Emmanuelle reflects on Maison de la Gare’s motto, stimulated by her experience in a daara
Maison de la Gare is drilling wells to provide clean water in several of the worst daaras in Saint Louis. That's a story for another report. Here, Emmanuelle shares her feelings as she watches the work in progress.
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"When I know that most of them instinctively answer without thinking that they would like to become a marabout when they grow up, I struggle to understand how new role models can support them and guide them on a path to more dignity and self-respect.
Today, I am working on producing a video about Maison de la Gare’s installation of drinking water wells in a very precarious location. I have spent a lot of time over the past several days with the team that is carrying out this project.
Making this video is particularly complicated for me because the work is technical and I have taken hundreds of photos and made numerous videos; the sorting is very time-consuming, working with each shot, and organizing them so that I can turn them into a coherent story about this project.
But today, while sorting through the photos, I saw one in particular that I wanted to share with you, because it represents perfectly my understanding of the people whom I have met since my arrival here.
There are those who are in the foreground in this photo, so few in number. These few are humble, committed, willing and available, and they work actively to achieve real change. Here, it is Abdoulaye (who lives in the room next to mine, who’s from Casamance and came to work for this project) and Souleymane (a former talibé who was born in Gambia and grew up in a daara in Saint Louis) who are starting the work on construction of a well in a daara where hygiene conditions are worse than questionable. The existing well is open to the air, filthy, and a breeding ground for bacteria and other contaminants.
I am so in awe of who they are, what they do, and the hope they represent. I'm really happy to have met them because being surrounded by people like them is precious, even more so here.
Behind, in the background, you can see some of the talibé children from this daara. These talibés, everyone agrees, are the Men of tomorrow, who here in this daara do not go to school, sleep with more than 15 in the same room, and go out to beg for a few coins or food early in the morning, sometimes until very late at night.
When we arrived, they were discreet and amazed by our presence. Then, they quickly approached us to see what we were doing, to understand, to help.
All of them except one, who can't get up by himself, because he broke his leg several weeks ago and he hasn't been treated, so he stays here all day, without moving.
It's distressing, yes, clearly. But when I see them around the team participating and smiling, I tell myself that all is not lost, and that everything is still possible for them.
And then, finally, there are those in the far background. The most elegant in their clothing, the most smiling too and the most welcoming to the arrival of a white woman.
They are the marabout of the daara with some relatives or neighbors, I imagine. They stayed there in their beautiful clothes all day, sitting in the shade talking to each other. No effort, nothing, no gratitude for the team, no special attention for the children.
It's so revolting!
Anyway, I hope you took the time to read my text, which goes with this first picture, and to look at the few other photos that I'm adding. Because this picture doesn't just show two men in flip-flops digging a well. This photo shows all the action and energy of some people in the face of the cruelty and immobility of others, all in front of a generation of Men in the making.
So, don't misunderstand this photo looking at it quickly, because here you can see eloquently that the real men are those who wear flip-flops and have their feet full of mud!"
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Three more cases of talibé children subjected to a brutal contemporary form of slavery
Almost every child who comes into Maison de la Gare’s center is a victim of a contemporary form of slavery, whether they come to participate in our daytime programs or they have been rescued from the streets by our night rounds team. Each child has a different story, but what they all have in common is that they were separated from their families at a young age and forced to live in severely abusive conditions for many years while having to beg or work for their own food as well as for money for the person controlling them.
We recently shared elements of three of the 85 case studies that we have prepared since 2012 for our applications and reports to the United Nations Fund for the Struggle Against Contemporary Forms of Slavery. We share three more of these case studies here, to further illustrate the situations of these children and to introduce other members of our dedicated staff who struggle every day to give them a chance in life. Once again, the boys' names and places of origin have been changed for their protection, and we are not including any photos of them.
