Enabel, the Belgian Agency for International Cooperation, works alongside governments and partners to drive sustainable development across 19 countries. In Uganda, their mission focuses on education, health, skills development, and social protection, with a deep commitment to cross-cutting themes like gender, inclusion, and digital innovation. 🤝
At the heart of these efforts is a team dedicated to making professional development accessible and actionable: Mitte Scheldeman (Innovation and Materials Development), Eline Hochepied (Gender and Inclusion), and Emma Dewalque (EdTech and Action Research). Together, they have integrated TextIt into their daily operations to manage a WhatsApp chatbot designed specifically for teachers in their education projects.
The team recognized a critical gap in traditional training: while teachers often had theoretical knowledge, they struggled to put it into practice while managing heavy workloads. To solve this, Enabel moved away from unmanaged, high-volume WhatsApp groups—which were often filled with spam—and replaced them with a structured, quality-controlled chatbot. This system allows them to provide teachers with clear, deterministic flows and micro-learning content that fits into their busy schedules, transforming professional growth from a logistical hurdle into a daily habit.
Who are the primary people or communities you’re reaching with TextIt?
"Our primary target group at the moment are teachers in Uganda. We currently have a database of over 4000 teachers. We also sometimes use the chatbot for our Enabel Uganda (field)staff, partners, students in the health training institutions we partner with, as well as district level actors who manage cases of gender based violence or violence against children."
What kind of impact has TextIt had on your work?
"TextIt has helped us reach more people in a simple and cost-effective way, using a platform (WhatsApp) that our users already use daily. It improves access to information, supports continuous learning, and reduces reliance on one-off trainings, for which people often have to travel long distances."
Can you share a specific example where TextIt made a meaningful difference?
"One meaningful example is how we used TextIt as part of our Social and Behavior Change Communication (SBCC) work on gender and inclusion with teachers. Many gender‑related topics, such as gender norms, positive masculinities, or help‑seeking behavior, are difficult to address in large group trainings, where people may feel judged or uncomfortable speaking openly... Large trainings are also not the best way to bring on these topics. Frequent repetition and triggering reflection works a lot better for social and behavior change.
Using a WhatsApp chatbot built in TextIt, we shared short, scenario‑based messages and reflection questions with teachers that they could engage with privately and at their own pace. The chatbot reinforced key gender and inclusion messages over time and encouraged small, practical actions rather than abstract concepts."
What would you say to another organization that is considering using TextIt?
"TextIt is a strong tool if you are clear about your learning objective and take time to design your flows thoughtfully. You don’t need a high tech system or a big technical team. Start simple, test with real users, and focus on meaningful interaction rather than technology for its own sake. You can easily improve the system over time, and add more features as you learn. You don’t need to start with where you want to end. When used well, TextIt can be a powerful way to support learning, communication, and inclusion at scale." 📈
This TextIt messaging flow on positive masculinities helps people reflect on sensitive cultural topics at their own pace in a safe, judgment-free way. It encourages personal engagement and sparks conversations within families, supporting broader social norm change.
By focusing on low-bandwidth, high-impact communication, Enabel has demonstrated that sophisticated technical teams aren't a prerequisite for digital transformation. Their approach shows that by utilizing familiar platforms like WhatsApp and structured flow builders like TextIt, international development projects can move away from one-off, centralized trainings toward continuous, private, and actionable learning for thousands of users at once.
👉If you would like to see more about how Enabel is getting TextIt into the hands into as many users as possible- join them April 23rd for the launch of their chatbot guidelines.
