Hope for begging talibe children, St-Louis Senegal

Three volunteers arrived at Maison de la Gare at the beginning of February 2013, a French couple (Michael Gobert and Gwen Gueguen) and an American student from Oregon, Madison Burgdorfer.  All three chose to contribute in the health and education activities defined in Maison de la Gare’s volunteer program. ...

Maison de la Gare organizes regular football (soccer) tournaments for the talibes of Saint Louis. Football is universally adored, and the talibe children demonstrate an impressive level of skill as they play, despite poor nutrition and hydration and a lack of shoes on their feet. What they have no shortage of is...

Maison de la Gare staff and international volunteers accompagnied thirty talibe children on a field trip to the Guembeul Natural Fauna Reserve, a half hour drive from Saint Louis in northern Senegal.  The excursion was a welcome holiday from the regime of forced begging that the boys live with every day. For some...

Maison de la Gare has benefited enormously from its association with GlobalGiving over the past year.  Donations have totaled over $9,900 from 210 donors.  We are grateful for your support of hope for a new life for the begging talibé street children of Senegal. Thanks to your caring, Maison de la...

A 16-year-old Canadian high school student from Montreal, Ann Pille, spent a week with Maison de la Gare in September of 2012 with her aunt Karen Hornby, a registered nurse.  Ann has prepared a moving report on her experiences, her understanding of the situation of the talibé street children of Senegal, and...

Maison de la Gare is delighted to announce that a new member has joined its project team in Saint Louis, Mapaté Bousso.  As Maison de la Gare has grown, so has the urgent need for a member of the team to take charge of the myriad administrative details that need attention every day. Mapaté holds a...

Sports are pretty well the most popular activity for talibé children, contributing to both their physical and emotional development.  They also support development of bonds of comradeship with other talibés and provide them with rare and precious moments of relaxation. For these reasons, Maison de la Gare...

A grade 9 student volunteer has been successful in establishing one-on-one e-mail linkages between talibé children involved in Maison de la Gare’s programs and students in her high school, Ashbury College in Ottawa, Canada. The student, Rowan Hughes, guided 12 talibé boys and their teachers in each...

Maison de la Gare has received donations totally more than $8,000 (or £5,000) from over 180 donors since joining GlobalGiving and GlobalGiving UK in the spring of this year (2012).  A very gratifying recent spurt of donations from the UK in response to Janek Seevaratnam’s sacrifice of his magnificent and...

Over the past few weeks, Janek Seevaratnam in England has obtained 66 donations to Maison de la Gare through GlobalGiving, with a moving personal sacrifice.  Donations totaled £1,021 plus $138 US.  The donations weredesignated for nutritious baguettes for talibé students (15x), for registration...

Circumcision of boys in Senegal is culturally sensitive and potentially a serious health issue.  Circumcision is seen as a rite of passage from one stage of life to another more important one.  In Muslim West Africa, it is essential that the procedure be performed before adulthood, and it is absolutely required...

One of the most troubling experiences during my short stay in Saint Louis working with Maison de la Gare was going on a “night run”.  This consists of going out in the middle of the night (usually between 1:00 and 2:00 a.m.) and searching the streets for runaway talibé children.  On our fourth...

Every Thanksgiving I have struggled with how to give thanks for all the wonderful things I have been lucky enough to enjoy in my life - my family, my friends, my health, my work and yes, my wealth.  This year is different.  I have found a way to give back that is meaningful to me.  My 16 year old niece and I...

This summer, a former volunteer at Maison de la Gare made an extraordinary contribution.  This is her story: “I and three friends set off on the ‘3 peaks challenge’ to raise money for Maison de la Gare.  The 3 peaks challenge involves climbing the 3 tallest mountains in England, Wales and...

A wide variety of medicinal and other plants is cultivated in Maison de la Gare’s centre in Saint Louis.  We are posting this update to our recent report in order to share with you the incredible growth of our garden over the past few months.  Papaya, Moringa, mint, lemons, oranges, grapefruit, lemon grass,...

July 2012:  The garden in Maison de la Gare’s Saint Louis centre has made enormous strides since it was renewed in April. The garden is very popular with the Talibé children who, with the help of team member Aladji Gaye, are doing work that would make a professional horticulturalist proud! Thus, it is...

Maison de la Gare joined GlobalGiving at the beginning of April 2012 during the Open Challenge.  At the time, we set a financial objective for the campaign of $6,000. Your generous support has been overwhelming.  As of today, 96 donations have been received on GlobalGiving.org and...

Soon eight months will have flown by in the land of Teranga, and the time spent here has broadened my perspective of how hard life really can be.  Entering Saint-Louis, it didn’t take long time before I noticed these young boys, talibés, with dirty clothes walking barefoot by the side of the road, begging....

The soccer tournament organized in April by the American Peace Corps in collaboration with Maison de la Gare was a total success.  Many of the organizations working for children’s rights in Saint Louis cooperated together to make this event possible. The opening ceremony on April 5th marked the beginning of the...

We are thrilled to report that, thanks to your donations during GlobalGiving's Open Challenge, Maison de la Gare has earned a permanent spot on GlobalGiving.org.  This is enormously important as Maison de la Gare works to diversify the association's sources of revenue, to provide a sustainable long-term base for its...