Watching: Talibe: The Least Favored Children of Senegal

Overview

The important tradition of Islamic education in Senegal has been left to develop in disturbingly perverted ways. 50.000 koranic students (Talibes), young boys between 4 and 15 years old are subjected to exploitation in conditions akin to slavery. They are forced to beg on the streets by their koranic schoolteachers and suffer severe physical abuse and neglect. Following the staff of local grassroots NGO La Maison de la Gare (MDG) in their efforts to combat this, the documentary sets out on a poetic exploration of the nature and circumstances that breed and prolong the suffering of the children.