Abdoulaye (16 years old)
Our street educator, Ndeye Aby Bâ, reports that Abdoulaye was sent to a daara in Saint Louis at a young age by his family in central Senegal. He was neglected in his daara, forced to beg for his food and for money for his marabout. Now 16, Abdoulaye has not seen his family for many years. He has run away from his daara several times over the years and was brutally beaten each time he returned.
Abdoulaye’s marabout abandoned his daara at the beginning of the pandemic, and Abdoulaye ran away once more. This time he lived alone on the streets for several months, suffering extreme deprivation and hunger. Mamadou Gueye and the night rounds team found him sleeping alone, and Abdoulaye agreed to accompany them to Maison de la Gare’s center. He stayed in our emergency shelter for several days, recovering his health, eating nutritious meals, and having his injuries treated by our nurse Awa Diallo in the infirmary.
Aby investigated Abdoulaye’s case, exploring possibilities with him. He refused to return to his village, as he no longer has any links there and would likely just be sent back to his daara. Abdoulaye agreed to register in our poultry farming apprenticeship program, to learn the skills he needs to become self-supporting. While in this program, he is living with some other older talibés in transition in an apartment provided by Maison de la Gare. He is at our center regularly to wash, eat and receive hygiene and medical support. He also participates regularly in the karate program, which provides strong reinforcement of his growing sense of self-respect and empowerment.
Moussa (10 years old)
Moussa was sent to a daara in Saint Louis from his home village in Guinea Bissau when he was only 6 years old. Although his family had understood that he would be learning the Quran, Moussa is effectively a slave, forced to beg for his food and for a financial quota to pay to his marabout. Living without access to potable water or hygiene facilities, he was filthy, in bare feet and wearing rags when he first came to Maison de la Gare two years ago. He had discovered our center by word of mouth from other talibé children.
Abdou Soumaré reports that, when Moussa first came to Maison de la Gare, he seemed small for his age, malnourished and very timid. After his first few visits, he began to eat regularly, take showers, and pass his time participating in games and playing with the other children. Moussa started to watch the morning karate classes in the center. He became interested but stayed shyly on the sidelines. Finally, after a month, his curiosity got the better of him and he asked Abduramane Buaró, the instructor, if he could join.
Once he started karate, Moussa never missed a class. He eats regularly at the center and has gained strength and stature. He now comes every day to the center. He is full of confidence, respectful and listens attentively, skills learned through karate. Moussa now has a sense of self-respect, evidenced by his efforts to keep himself and his clothes as clean as possible. He participated in his first karate tournament at the end of 2019, just before the pandemic struck.
Moussa is only 10 years old, so he could continue in his daara for another 10 years. We expect that Maison de la Gare will be a big part of his life during this time. We are now encouraging him to participate in French literacy classes, and he is very motivated to advance in karate and to earn higher belts, as many of the older talibés have.
Alioune (13 years old)
Our street educator Aby Bâ reports that Alioune began coming regularly to Maison de la Gare’s center in 2017. At the time, he had already been a talibé for almost five years, having been sent to Saint Louis from his home in central Senegal when he was only five years old. His parents had not been involved in his life since he was sent to Saint Louis, and he suffered enormously from the harsh living conditions and from being forced to beg on the streets for many hours each day for his food and for the quota of money for his marabout.
In Alioune’s case, his marabout was often away, and he had to give the proceeds of his begging to the “grands talibés”, older boys in the daara acting on behalf of the marabout. As is often the case, these grands talibés are the worst abusers, perhaps living out the abusive behavior that they themselves had been subjected to, and perhaps feeling a sense of power in their lives with little to look forward to.
Alioune’s marabout was away during the worst of the pandemic, leaving the grands talibés in charge. They collected the daily quotas on behalf of the marabout and sent the money to him, but otherwise left the young talibés to fend for themselves, without food or any sort of care or supervision. They beat Alioune brutally when he failed to submit his quota.
