As you walk the busy streets of Dakar, children approach you with small metal or plastic buckets asking for donations and help with food. More than 30,000 children in Dakar are so called ‘talibe’, Quran students, who spend on average 2-4 hours a day on the street begging to get the money needed to attend their studies at Quranic schools. Funded by USAID, Save the Children is supporting a community project that aims to tackle the root causes of children begging on the street. So far, these projects have supported over 3790 children all around the country – and have highlighted the power of Senegalese communities to put an end to this practice that puts children at risk of violence and exploitation.
For many Senegalese families it is culturally important that their children study religion – something that is not possible in the formal state financed school system. Additionally, around 43% of the daara (Quranic teachers) believe that begging will teach children humility and respect. As a result, around 64% of talibe children under 12 are sent to beg, and around 85% of the talibe children aged 13 to 17. Talibe children often come from parts of the country where resources are scarce. Families are forced to send their children to larger cities such as Dakar to study the Quran and send money back home. As a result, children as young as 7 are sent to the city where they are also at risk of violence and abuse. 4 in 10 talibe reported being exposed to violence, abuse, and exploitation.
Community Support for Sustainable Change
During my recent trip to Senegal, I had the opportunity to visit a programme called “Wallu Talibé Yi” funded by USAID and implemented by Save the Children, aimed at supporting community initiatives to prevent talibe children from begging on the streets. The project operates in 6 communes in Dakar and 2 communes in Kolda, to reduce forced child begging. In Pikine, an area in Dakar, a network of over 107 women have come together to provide children with the health care and financial support they need to continue their studies in Quranic schools.
The women in Pikine are producing and selling cereals, soaps and other household items that they then sell at local markets, in their local store and even to the local hospital – where their products help support malnourished children and breastfeeding women. When you enter the community house that the women have set up, you are greeted by shelves filled with soaps, couscous, wheat and other grains, herbs and spices, neatly arranged and ready to be sold. The income generated with these sales provide 775 children in their commune with access to health care, food donations, and clothing. The 775 children were identified based on their greatest needs, such as lack of financial support from family or risk of abuse and violence.
Additionally, these women are financially supporting the Quranic teachers to ensure the children are off the street and placed into a safer and more stable environment.
Capacity Building and Community Mobilization
But the network of women is looking to support even more children. As part of Save the Children’s programmes, the women have received training on business management, entrepreneurship and accounting, as well as courses to develop their agricultural skills. With these skills, women are planning to expand their operations and sales to be able to support a growing number of talibe with health care and other care needed. Additionally, community organizations and daara management committees also received training on psychosocial support, socio-educational activities and child protection, with a focus on ending violence such as gender-based violence. These trainings strengthened the commitment of local leaders to protect Talibe children and led to the creation of a monitoring system to ensure that children supported by the project have stopped begging in the street.
Seeing the efforts of the women in Pikine and their partners to protect Talibe children demonstrates the importance of community initiatives and the power and knowledge communities have to tackle societal issues. By empowering local women, Save the Children is creating a sustainable support network for Talibe children, which not only provides them with essential care, but also with safety and an opportunity to focus on their education. It is important that we support and expand these initiatives, so that we put an end to the exploitation of children through forced begging. With limited resources and growing needs it is essential that child support programmes, like that of Save the Children in Senegal, continue to receive the attention they deserve. Supporting these communities means investing in the future of children and in a more just and equitable future for all.
