

Together with partners like you we hope to convene a discussion among African actors about critical local, regional and global issues at the heart of wellbeing across the continent.