Vulnerability to violence of Talibé children in Mauritania.

Talibés are children sent to Quranic schools, which are also known as daaras. The term talibé is a French word derived rom the Arabic tâlib, meaning a person seeking knowledge. According to Cruise O’Brien (1969, 1970) the phenomenon of he talibés originated in the Muslim brotherhoods founded by Amadou Bamba, brotherhoods that began to proliferate from 880. This was a widespread phenomenon in French-speaking West Africa. These daaras should not be confused with medersas. Daaras are completely independent establishments and are virtually ntirely devoted to study of the Quran, whereas medersas are funded by the government and are virtually state schools. edersas are also religious (Islamic) schools, but they also teach secular subjects, such as languages, mathematics, history, eography, etc. Furthermore, in daaras, young boys are sent away from home for a couple of years and placed in the care of Quranic teacher, which is not normally the case for Medersas. In our study, we only considered daaras. Based on the principle that the disciple or talibé cannot hope to reach paradise, that is, achieve beatitude, without the ssistance of a master (or Sheikh), the disciple submits himself entirely to his master. In particular, the principle of disciples reely giving work or money to the master is what allows the master to earn a living by acting as a spiritual guide. However, his principle of a freely given gift soon turned into a “religious tax” as a result of changes in the economy, and the advent f a market economy. Neither the disciples nor their masters could escape the needs arising from the market economy. heir new needs made disciples became increasingly reluctant to give freely, and so the masters introduced a system of ompulsory payment. The master, who is also known as the marabout, takes complete responsibility for the child and his education, thus freeing he parents from the task of providing an education. In exchange for this, the master or marabout demands payment. This ayment can take the form of money or payment in kind (usually food, but livestock in some cases) from the parents, and oney obtained by the child by means of begging.