Boys forced to beg

Mahamadou Kandé left home at the age of seven. Today, he is back from Senegal’s capital city, reunited with family and trying to recover from a traumatic experience.

 Five years ago, Mahamadou, like many other boys in the south of Senegal, was sent to Dakar to learn about the Qur’an. Left in the care of his religious teachers, Mahamadou was exploited and abused. He’s not alone.

As many as 50,000 Senegalese boys are sent from villages around the country to large urban centres to learn more about, Islam, the religion practiced by the vast majority of the country.

 Once at the religious schools, however, teachers often force the children, some as young as four, to beg in the city streets every day. The children, called talibés, often suffer for years.

 As the world marks the World Day Against Child Labour on June 12, World Vision takes time to recognise children like Mahamadou who are forced to work at a young age, instead of enjoying their childhood.

 Mahamadou shares his story, in his own words.

“It is my father who sent me in Dakar to study the Koran.

“I used to beg in the streets of Dakar and whenever I got money I gave it to the Quranic teacher. The rest [of the money] I used to buy bread and also for playing football at the end of the day, after the classes of Qur’an. 

“Life in Dakar for an unconscious kid is good because I was able to get some money through begging. But it was also hard because they would beat me whenever I could not get money. 

“There is one day I will never forget when I was sick in Dakar. I had a headache and I thought that I would die. Then, World Vision took care of me. I started attending school when I was in Dakar.”

World Vision also assisted in reuniting Mahamadou with his family in rural Senegal.

“Here I can pick mangoes, eat monkey bread and oranges.

“But village life is difficult because of the work in the fields. We prevent the monkeys all day from destroying the crops. We also spend a lot of time picking peanuts that our seniors [adults] have unearthed.”

Yet, the ordeal has skewed Mahamadou’s views.

“When I grow up, I would like to be a Quranic teacher. I will have my talibés [beggers] and I will keep them here. I will not leave the area with them and go to Dakar and I will not beat them.”

World Vision has been working with Mahamadou through a project called ‘Vitalis’ which strives to reintegrate former talibés into the formal educational system.

A second project has been set up in Mahamadou’s community to monitor children who are victims of abuse and ill-treatment. The village-led committees ensure that children suffering from abuse are supported.

The child’s mother, Mariama Baldé, is glad to be reunited with her child.

“When he was in Dakar whenever I heard bad news on the radio about the talibés, I could not sleep peacefully. I thought it was my child who was a victim.

“I thank God for allowing me to see my son safe and sound again. I will not let him go to Dakar again to be a beggar,” Mariama says.

To help curb the problem, World Vision works directly with Islamic religious leaders in mosques to raise awareness among teachers of the Qur’an on the well-being of children.

By Alegnesy Bies and Joseph Carvalho