In September of 2020, Mamadou Gueye and the Maison de la Gare night rounds team found Alioune sleeping alone on the street. Since he knew Maison de la Gare well, he agreed to come with the team to the emergency shelter. He stayed in the shelter until his marabout was able to come to answer questions about the beatings that he had received. The marabout assured Aby that he had not beaten Alioune himself and that he had now returned to the daara and would ensure that the beatings would stop. However, later the next month the marabout was again away, and Alioune ran away after another brutal beating. The night rounds team found him again. This time, the street educators took Alioune home to his village and found his family. They agreed to register him at a local daara so that he can live at home with them. As soon as it is safe again after the pandemic, our street educators will make a follow-up visit to the village to ensure that Alioune is safe and that his new daara is well supervised.
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With gratitude to the United Nations Fund for the Struggle Against Contemporary Forms of Slavery, and to all our precious donors. You make possible our work to bend the lives of these innocent children towards hope and justice.
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(This report was scheduled for publication in March 2020, just before the Covid-19 pandemic changed everything. We are sharing it with you now as vaccinations are spreading and travel is beginning to appear possible again. Volunteers play a vital role in our support for the begging talibé street children, and we hope others will be inspired to follow Mila and Katia’s example.)
Mila Giraudon and Katia Figura share their experience volunteering together
My mother and I have been fortunate to travel around the world and to discover many cultures, at times seeing extreme poverty. We have wanted for a long time to get involved in a humanitarian project together, although we didn’t know what this could be or how we would do it. We therefore left home with the simple purpose of helping, of making ourselves useful within this organization.
Maison de la Gare gave us an experience far beyond our expectations, much more than a simple "project". We were able to get a feeling for the life of the talibés in all its facets … their everyday lives on the streets, their rudimentary needs (washing their clothes and themselves) and learning the rules of life in society, but also their physical and emotional wounds and their precarious living conditions in their daaras.
What a wonderful feeling to see them smile and to make them forget, if only for a moment, their lives on the streets, through creative play activities, songs and lessons in French or mathematics.
My mother (a mother of two) and I (a 17-year-old high school student) lived this experience differently ... but we shared it fully, together.
We were very moved by these children who only ask to escape their difficult lives through their desire to learn, to discover, to create and to show their pride in their beautiful drawings and other creations.
On the last day of our stay Abdou, a child to whom I had taught notions of poetry, wrote me a very powerful poem. He announced to me that he had just been accepted in a high school in Saint Louis, the lifelong dream of this self-taught child. It was a moment of emotion and pride. I felt like I had contributed a little to a "better life" for a talibé child. Teaching children basic literacy and reintegrating them in society is one of the priority missions of volunteers and members of Maison de la Gare.
I will remember the day of my birthday as both unforgettable and overwhelming because, for the talibés, it is a day like any other. These young children stood in front of me, singing and dancing, but none of them understood the meaning of the word "birthday"; most do not even know their date of birth!
Carrying out a humanitarian project like this brought my mother and me a lot closer and enabled us to support each other during certain trying times. On the last day, we agreed to accompany Maison de la Gare’s night-rounds team. That night we needed each other to overcome the images of children sleeping on the ground in the unhealthy and dangerous bus terminal. Abandoned, often mistreated, they preferred to flee their daara or their family, and they found shelter for the night at Maison de la Gare. The next morning, everything is set in motion to find the children’s families and to understand what could have pushed them to put themselves in such danger.
During these few days shared with the talibés, we became aware of the fundamental role of NGOs like Maison de la Gare that work night and day for the well-being of these neglected children. Beyond what we were able to do ourselves, it is Maison de la Gare’s values and its people that will always remain etched in our memories.
Our host Mama Touty was truly a welcoming "mother"; heart in hand, she welcomed us as her children.
We were the first mother-daughter duo to live this unforgettable experience and we warmly thank Maison de la Gare and everyone who is a part of it.
