The “Talibés”: The Lost Boys of Senegal
June 23rd, 2009 by SocProf and tagged Mass Violence, Patriarchy, Religious Fundamentalism
If you missed this story, please read it (I’ll provide some translation below for the non-French readers).
A "talibé" ("talibanized" seems the closest translation I can think of) is the term used to describe the beggar children who populate the streets of West African countries such as Burkina Faso, Mali, Bénin or Sénégal. During the day, these boys are supposed to be studying the Koran in religious schools called "daaras" under the leadership of a marabout. The reality is quite different:
Starting at 6am, the children are expected to start reciting the Koran verses that the leader has written on their tablets. Most of the kids do not understand the meaning of what they are memorizing in Arabic. Most of them can’t even read. If they make mistakes, they get whipped. The kids are all sleepy because once the "lessons" are over, the other part of the curriculum kicks in: begging. Begging is part of learning a lesson on humility. So, the kids have to go beg and are expected to bring back money and food. Many marabouts quickly figured out how much could get out of this system and opened these "schools" whose main goal is to create a children army of beggars. Of course, if the children fail to make their assigned quota, corporal punishment ensues.
How do these boys end up in daaras? Mostly, their parents or relatives dump them there. It is a convenient way to get rid of a child. As mentioned, begging is their main activity not only for the marabout but also for themselves since the schools only provide breakfast in the form of pieces of bread.
Unsurprisingly, when they reach adolescence, many boys run away and end up on the streets, join bands of other runaways, with all the consequences of life on the streets for children: drugs, violence and sexual abuse. In order to survive, a runaway has to seek the protection of a gang leader, at best by running errands for him, at worst by becoming his sexual slave. The drug of choice? A paint thinner called the "guinz" that the kids sniff and which ultimately renders them blind.
It seems that Sénégal is finally trying to do something about the daaras but these tend to enjoy some popular support and we know that rehabilitating street children is not an easy task, especially for a poor country.
Awareness of this issue was vividly raised by a report in the popular French television program Thalassa. Even if you do not understand French, watch the video. Based on what I have written above, you will be able to make sense of what is going on:
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