Facing an Illiterate Future

Senegal’s Koranic masters routinely send their pupils to beg on the streets, citing it as a part of their religious learning. Can one project improve the conditions and literacy of the Talibé children?

The mosque calls the evening prayer as five year-old Ngagne approaches the glow of the fire. A small, barefoot boy in filthy shorts and a ragged t-shirt, he curls up in the dirt, a little hunched figure leaning towards the light.

“At night I get scared,” Ngagne says. “I miss my parents so much.”