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Talibé children are subjected to a brutal contemporary form of slavery
Except for 2019, Maison de la Gare has received financial support every year since 2013 from the United Nations Fund for the Struggle Against Contemporary Forms of Slavery. This fund requires detailed case studies of child “slaves”, and we have prepared 85 of these for them over the years.
We share with you here a sampling of these case studies, prepared by four of our extraordinary staff members. The boys’ names and locations of origin have been changed for their protection, and we are not including any photographs of them.
Ibrahima (6 years old)
Our nurse Awa Diallo reports that Ibrahima had been sent from his village to his daara in Saint Louis when he had just turned 4 years old. In his daara, his marabout did not provide clothing, food or any of the necessities of life, but instead forced him to beg every day for his food and a quota of money. Ibrahima suffered terribly from the conditions, from the absence of any contact with his family and indeed of any supportive or nurturing relationship in his life. His suffering was even worse when he became ill and he was not given any medical care.
Issa Kouyaté discovered Ibrahima in late 2019 during a visit to his daara, and he saw that the child was extremely sick. Issa brought him to the infirmary at Maison de la Gare’s center 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 at his side throughout the day, while Issa contacted the boy’s marabout, who refused to come to the hospital. When Ibrahima was released from the hospital, Awa took him back to his daara with a mosquito net and the medications that had been prescribed, and she instructed the boy and his marabout in their use.
Ibrahima has now recovered, and he is participating regularly in Maison de la Gare’s sports and other programs. Awa follows up regularly in his daara, ensuring that the mosquito net is used properly, and that Ibrahima is taking his medications. Ibrahima’s marabout has become quite cooperative, and he has requested mosquito nets for the other boys in his daara. He now immediately sends boys who are sick to the infirmary.
Modou (12 years old)
Lala Sène, a former member of Senegal’s women’s soccer team who is now our sports facilitator, reports that Modou was sent to his daara in Saint Louis from his home in the south of Senegal when he was just five years old. His daara is large, with over 100 talibés living in extremely unsanitary conditions. The children suffer regularly from infections and malaria is endemic. Modou, at the age of 12, is required to beg every day to pay his marabout an extremely high quota of 800 francs ($1.50 or 1.20 euros). He receives no food in his daara and must beg for this as well.
Modou has been coming regularly to Maison de la Gare’s center for over five years. He has become comfortable there, an oasis from his difficult life on the streets. Over the years, he has participated in French literacy classes, watched films and read books in the library, eaten the nourishing baguettes offered in the evenings and regularly showered and washed his clothes. However, Modou’s passion is soccer, and Lala has taken him under her wing, helping him to develop his skills and in general supporting him as he faces the unjust challenges of his life. He is an awesome goalie!
Conditions for the talibé children in Modou’s daara are appalling, and Issa Kouyaté has been working with his marabout to try to improve this. Maison de la Gare has installed toilets and a source of potable water, and Issa is making some progress with the marabout, helping him to appreciate the rights of the children and to improve their treatment. One consequence is that our teachers are now beginning to offer literacy classes for all of the children of this daara, on-site in the daara.
As for Modou, he will continue to participate with Lala in soccer matches, and to take advantage of the other programs in our center. When he is older, we will encourage him to join one of our apprenticeship programs, to learn a skill which will make it possible for him to support himself.
Omar (10 years old)
Amadou Bâ, one of our dedicated street educators, grew up himself as a begging talibé under the most difficult conditions. He reports here on this 10-year-old boy from a village in central Senegal who was sent by his parents to a Saint Louis daara because there was no school that he could attend in his home region.
Like the other children in his daara, Omar was forced to beg every day for his food and for a quota of money for his marabout. There are no hygiene facilities and no drinkable water in this daara, and little shelter. Omar was regularly beaten severely by his marabout when he was not able to produce the full amount of his quota.
