How I Met the Mansa Musa Institute
My name is Mo Jarju, I am a SeneGaMalian. You are probably thinking "I have never heard of that country before.” That’s because it is not a country, but rather a combination of countries and cultures. It is my fancy way of combining the three countries in which I am rooted, i.e Senegal, The Gambia, and Mali.
Currently, I am living and working in the Washington, D.C. area. This is where I came across the Mansa Musa Institute (MMI). I met Mansa Musa’s co-founder, Moriah, by pure luck, or what some may call a coincidence. At the time, I was visiting to bid farewell to an old co-worker who was moving to Cyprus. Moriah happened to be visiting friends as well and was invited to the gathering. So, this is how it began. Some good friends, a couple of random connections, and perhaps a little fate is what brought us together.
After speaking to her, I learned that Moriah served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Senegal. This seemed a bit insipid at first, but once we started conversing I saw that Moriah was different. She was not one to look down on others, and she certainly did not expect to be idolized by natives of her host country in the diaspora (in this case, me). Oftentimes, people who have volunteered overseas think that they know everything there is to know about their host countries. They feel like they are experts, sometimes even claiming to know more than those who were born and raised there. However, Moriah did not fit the mold of so many overseas volunteers I have met. She was warm, friendly, and humble.
Moriah and I conversed on many topics of common interest. One of which was about the Daara (Quranic school) system in Senegal, and the talibés (Quranic students) who are a part of it. About a year after our initial meeting, Moriah reached out to tell me she was moving to D.C. She also informed me that she began working to start a non-profit aiming to end forced child street begging in West Africa, and asked if I wanted to be a part of it. This grabbed my interest, as this topic is very personal and close to my heart and home.
At the age of eight, I was sent to be a talibé under a Marabout (spiritual leader/teacher) in Bignona, Senegal. My parents thought it would be an effective and structural training of my culture. They felt that it would teach me to have respect for the elders and guide me in religious education. My cousin was also a talibé and was sent away to Touba, Senegal at the age of five by his father, without my aunt’s consent. Unlike my cousin, who is 13 years old and still a talibé, and thousands of other boys, I was fortunate to only spend a year as a talibé.
Daaras serve as fundamental religious institutions in Senegal, and I am in full support of the theory behind and the benefits that they provide. Daaras allow boys to learn the values of the Islam religion and the essential benefits of the Qu’ran, such as respect, accommodation, elderly support, and hospitality towards strangers. They also teach important life skills such as endurance, survival, and resourcefulness. However, I believe that there are more effective and improved ways of achieving even bigger results, while still maintaining the core values of the system already in place.
I believe that it is possible to conserve the Daaras and their teachings, while also improving conditions for the talibés. This can be achieved by removing forced child street begging, unsafe accommodations, and violent punishments of the talibés. Oftentimes, the primary contributors to the aforementioned problems are a lack of funds and an unexpectedly higher volume of talibés.
This is why I am so excited to be a part of the Mansa Musa Institute, and join my friends in bringing a solution to the very serious problem of forced child street begging. We will accomplish this by providing funding to Daaras and Marabouts, in exchange for their pledge to end the forced begging of their students and provide better accommodations.
MMI aims to establish a fleet of buses within the main public transportation routes and networks of Senegal. The bus fares will be discounted to the community and go directly towards providing the Daaras with financial support and maintaining the busses.
MMI’s Community Care Program will also allow talibés to engage with their communities, while still ensuring they spend an appropriate time learning at the Daara. This includes partnering with local technical schools, where talibés will work as apprentices in order to learn valuable skills and gain employment when they come of age. When they reach adulthood, MMI will work with these former talibés and support them in opening their own technical workshops. This will support them, their families, and current talibés who they can now take under their wing.
This cycle of religious, technical, and personal education will create a lasting impact on talibés, Daaras, and communities. Former talibés will be able to train new talibés, shaping them into future leaders and professionals, just like themselves. Likewise, by bringing communities into this cycle of growth, Daaras will be able to better support their students. This cycle begins today.
