Where We Work: Dakar, Senegal

Talibe

In Senegal, there are two different types of "street children." Some children simply live and sleep on the streets trying to survive on their own. These street children live in the same types of circumstances, and come from the same general background, as those in the other countries where we are ministering. But then there are other street children known as "talibes," who belong to Muslim leaders known as "marabouts." 

According to a recent report by UNICEF, there are between 50,000 and 100,000 "talibes" in Senegal. Traditionally, families contracted with marabouts to raise their children and provide them with a Koranic education. In exchange for this education, the families would provide compensation or gifts to the marabouts, and the children would be engaged in farming or other enterprises to support the marabouts. The children would also go house to house in their villages reciting the Koran, receiving donations along the way. 

Today, more and more marabouts take children out of the desert villages and bring them into the cities where the marabouts can make a better living. Nine out of 10 talibes are from the villages, and 85% are from the poorest families. A single marabout may have between 20 and several hundred talibes in his "care," depending on his reputation.

Talibes often live in appalling conditions, where hunger, thirst, and disease are rampant. During the daytime, the marabouts send the talibes out into the streets to beg. They are readily recognizable throughout Dakar, the capital of Senegal, for the rags that they wear and the tomato paste cans that hang around their necks. Many marabouts require that their talibes meet a certain quota for the day, and if the talibes do not meet their quota, they may be severely beaten. 

It is said that the talibes' begging is part of their Koranic education, designed to teach them humility, while at the same time offering the opportunity for other Muslims in the community to practice charity. Although the talibes do receive a minimal Koranic education, this education is insufficient to enable the talibes to find employment as adults. The result is that they usually become either unemployed homeless adults or adult disciples of the marabouts.

It is our anticipation that most of the children received by the Arms of Love Children's Home in Senegal will not be talibes. Because the talibes are "owned" by the marabouts, there are few (if any) opportunities to actual obtain custody of talibes and essentially take them away from their marabouts. Rather, it is likely that the Children's Home will receive orphaned and abandoned children, including street children, who have not yet become talibes, thereby offering them an alternative path in life.

As our ministry progresses, we will evaluate opportunities to provide some level of care or assistance for talibes. This may be done through a daytime drop-in center, which could provide a variety of services including showers, health care, vaccinations, recreational activities, literacy training, and simple skills training. These types of programs, however, generally cannot be evangelistic in nature, but most marabouts will not allow any Christian teaching of their talibes, and it is against the law to convert a talibe to Christianity. Nevertheless, we will consider such programs as a way of bringing the love of Christ into their lives, planting seeds that may some day bear the fruit of faith when they become older.