Excellence Breaking tribalism, measuring transformation
Beyond powerful stories, our impact is now measured in data. Confidential surveys of graduates' wives reveal quantified, positive behavioral shifts, proving our programs create tangible, lasting change at home and in the community.
“Anyone who finds the path that breaks tribalism in the African man’s heart and mind will have found the ‘Holy Grail’ to transforming the Sub-Saharan ‘Dark Continent’ into a place of hope and progress.” - Paul Larsen
Paul Larsen’s assertion that addressing tribalism is the “Holy Grail” of progress in Sub-Saharan Africa underscores a stark reality: deep-rooted cultural norms, such as gender-based violence (GBV) and patriarchal tribal codes, have long stiffed communities. At Principle Based Leadership (PBL), we recognized that sustainable transformation requires more than inspiration—it demands evidence.
For years, anecdotal evidence and powerful testimonials have pointed to the profound, positive impact of The Warrior and The Priest programs in East Africa. To move beyond stories to statistics, we developed a rigorous, confidential survey to quantify these changes. Administered to the wives of program graduates, this survey provides an unparalleled, in-home appraisal of specific behavioral shifts in men after they complete the training.
The data reveals a story of remarkable success: across a decade, the programs have consistently achieved over 90% positive behavioral improvement across key areas of family life, including a dramatic reduction in gender-based violence, improved marital relationships, and greater paternal and economic responsibility. The findings provide compelling, data-driven evidence that this initiative is a powerful catalyst for building stronger families and fostering healthier communities.
Our unique measurement approach: The confidential wives' survey
To accurately measure the real-world impact of our training, we needed a tool that could capture change within the most intimate and vital environment: the home. The Confidential Wives' Survey was designed for this purpose. Proctored by the wives of our local Training Coordinators, the survey uses a simple before-and-after scale to assess shifts in a husband's behavior. This analysis compares two significant groups of survey respondents:
- Cohort 1 (Long-Term Impact): 33 wives of men who graduated from both the Warrior and Priest courses between 2013 and 2018. This survey, conducted in late 2019, measures the long-term sustainability of behavioral change, 2-6 years post-graduation.
- Cohort 2 (Recent, Scaled Impact): 1250 wives of men who graduated from the Warrior course only between 2020 and 2024. This much larger sample demonstrates the program's effectiveness across multiple communities in Western Kenya and Eastern Uganda.
The survey focuses on five critical domains of family welfare.
Survey 1: Long-Term Impact for Warrior & Priest Graduates (2013-2018)
The first survey, tracking graduates over several years, reveals a profound and sustained transformation. The findings were particularly striking in the area of Gender-Based Violence, where the survey indicated a universal positive shift in husbands' treatment of their wives. Across all other measured areas—marriage relationship, fathering, domestic labor, and financial responsibility—the vast majority of wives reported significant improvement. The consistency of positive feedback across all five domains confirms that the dual-course program fosters a holistic and enduring change.
Survey 2: Broad-scale impact for warrior graduates (2020-2023)
The second survey, with a sample size over seventeen times larger, shows that the program's impact is both strong and scalable. The results closely match those of the first cohort. A large majority of the 1250 wives reported positive changes in their husbands' behavior. Notably, the area with the most significant improvement was assistance with domestic chores, a major challenge to traditional norms. The decrease in Gender-Based Violence and the rise in financial responsibility were also among the most highly rated changes, confirming the program's success in addressing key issues.
When the results of both cohorts are compared, the narrative is one of robust and reliable impact.
The long-term cohort, having completed both courses, showed a marginal but meaningful edge in the most relational areas, such as the quality of the marriage. This suggests that the Priest course builds effectively upon the Warrior foundation, deepening relational transformation.
Most importantly, the data from the much larger, recent cohort confirms that the core Warrior program alone produces a powerful and consistent effect. The fact that such high levels of positive change are reported across hundreds of men in different regions proves that this is not an isolated phenomenon, but a scalable model for social change. The program successfully catalyzes a shift away from harmful norms and toward a new paradigm of family leadership characterized by respect, partnership, and responsibility.
The complete report contains the detailed quantitative findings, including all data visualizations and further statistical analysis.
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