Omar lived in his daara for three years before deciding that he could not take it anymore and that he would find a way to return home. He ran away and spent several days alone on the streets before Maison de la Gare’s night rounds team found him in the bus station. After Omar had had a chance to recuperate in our emergency shelter, Amadou gained his confidence and Omar explained to him why he had run away. He wanted to go to school and not be mistreated or forced to beg any more. Amadou spoke with Omar’s family and learned that there was no possibility of him being educated in his home village. So he discussed the situation with Omar’s marabout, who agreed that Omar could be registered in school and not be forced to beg. The marabout even assisted, with Omar’s parents, in obtaining a birth certificate for him, a prerequisite for being registered in school.
Since returning to his daara, Omar has been coming regularly to Maison de la Gare to wash, eat and learn in the literacy classes while he is waiting to start school. We will continue to support him for many years.
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Working with so many brutalized children is a very demanding task. We must acknowledge the exceptional skill and dedication of Amadou, Awa, Issa, Lala and of all the members of Maison de la Gare’s team, every minute of every day. The children have great difficulty establishing relationships of trust and will only confide in a person of their choice, who could be the cook or the president. Every staff member understands this, and that their first job is to welcome and listen to these innocent victims.
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Robbie describes the magic of karate for the talibés of Maison de la Gare
Maison de la Gare’s karate program began six years ago, the brainchild of a young Canadian volunteer and newly minted black belt, Robbie Hughes. Karate was Robbie’s passion, and he wanted to share it with the children of Maison de la Gare when he visited to volunteer with his family.
Over the years Robbie has returned many times to Maison de la Gare, to train with the talibés, expand the karate program, and to identify and register talibé children who were developing a similar passion for karate and who were ready to advance their skills at the local dojo. Robbie has become a partner and close friend of Abduramane Buaró, a talibé youth who has led classes in Maison de la Gare’s center for the younger talibés since 2015. Buaró is passionate about karate and has himself earned a black belt, a remarkable achievement!
In Robbie’s words: “While the karate program at Maison de la Gare offers strength and agility development and teaches kids important self-defense skills, its main objective is to promote and facilitate the discovery of discipline, confidence, leadership and sportsmanship.
In my opinion, the greatest accomplishment of this program at Maison de la Gare is the ongoing nurturing of discipline. Discipline isn’t only important to karate; it is an essential factor to learning how to progress regardless of the challenges we face and to eventually leading a productive and fulfilling life no matter who you are or where you live.
Discipline unlocks an individual’s ability to be their best self. It teaches how to get things done, and how to have the courage to move forward when life is hard. Sometimes there are days when I don’t feel like getting out of bed at 6:00 am to do a workout, or going to work after a full day of classes. But years of karate training and the example of my senseis give me the discipline to do what needs to be done. We all have hills we need to climb from time to time. But the talibés have mountains to climb each and every day. They leave their daaras before the sun rises. They spend hours each day begging on their own on the streets. They do not have parents or teachers to encourage or lead them and they never have enough to eat. They return to their daaras in the dark with grumbling stomachs, not to beds, loving parents and a hot meal, but to a cold floor and a hand held out to receive their begging quotas. Mountains. Every day.
When you give someone the opportunity to pursue and learn difficult things, they can learn something unique about themselves from accomplishment as well as failure. They can learn that they have the ability inside of themselves to overcome the hard and seemingly impossible challenges in life. The talibés face such challenges every day of their lives. Overcoming challenge and learning skills also gives a person the opportunity to become proud of themselves. As it has been for me, for many of Maison de la Gare’s karate kids martial arts has been the catalyst for a deeper realization of their individual ability, self-worth and understanding of the discipline needed to overcome life’s challenges.”
Your donations in support of Maison de la Gare and the karate program allow the talibés who have grown to love karate the ability to continue to practice the sport and to continue to grow in their independence, confidence, and skill. They offer the gift of martial arts to more talibés, and give them more opportunities to feel seen and supported by the world. More opportunity to learn confidence and discipline. And, more opportunity for them to shine and be celebrated as individuals, to become heroes and role models to other talibé children.
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