By Maren and Susanna, short-term workers sent by DMG in partnership with SIM
The sun blazes overhead, scorching the skin as cars and motorcycles rush past. At traffic lights, boys stand with plastic bowls held out, waiting patiently. They hope for a bit of food, a few coins—anything to ease their hunger for the day.
These boys are known as Talibé. They often come from West African countries like Senegal, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, or Guinea. Sometimes their mothers entrust them to an imam or Quranic teacher at a young age—often it’s the father who decides, believing the boy will receive a good education.
“Parents send them off hoping that one day their sons will have a better life.”
With limited opportunities for women in the economy, this practice has persisted. The children live near the Quranic school, often in poor conditions, and beg to survive, holding out their bowls in hope of something edible.
Background
Many parents choose this path due to poverty, lack of public schooling, or religious conviction. It’s said that the boys learn gratitude, humility, the Quran, and fasting. Parents send them off hoping that one day their sons will have a better life. This “system” is common across many West African countries; in every major city, there are hundreds of these children.
Please pray
- That every boy who comes to us will take Jesus back to his village and family.
- For more workers to join the ministry to the Talibé boys
- For communities where Christ is least known in West Africa to be transformed by the spread of the good news
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