News from Maison de la Gare
Begging for Change
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Dominika Kulczyk exposes child slavery in Senegal for CNN Freedom Project and Kulczyk Foundation documentary series
Forced begging is the most prevalent form of human trafficking in Senegal. Human Rights
Watch estimates that every day more than 100,000 talibés – children
living in religious
schools to learn the Quran – are forced onto the streets under the threat of violence to
beg for food or money.
Most live far away from home, sent by their parents to study the Quran, and live under the
care of marabouts, teachers who run a daara or Quranic school. However, many of these
children end up living without food, medical care or even a roof over their head, and
receive little or no education.
CNN and the Kulczyk Foundation have produced a half-hour documentary that focuses on Dominika
Kulczyk’s visit to Issa Kouyate and his organization, Maison de la Gare. Maison de la
Gare provides talibés in Saint Louis with food, shelter, clothing, education and medical
and 
psychological support.
The Kulczyk Foundation is supporting Maison de la Gare to reach more children, including
through funding transport for the charity’s night-time rounds looking for children
sleeping in the street, so they can cover more of the city.
“The lives of most talibés in Senegal are shaped by violence, fear and despair and I was
shocked to see the conditions many are living in. But when I visited Maison de la Gare
during the filming of Begging for Change, I saw children filled with hope. With the
Kulczyk Foundation’s support, Maison de la Gare will be able to reach more boys in the
city of Saint Louis to offer these children safety and security,” said Dominika Kulczyk,
Founder and President of the Kulczyk Foundation. “Collective action is now needed to
change the mentality of the people who have allowed modern slavery
to become an everyday
norm in Senegal.”
“People say human trafficking happens in the shadows. In Senegal, it’s not like that.
In Senegal it’s so obvious, so out in the open. It’s shocking…This is just exploitation.
It's trafficking. It's slavery,” said Kouyate.
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We are grateful to the Kulczyk Foundation and to photographer Tatiana Jachyra for
their permission to use this text and Tatiana’s photographs. The Kulczyk Foundation
has made generous financial contributions in support of Maison de la Gare’s work for
the talibé children.
Dominika Kulczyk, the foundation’s president, featured in the CNN Freedom Project
documentary about our work, Begging for Change. She also wrote an opinion piece
published by CNN entitled Slave Schools: Tackling Forced Begging in Senegal.
