As child, I grew up in Dakar ,
capital of Senegal .
I saw children with dirty clothes, walking in the streets. They carried empty
pots in their hands, and begged for food and money. It never occurred to me to
inquire “Why were they wearing dirty clothes, or begging for money and food?” The
reality was, they were part of our social fabric, so I grew up seeing their
presence as normal; people called them Talibes.
Talibe originated
from Arabic, and the term “talib” means “student”. Talibes are viewed as religious students following a specific
religious sect or teacher. They are often children 4 to 12 year of ages, living
in Daara with a Marabout, a religious teacher, in order to pursue a free religious
education.
The Talibe tradition
has been around for centuries. With the establishment of Islam in the 11th
century by the Almoravide Muslims
from northwest Africa , the Daaras, which are places children come
to learn the Koran, started
flourishing around the region with the diligence of Sufi brotherhoods such as Tijani, Qadiriyyah, Layene and Muridiyyah,
characterized by their desires to spread their knowledge and enlarge the
numbers of their followers.
Human Rights Watch in its April 2010 reports indicated that at
least 50,000 children were Talibes.
They often come from rural areas in Senegal to urban areas in order to
live and learn from a Marabout.
In these “daaras”,
children are forced to beg on the pretext that begging is essential to sustain
the Daara. As a result, children spend long hours in the street
begging for money and food, and consequently, little time in school to obtain a
koranic education.
They often are asked to bring a certain quota of money, and
if they don’t, they are subjected to beatings. Talibes are used as free labor, and suffer mental and physical
abuses.
The Senegalese government has been trying to deal with the Talibe issue by adopting laws, such as
Law No.2005-06, to combat the practice of forced begging, and its article 3 states: “Whosoever organizes the begging of another
in order to benefit, or hires, leads, or deceives a person in order to engage
him in begging or to exercise pressure on him to beg ... will be punished by
imprisonment of 2 to 5 years and a fine of 500,000 to 2,000,000 francs
[US$1,160 to $4,350]”. However, many human rights organizations believe that
the Senegalese government is not doing enough to stop human rights violations
on Talibes.
In Senegal ,
grand Marabouts have a great deal of
political power, so the Senegalese public officials try not to alienate them or
give them the impression that they are imposing occidental values in detriment
of the Senegalese traditions. Other realities that sustain the Talibe issue besides traditions and
socio-economic realities are articles 21 and article 22 under the Senegalese constitution
that guarantee the fundamental rights to education to all Senegalese children,
regardless of gender and domicile. Senegal , however, does not have the
means to fulfill those duties under its constitution; therefore, the government
relies on religious education to boost its own “No Child Left Behind”. The Senegalese constitution under article 24
also guarantees a free practice and profession of religions; therefore, any moves
to eradicate the Talibe issue by Senegalese
authorities could be viewed as interference into Senegalese freedom of
religions. As a result, Talibes find themselves at the crossroads
between Right to Education and Freedom of Religions.
As night falls, Mame Coumba Dauphin, goddess of the Atlantic
Ocean, wakes up and releases a fresh air into Dakar city to clean its daily sins. She watches
and protects its inhabitants from harm. At Dawn you may hear the muezzin calls
for prayer, and griots sing the
wisdom of great marabouts such as
Cheick Amadou Bamba, Malick Sy, Seydina Limamou Laye and Abd Al Qadir Al-Jilani
Abdal, which guides the Senegalese people to live together peacefully despite
their religious differences and denomination.
However, at the Daara
where Ousmane the talibe lives, he
has already gone through beatings for not bringing the money required for the
day. He has also gone through his daily prayers, which are full of unanswered questions.
I believe we owe Ousmane the talibe an
answer by standing with the children of Senegal . I believe Senegal has a duty
to respect its national and international commitments related to children’s
rights, and I also believe the international community owes him an answer by
enforcing the Convention on Rights of the Child, adopted by the United Nations
Assembly on November 20, 1989. As Kofi Annan said, "There is no trust more
sacred than the one the world holds with children. There is no duty more
important than ensuring that their rights are respected, that their welfare is
protected, that their lives are free from fear and want and that they can grow
up in peace."
Sincerely,
Alpha Diallo
We could learn more:
Talibe: The Least Favored Children of Senegal .
Ismael Lo Song Talibe