New Approaches: A Community-led Project to End Child Begging

Child beggars are one of the most recognizable images of poverty in Senegal. Most are young boys, called talibés, usually between the ages of 7 and 15, often barefoot, wearing ragged clothes, carrying red tomato cans and asking for food and money. Talibés in Senegal are sent by their families to Qur’anic schools (called daaras) to learn the tenets of Islam. Though occasional begging was always a part of a talibé’s education as a means to teach humility, in recent years, talibés in urban centers spend increasingly more time on the streets begging, instead of in the classroom learning.

While religious study is simultaneously an honor and an expectation, many poor families send their young boys to daaras because they simply cannot afford to support them at home. Unlike other religious educational institutions, these Qur’anic schools neither charge tuition for their students, nor do the schools have a source of income other than begging. Today, over 100,000 talibés are studying in cities across Senegal, often hundreds of miles from their families.

When the daara system was first established, families would send young boys to a daara within the community or in a neighboring village. Talibés’ families would then financially support the marabout (the religious teacher who runs a daara) in exchange for religious education for their children. Communities provided necessary services for the daaras and so the schools were initially dependent on and responsible to the local people. The close proximity of daaras enabled families and talibés to remain in close contact as the talibés could return home for meals, to bathe, and to do laundry. T he young children thus received the affection and connection with family that every child needs. Talibés were only sent to beg with the purpose of learning humility, and not on a daily basis to provide money for the marabout.

Migration of Talibés to Urban Centers

Over time, the daara system changed as marabouts migrated to major cities. Once in cities, far away from talibés’ families, marabouts lost their means of support. Increasingly, marabouts sent talibés out to beg to collect funds to sustain the daaras.

Child begging has now become a primary source of income for some marabouts. While it would be inaccurate to say that all marabouts deliberately take advantage of talibés, it has become common practice for them to send talibés to beg for long periods of the day—with the hours spent begging far exceeding the hours spent studying. In some cases, the boys face corporal punishment if they fail to collect a certain amount of money per day.

Talibés in urban centers often face unacceptable living conditions. Not only do they spend long hours in the streets, but they frequently suffer from malnutrition, dehydration, and skin diseases. The daaras are often unsanitary places and children are left unattended for long periods of time. The daara system has devolved from one providing sound religious instruction to a socially accepted form of child exploitation.

Mobilization for Child Protection

In 2002, Tostan realized it was important to protect the rights of talibés and so Tostan launched the Talibé Project. Tostan’s talibé project had two goals: first, to improve daily living conditions for the children, and second, to address the roots of the problem by providing economic assistance, raising awareness, and mobilizing communities to find long-term solutions to the problem. Tostan provided direct support to the children by building shelters in which talibés could both study and live, administering first aid and basic healthcare to students, and providing soap, bleach, and mosquito nets for the daaras. Tostan encouraged local community members to “adopt” talibés, thus creating a network within communities that would ensure that students living far from their homes were healthy, clean, and well fed. Tostan also partnered with other organizaitons to teach a basic educational curriculum in a number of daaras.

In 2008, recognizing that the Talibé project was neither sustainable nor sufficient for achieving long-term solutions, Tostan evaluated and ultimately redesigned its strategies to protect the rights of children. Internal evaluators visited daaras in three regions of Senegal where Tostan was implementing the program to learn what was being done well and what could be improved. The evaluators concluded that while the project was having a short-term impact on the health and well-being of children, Tostan could be more effective by systematically integrating community training for child protection into the Community Empowerment Program (CEP). In doing so, Tostan-trained Community Management Committee (CMC) in participating communities have the tools and training to establish a Commission on Child Protection that will ensure that the rights of children are respected. This approach encourages community-led action to support the talibés and to ensure that other children at risk also receive the protection and care they need.

Tostan is in the process of developing trainings specially designed for CMCs that will enable members to identify problems facing children in their communities and will empower them to determine appropriate solutions to ensure better living conditions for children. Ultimately, all CMCs will be equipped with skills to implement community-led solutions and strategies for protecting the rights of all children.

   ###

Tostan's work to protect children's rights continues to grow and expand. For more information about Tostan's work with talibe, please contact Malick Gueye at protectiondelenfance@tostan.org  at Tostan Senegal.

Les activités menées par Tostan en faveur de la protection des talibé sont en effet en évolution et en accélération. Pour de plus amples renseignements, merci de contacter Malick Gueye au protectiondelenfance@tostan.org au Tostan Senegal. 

###

All of the photos featured in this article were captured and graciously donated by Lauren Pond.