Hope for begging talibe children, St-Louis Senegal

A talibé shares his experience of life, and the role played by Maison de la Gare

My name is Arouna.  I am a talibé and Administrative Assistant at Maison de la Gare.  I grew up in Kolda in Casamance in the south of Senegal.  I was sent to a daara in Saint Louis in 2006 when I was nine years old, to pursue my study of the Koran.  I left behind my parents and three younger sisters, who are always in my thoughts.  And, while I've been in Saint Louis, both my father and mother died and I became an orphan.

When I arrived in Saint Louis, I saw children all around the city with begging bowls in hand, wandering barefoot with torn and filthy clothes and having no way to wash or get medical treatment.  I thought in my head: "What kind of a world is this?  What's the point?  Why be alive when there is no possibility to be yourself?"

I was sad from sunrise to sunset, wandering with my hands in my pants pockets.  At such moments, my thoughts always turned to my family.  Ah!!!  With my family I could have discussed things; I would have been able to express my opinions.  But, in the marabouts' world I was, like all the other children, a slave.

After three years of living this ordeal, I came upon an association called Maison de la Gare.  I was introduced by one of my comrades who had been going to Maison de la Gare's center every day.

Maison de la Gare is a non-profit organization, non-political and secular, that was founded in 2007 by a group of Senegalese driven by a desire to improve the living conditions of talibé children in their country, Senegal.  Maison de la Gare's objective is to help the talibés to integrate into Senegalese society, both socially and professionally, by providing them with access to education, sports and artistic activities and apprenticeship opportunities.

From my early days at the center, I saw many children in the courtyard.  Others were in the classrooms, in the infirmary, in the library or showering.  It was unimaginable for me to see all the talibés at home in the center as though they were with their families.  After a week, I started attending basic literacy classes with Bouri Cherif Mbodj, one of the center's French teachers.  I would go to the center in the mornings to wash and sometimes to get treatment for ailments or injuries.  And I would return every evening on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays for Math, French, History and Geography classes.  On Thursdays and Fridays, we organized soccer games with other children from around the city of Saint Louis.  Sports make a great contribution to children's development, helping them to better prepare their future.

I mastered basic French grammar in just three years. Finally I announced to Issa Kouyaté, Maison de la Gare's president, that I wanted to go to school.  He asked me "Arouna! Are you afraid to speak out in class?"  I said "No".  Then he asked me "Arouna!  Are you afraid to play with your classmates?"  Again, I answered "No".  He enrolled me in a public institution named CEM Amadou Fara Mbodj, a school located in the north of Saint Louis.

By the age of only sixteen, I had gained enough knowledge to become a leader and an example for the other talibés.  I devoted myself to my studies and often missed the football games or other activities as a result.  At times, I studied and did my homework in my daara until midnight by the light of the moon.  Despite my experience of the street, no one forced me to beg.  I always devoted time to obtaining a small quota of money for my marabout.  To do this, I sold fish in the local market that I had found on the banks of the Senegal River, discarded by fishermen.  Still, I always had time to look after the young talibés.  I was also available to help with the many chores required for the smooth running of the center.

Even beyond questions about life for children in the daaras, I asked myself about their lives after the daara: what can they do in life if they don't speak French (the official language in Senegal) and have no professional skills?  The best of them become themselves marabouts or Arabic teachers, but what about the rest?  Throughout my entire childhood, the age when a child learns about life in society, I was marginalized from everything ... because of my smell, my clothing and the fears of the other children's parents.  I also lacked any of the skills necessary to find a job, even a most rudimentary one!

People say that today's youth are the society of tomorrow.  What type of society can we build if our children are treated like this?  Let's not delude ourselves; a Muslim education is fine but we must also have technical skills.  The truth is that if I find myself as an adult without skills or employment, I will be lost to society and will swell the ranks of those outside the law.

