Plight of the Talibés

June 12, 2008

The first time I came out of a European-style supermarket here in Dakar, I was immediately surrounded by a group of pitiful-looking young boys wearing threadbare clothes and clutching empty tomato paste cans, begging me for money. The vision is heartbreaking, the story behind it even more so, sadly. These young boys, known as talibé (pronounced TAL-ee-bay, from the Arabic ’seeker’ or ‘learner’), were traditionally sent by their parents to study the Quran with an influential spiritual leader, or marabout (marah-boo), to deepen their knowledge of the holy writings.

In exchange for this religious instruction, parents might provide money or gifts. Children would also be expected to help the marabout, often by offering donations they would receive for reciting the Quran. Asking for money in this way was said to teach humility and appreciation for whatever one has while preparing the children for life’s hardships. At the same time, the practice could be said to encourage the practice of zakaat or almsgiving (one of the five pillars of Islam) among members of the wider population.

There are an estimated 10,000 talibés in Dakar alone, and, according to UNICEF figures, probably 100,000 across Senegal. Each marabout is sent many boys by many different families, usually from the poorest socioeconomic strata. Given estimates range from 20 to several hundred talibés per marabout. These boys must be housed (often in overcrowded and filthy conditions), clothed, fed and taken care of. Therefore the amount of time actually spent on scripture is limited; the majority of the boys’ time is spent begging on street corners for sustenance. Frequently, boys who do not bring a minimum of coins back to their marabout (the average daily minimum is 350 CFA or 77 US cents, almost a king’s ransom in a country where a large percentage of the population lives on less than two dollars a day) will be severely beaten or punished. Needless to say, very little other formal education takes place under these circumstances, so that upon reaching adulthood, these young men do not have many employment options available to them. It is common knowledge that the marabouts, however, tend to live quite nicely on the income provided by the children, wearing expensive clothing and accessories, driving the latest automobiles, and earning more money per annum than many government employees.

Various anti-begging laws have been passed in Senegal with the intent of reducing this phenomenon, but it is a difficult problem to tackle, because it involves a widely accepted cultural practice that is rooted either in genuine religious conviction or in the crippling poverty of the families who send their sons to the marabouts. Therefore, people running for elected office in Senegal (as in so many other countries I could name, including my own), are unwilling to stick their noses out by enforcing contentious or unpopular legislation against a culturally enshrined practice.

Furthermore, the marabouts - like religious leaders anywhere - tend to be extremely powerful, both within religious circles as well as within the wider political and social context. People are understandably reluctant to challenge those said to have God/Allah/Omnipotent Force on their side, so the marabouts continue to dominate the spiritual and socio-political landscape.

Fortunately, there is more than one NGO taking steps to ameliorate living conditions for the talibés, among them a local organization called TOSTAN: http://www.tostan.org/web/page/630/sectionid/547/parentid/547/pagelevel/2/interior.asp

Its activities include providing basic items such as soap, clothing, mosquito nets and medicines for the children, ensuring regular access to water for bathing and laundry and working with the marabouts to develop income-generating projects so that they need no longer rely on the children to beg, etc.

As the importance of religious study is so deeply rooted within this society, the practice of sending young boys off to learn the Quran is not one that will probably change in our lifetimes. However, with NGOs sensitizing local populations to the possibilities of abuse which exist, and providing constructive alternatives to begging as a source of income, there is the hope that the children may one day receive the religious upbringing their parents so fervently desire with no further danger of exploitation.

About the Author : Tamara-Diana Braunstein brings us her stories from Senegal every week. She was born in Brooklyn, New York. She is a restless wanderer who earned an MA from the University of Freiburg and has worked in a youth hostel in the French Alps, a law firm in Montreal, the Metropolitan Museum of Art as well as in university press publishing. At the moment her home base is Dakar, Senegal, where she is supposed to be teaching but is doing far more learning, as you will see by reading her blog at www.senegalschoolmarm.blogspot.com