Senegal's dangerous madrassas

Eight-year-old Omar Wone sits on the floor of the daara — a traditional Quranic school in Senegal. Families from different parts of the country have long sent their children to these schools where they not only learn the scriptures of the Koran, but are forced to beg on the streets — supposedly to learn modesty.

A Koran student begs in front of a hotel in the city of Saint-Louis in Senegal. Some human rights organizations say that the students — known as talibes — often live under poor conditions. They say their teachers force them to beg and are beaten if they do not return with enough. As a result, some children run away.

"I can't go to see my parents until I finish learning the Koran," says 10-year-old Suleiman. "I have to bring back 200 francs (30 euro cents) a day to the marabout (Koranic teacher), otherwise I will be beaten up. Often I can't collect the sum." There are no protective measures in place for children who run away and find themselves living on the streets.

Moussa — a Koran student from Futa — carries a bucket of water so he can take a shower at an organization which helps talibe street children. "My parents know that I'm begging to give money to the marabout, but they won't do anything," he says. "I don't like to beg, but I'm forced to. I'm beaten up if I don't take money back."

For a long time, the abuse of Tablie was a taboo topic in Senegal. But thanks to education campaigns, a debate about the conditions in Koran schools is slowly starting. As early as 2016, President Macky Sall ordered the children to be taken off the streets and arrested the teachers who forced them to beg. 300 children could have been helped by this program in 2018.

Issa Kouyate, the founder of Maison de la Gare, is crying. An eight-year-old Koran student just told him what he went through. He ran away from school and was raped several times during the night by a teenager on the streets. Kouyate rescued him. "Such incidents are still very shocking, even if you experience them ten or fifteen times," he said.

El Hadj Diallou, a former talibe, now works as a doctor at Maison de la Gare. He is treating a Koran student infected with scabies. Experts say that many parents do not know how their children are abused in some madrassas. They send their children to the schools because a degree can help them become imams or Koran teachers.

"I'm learning karate to defend myself," says eight-year-old Demba. One teacher forced him to spend the whole night on the streets begging for money. The next morning he was robbed by a drunken man. In the Maison de la Gare the talibes are provided with food, water and medicine. In addition to karate, they can learn other sports and English.

13-year-old Ngorsek searches the garbage containers of the city of Saint-Louis for food. "I ran away from school because I couldn't take it anymore. The marabout mistreated me and beat me. I've had enough". According to the NGO Human Rights Watch, over 100,000 children in Senegal are still being forced to beg.