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Slavery - a modern scourge
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Talibé children are subjected to a brutal form of contemporary slavery
Except for 2019, Maison de la Gare has received financial support every year since 2013 from the
United Nations Trust Fund for Contemporary Forms of Slavery. This fund requires detailed case studies of child "slaves," and we have prepared 85 of these over the years.
Here we share a sample of these case studies, prepared by four of our extraordinary staff members. The boys' names and places of origin have been changed for their protection, and we do not include photos of them.
Ibrahima (6 years)
Our nurse Awa Diallo reports that Ibrahima was sent from his village to his daara in Saint-Louis when he was only 4 years old. In his daara, his marabout provided him with no clothing, no food, and no other necessities of life, but forced him to beg every day for his food and
a quota of money. Ibrahima suffered terribly from these conditions, from the absence of any contact with his family and even from any nurturing relationship in his life. His suffering was even greater when he fell ill and received no medical care.
Issa Kouyaté discovered Ibrahima at the end of 2019 during a visit to his daara, and he saw that the child was extremely ill. Issa took him to the infirmary of the center of Maison de la Gare and entrusted him to Awa. Seeing Ibrahima's condition, Awa gave him a malaria test, and the result was positive. She took him to the hospital and stayed by his side all day, while Issa contacted the boy's marabout, who refused to come to the hospital. When Ibrahima left the hospital, Awa brought him back to her daara with a mosquito net and the medication he had been prescribed, and she showed the boy and his marabout how to use it.
Ibrahima has now recovered and regularly participates in sports programs and 
others of Maison de la GareAwa conducts regular checkups at her daara, ensuring that the mosquito net is being used correctly and that Ibrahima is taking his medication. Ibrahima's marabout has become very cooperative and has requested mosquito nets for the other boys in her daara. He now immediately sends sick boys to the infirmary.
Modou (12 years)
Lalla Sène, a former member of the Senegalese women's soccer team who is now our sports host, reports that Modou was sent to his daara in Saint-Louis from his family in southern Senegal when he was only five years old. His daara is large, with more than 100 talibés living in extremely unsanitary conditions. The children regularly suffer from infections, and malaria is rampant. Modou, 12, is forced to beg every day to pay his marabout an extremely high quota of 800 francs ($1,50 or €1,20). He receives no food in his daara and must also beg for that.
Modou regularly comes to the center Maison de la Gare for more than five years. He felt there 
at ease, an oasis in his difficult life on the streets. Over the years, he has attended French literacy classes, watched movies and read books at the library, eaten the nutritious baguettes offered in the evenings, and regularly showered and washed his clothes. However, Modou's passion is football, and Lalla has taken him under her wing, helping him develop his skills and generally supporting him as he faces the unfair challenges in his life. He is a terrific goalkeeper!
The living conditions of talibé children in the Modou daara are appalling, and Issa has worked with his marabout to try to improve the situation. Maison de la Gare installed toilets and a source of clean water, and Issa made some progress with the marabout, helping him appreciate children's rights and improve their treatment. As a result, our teachers are now beginning to offer literacy classes for all the children in this daara, on-site in the daara.
As for Modou, he will continue to participate in soccer matches with Lalla and benefit from our center's other programs. When he is older, we will encourage him to join one of our apprenticeship programs to acquire a skill that will allow him to support himself.
Omar (10 years)
Amadou Bâ, one of our dedicated street educators, himself grew up as a talibé begging in the most difficult conditions. Here, he tells us about this 10-year-old boy from a village in central Senegal, whose parents sent him to a daara in Saint-Louis because there was no school he could attend in his region.
Like the other children in his daara, Omar is forced to beg every day to feed himself and obtain a quota of money for his marabout. There are no sanitation facilities or clean water in this daara, and little shelter. Omar was regularly severely beaten by his marabout when he was unable to produce his full quota.
Omar lived in his daara for three years before deciding he could take it no longer and would find a way home. He ran away and spent several days alone on the streets before the night patrol team
Maison de la Gare don't find it at the bus station. After
While Omar was able to recover in our emergency dormitory, Amadou gained his trust, and Omar explained why he had run away. He wanted to go to school and no longer be abused or forced to beg. Amadou spoke with Omar's family and learned that there were no opportunities for him to attend school in his home village. So he discussed the situation with Omar's marabout, who agreed to allow Omar to be enrolled in school and no longer be forced to beg. The marabout even helped Omar's parents obtain a birth certificate for him, a prerequisite for his school enrollment.
Since returning to his daara, Omar comes regularly to Maison de la Gare
to wash, eat, and learn in literacy classes while waiting to start school. We will continue to support him for many years to come.
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Working with so many abused children is a very demanding task. The exceptional skill and dedication of Amadou, Awa, Issa, Lalla, and all the members of the team must be recognized. Maison de la Gare, every minute of every day. The children have a hard time building trust and will only confide in one person of their choice, who could be the cook or the president. Every staff member understands this and understands that their first job is to welcome and listen to these innocent victims.
