AFRICA

One of the estimated 200,000+ Talibe children of Senegal, West Africa.  Talibe is an arabic word loosely interpreted as “student” or “one who seeks and asks”. Their lives in Senegal are far from such benign translations.

They are young boys who are either orphaned, runaways, stolen, or given to “marabous” (teachers) by their parents who cannot afford to take care of them. The action considered a great honor, they are entrusted to so-called holy men who promise to educate the children in the Koran, and care for all of their physical needs. The child literally ceases to be a part of his birth family, and becomes in essence the property of the marabou.

The grim reality for the majority is that they become hapless beggars.  They wake in the early hours to memorize and chant passages from the Koran in Arabic, but are never taught what the words mean. They are then turned out to the streets to beg, unattended, for the hottest hours of the afternoon.  As young as 4, they wander through streets barefoot, carrying plastic containers dug from trash heaps for their loot.  They are given earnings quotas, beaten if failing to return with enough. They live crammed into overcrowded buildings, no beds, half-dressed, suffering an endless stream of infections and consequences of neglect.

I had the opportunity to spend two days caring for these boys, our team invited by the marabous of one of the households.  These kids were in the most appalling physical and emotional condition of any I saw during my two months in West Africa, or anywhere else I have ever been.

My faith is one that calls me to love my enemies, something tough to swallow on the best of days. but watching well-fed, well-dressed, well-educated marabous lead these sickly boys to our medical stations, I was nearly overcome with rage.  What stopped me was not what I claim to believe, but simply knowing such a response would negate any good we could do there.  It had taken years of community involvement on the part of the people responsible for arranging our invitation, and flipping out would have undone all of it.  So I bit my tongue, tied my hands, unfroze my glares, and did my job.

It was an experience I struggle to process all these months later…what is the right thing to do and when?  Do your motivations make your actions right or wrong, even if your action is just the same?

Still thinking, still wandering… written by Dana Marie Shephard, photojournalist.

Only 15 percent of school-age girls in Senegal attend middle school. later in life, there are only 6 literate adult women for every 10 literate men.

They need schools to go to, and the freedom from child labor to get there.

Because when they go, they love it. and when they love it, they learn. and when they love learning, they will change their world.

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