World Vision is eager to answer any of your questions regarding talibés, and how it is working to address the exploitation of these young boys in Senegal. Below are some of the most commonly asked questions.

What is a talibé?
Talibé is a word derived from Arabic that means disciple or follower. In Senegal, talibé is the term used for a boy who is forced to beg on the streets as part of his Koranic education.

How many talibé children are there in Senegal?
A 2004 UNICEF report estimates that there are up to 100,000 child beggars in Senegal—constituting one percent of the country's 11.4 million people—and the vast majority of them are talibés.

Where do the talibé children live?
Most live in a daara—a run-down shack that doubles as a Koranic school and is shared with up to 25-30 other boys. The daara is controlled by a marabout (teacher) who receives the cash collected by the boys. Their humid, cramped, airless living quarters provide ripe conditions for the spread of tuberculosis and other infectious diseases. Latrines and running water are non-existent. The children rarely bathe. They sleep, eat and work in the same clothes. Some marabouts insist that children don’t bathe or wash their clothes so people will pity them and give more. They have no choice but to beg neighbours for dinner leftovers—often their first and only meal of the day.

What physical risks do the talibé children face?
According to a recent study, up to 80 per cent of the street children have been sexually abused, making them vulnerable to AIDS. There are also reports of talibés being abducted. Where they live in the daara, they fear not only beatings from their marabouts, but from each other. Physical abuse, including sexual exploitation, from older boys is the law of the daara.

What is the root cause of the talibé problem?
The problem is rooted in poverty. Poor rural parents who cannot afford to support their children send them to the city to learn the Koran from marabouts. Marabout (Koranic teachers) who are also trying to make a living, exploit them. This cycle has to be broken by addressing the root cause—poverty.

How do children in Senegal become part of the talibé system?
Their parents—usually poor farmers—send their boys, ranging in age from five to 14, to the city to study Islam and memorize the Koran. But the pupils actually spend little time studying and are forced by their marabout to beg on the streets for cash and food. Many parents are not aware that their children are being exploited in the city. In Senegal, the problem is particularly complex, entangled with religion, economics, politics, social values and ethnic traditions.

How did the talibé tradition begin in Senegal?
For centuries, rural Senegalese families selected a male child to study the Koran with a marabout, a respected scholar who taught and also preformed marriages, baptisms and funerals. Top Senegalese leaders, including President Abdoulaye Wade, studied the Koran with a marabout and still rely today on the wisdom and advice of these holy men who hold tremendous sway in the country.

The pupils were sometimes sent to study with a marabout in a neighbouring village in order to focus on their studies. Sometimes the children were required to ask neighbours for food once a week to learn humility and understand what it is to be poor. They were not required to beg for money. After a year or two, they returned home to work in their families’ fields or to tend herds of cattle and sheep.

How and when did the talibé tradition become skewed into a child exploitation issue?
In the early 1970s, drought gripped Senegal whose economy depended largely on agriculture and livestock. At one time Senegal was the world’s largest peanut producer. But peanut prices fell, desertification permanently claimed thousands of hectares of pasture and the economy never fully recovered. Farmers and unskilled young men migrated to Dakar in search of work. Unable to support their children, parents began sending boys to the city to live and study with a marabout, who was often a relative. They entrusted their children’s lives to these men, never believing they would be forced to beg for the marabout’s gain.

By criticizing the talibé system in Senegal, is World Vision criticizing Islam?
No. World Vision is addressing aspects of this cultural tradition that exploit children and their rights. Senegalese Muslims are also concerned about this. World Vision is working in coalition with other organizations (Muslim, Christian and secular) and the Senegalese government to ensure that children and their rights are protected, according to existing laws and conventions. Talibé children have the same right to education, health, security and protection as all other Senegalese children.

 How is World Vision helping to address the problem?
World Vision has a three-pronged approach: Prevention, care and advocacy.

Prevention: Preventing children from ending up in a Dakar daara is the first step in addressing this complex social issue. World Vision staff, comprised of both Muslim and Christian Senegalese professionals, are educating parents about the perils of sending their children to the city. They are helping them to keep their children at home by improving village living conditions and opportunities. Communities are more likely to keep their boys at home if they have school facilities, potable water, sufficient food and income-generating opportunities—all development activities that child sponsorship helps to make possible in more than 600 villages.

Care: World Vision is caring for talibés are already on the street. World Vision Senegal recently launched an innovative, pilot project. Five marabouts agreed to take their collective 150 children off the street—despite the significant loss of income—and enroll them in school. In exchange, World Vision covered school fees and supplies, and upgraded the daaras with latrines, showers and running water. Monthly stocks of vegetables, meat and rice are provided so the boys have regular, nutritious meals. The marabouts receive small, income-generating loans to help break their dependency on the children’s income. The loan of a few hundred dollars is enough to start a fruit stand or to rent a taxi to drive. The marabouts have agreed to send the boys home after two years, where World Vision will help to ensure that they are integrated back into their communities and into public school.    

Advocacy: World Vision is addressing aspects of this cultural tradition that exploit children and their rights. Senegalese Muslims are also concerned about this. World Vision is working in coalition with other organizations (Muslim, Christian and secular) and the Senegalese government to ensure that children and their rights are protected, according to existing laws and conventions. Talibé children have the same right to education, health, security and protection as all other Senegalese children.

The government of Senegal is a signatory to the International Convention of the Rights of the Child and has other legislation in place that prohibits children under age 15 from working. However, these laws have not been enforced consistently.

Who funds World Vision’s pilot project in Senegal?
The Government of Ireland, in partnership with World Vision Ireland, funds the project in Senegal.

As a Christian organization, why is World Vision offering financial support to marabout teachers?
As a Christian organization, World Vision has entered a dialogue with the marabouts, but the cycle of exploitation cannot be broken with words alone. Practical help must be injected into the system, therefore we are offering financial support via a pilot program.

Senegal’s population is 98 per cent Muslim. As a Christian organization, how does World Vision work in this country?
World Vision has worked successfully in Senegal since 1986. The majority of our staff members are Senegalese and they work in partnership with people in more than 600 villages, both Muslim and Christian communities. World Vision works in Senegal in collaboration with the local government, which has recognized World Vision’s excellent community development work. Peace and respect for other cultures and faiths is foundational to Senegalese society. Muslim parents of sponsored children realize that their children may be sponsored by Canadians who are not of the same faith and do not see this as a concern.

How long has World Vision been working in Senegal?
World Vision began working in Senegal in 1986.

What does World Vision do in Senegal?
Since 1986, World Vision and its partner communities have accomplished the following:

• 668 borehole wells drilled
• 186 classrooms constructed
• 359 literacy centres built or equipped
• 43,000 literacy students trained
• 76,520 farmers trained     
• 16,503 families granted micro credit loans
• 5,216 latrines installed
• 305 health posts equipped
• 2,062 community health workers trained

Can I sponsor a child in Senegal?
Yes. Through child sponsorship, you can help Senegalese parents address poverty-related problems and thus help prevent children from becoming street children. Communities are more likely to keep their boys at home if they have school facilities, potable water, sufficient food and income-generating opportunities.

Can I sponsor a talibé child?
It is not possible to sponsor a talibé child at this time. However, World Vision hopes this may be possible in the future as our pilot project evolves.

How many children are sponsored in Senegal through World Vision?
Currently, some 56,000 children are supported by through World Vision donors worldwide, including 10,200 sponsored by Canadians.

More Information
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