Maison de la Gare has become my family.  I am also encouraged by my contacts with my correspondents in Canada via the Internet, and by volunteers at Maison de la Gare who know my qualities and my potential.

Myself and so many other children like me, we are the future of Senegal.

Today, Wednesday June 15th, is a perfect time to renew your support for the begging talibé street children.  It is Bonus Day at GlobalGiving and GlobalGiving UK and, after 9 a.m. EST, your donation will earn up to a 50% matching contribution.   It is your generous donations that makes possible Arouna's story, and so many like it.

Links:

• Arouna's story on MDG's website, with many photos over the years
• Can you support Arouna and others like him, as a volunteer?
• Le rapport d'Arouna en francais, sur notre site web

Maison de la Gare's agricultural apprenticeship program in Bango is born

For many years, the garden in Maison de la Gare’s centre in Saint Louis has been an oasis of greenery and tranquility in the lives of the begging talibé street children.  For the many children who have been directly involved in planting, cultivating, watering and otherwise caring for the garden, it has provided stability in their lives, giving them a sense of pride and responsibility and providing them with skills that will help them to eventually reintegrate into the farming communities that they come from.  Gardening has become a doorway to autonomy for these children.

The garden is small, however, too small for the ever increasing numbers of vulnerable children who see it as an opportunity to work towards a better future.  Many of the older talibé youth, typically between 17 and 25 years old, have wanted to take part, but there just has not been enough space for them to assume meaningful roles. 

Issa Kouyaté, Maison de la Gare’s president, has dreamed for over six years of acquiring a plot of land that could be used to establish an agricultural apprenticeship program for these older talibé children.  He has found many potential properties over the years, but has never had the financial means to go forward.  The possibility became real during a discussion with GO Campaign of Santa Monica, California in early 2015.  GO Campaign had given a grant to Maison de la Gare in 2014 that made it possible to build the emergency shelter in our Saint Louis center.  With the success of this project, they were looking for another way to help.  We prepared an application and, shortly afterwards, they provided funding to enable us to buy the land and start the project.

We found an ideal site for our purposes in Bango, a town seven kilometers from our center in Saint Louis.  The property, 621 square meters in size, is located next to an irrigation ditch that supplies water.  Thanks to the location in the delta of the Senegal River, the soil is rich and well suited to growing market vegetables.  Purchase of the land was completed by mid-summer of 2015 and the first sections were planted shortly after.  The plants grew well and we were expecting an early crop.  However, a short time later, everything was destroyed by the incursion of a herd of cattle.  We realized that we had to start over, after building a solid wall around the field.

Everything was ready by the end of the year, the wall, doors and a ten-meter deep well.  Issa was the first to taste the water from the new well and, fortunately, he confirmed that it is very good.  We started  2016 with new plantings, this time very successfully.  Seydou, an experienced local farmer, agreed to supervise the property and to serve as a teacher and mentor for the children.

Several initial crops have now been harvested, helping us to see what can be most successful as a base for the future.  Many of the young people are only beginning to appreciate the opportunity that this new space offers.  As more and more of them visit the property and as the children who are involved talk about their experiences, the numbers are growing.  The first harvests have shown how fertile the land is, and the experience has let us see which of the young people are ready to fully commit to this activity.  For these children, they are already feeling more independent and can see clearly how their involvement can lead to a meaningful future.  Maison de la Gare is making great strides both in developing the property and in supporting the talibés who are involved, encouraging them in their efforts and helping them to become increasingly self-confident.

Imam is one of the talibé youth committed to this project.  In his words, "Everything is going well, a good start.  It's good to be busy.  For the future, I hope this will continue and help me to find work."

We express our profound thanks to GO Campaign and to everyone who has made possible this new adventure for the children of Maison de la Gare, a pathway to becoming self-sufficient contributors to society.

Links:

• This report on our website with many photos, some more recent
• See for yourself and contribute? Check out our volunteer program
• Ce rapport en francais a notre site web, avec beaucoup de photos