Molly Melching
Wednesday, May 8th 2013  7:30pm
Berkeley, CA

http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/333400

When Molly Melching arrived in Senegal in 1974, she was a 24-year old graduate student looking forward to a six month study abroad program. Those months, however, quickly turned to years as she launched a humanitarian campaign dedicated to bringing an innovative educational program to communities in West and East Africa -- transforming the lives of hundreds of thousands of African women and girls in the process. In However Long the Night author Aimee Molloy tells Melching’s incredible story as she went from a typical Midwesterner to “one of the most powerful women in women’s rights” (Forbes, 2011). From her childhood in Illinois to her arrival in Dakar to her ongoing work today, Molloy illuminates Melching’s zest for life, passion for helping others, and perseverance in sparking large-scale social transformation through the most basic idea: a respect for human rights. Through Tostan , an organization she founded in 1991, Melching has championed a groundbreaking approach to education in over twenty African languages, working within the community to facilitate people themselves making major cultural changes. Over the years, Melching’s “community-led” social strategies have been implemented to address a wide range of Africa’s most pressing needs, from increased education of women to enhanced health care to a significant reduction in female genital cutting, a deeply entrenched traditional practice.

Location:
1st Congregational Church
2345 Channing Way
Berkeley, CA

Sponsored By:
Berkeley Arts and Letters