Nabiha Safriwe <[log in to unmask]> wrote: As a child my first memories of Almudus was at my Mums. My mother (bless her heart) has this huge compound with numerous apartments in which she house these Almudus for free. She was more like a foster parent to them, very concern about their well being. She used to tell us kids, that was the way her Dad, Omar Jallow came to the Gambia from Guinea Conakry, as a Talibey. Many a time she was awaken in the middle of the night because one her 'sons' was in trouble, either with the law or by ‘Douso’ (the inhaling of glue to get high). I still can remember how determined my Mum was to make a difference in the lives of these delinquents. Not all of these Talibeys were able to escape the ever-groping talons of poverty. Some of them died or return back to Guinea Conakry. A few lucky ones were able to be financially established to own property. The pride and joy on my mother’s face whenever one of these success stories comes to visit her was evident. It did mean a lot to her knowing that she had made a difference in someone's life. To this day she is engaged in this kind of work. The second most profound impression that Almudus had on me, was when I saw the movie "Jangane". This was a movie that was produced and directed in Senegal. It was mostly about the horrific lives of Almudus. It depicted very graphic scenes about the atrocities committed against talibeys by their 'Seringe Daras'. I was about seven at the time but the movie was forever imprinted on my mind. These kinds of treatments are not restricted to Almudus only. In other parts of Africa the selling of kids as laborers or into slavery is becoming very prevalent, mostly in the Sudan and parts of Nigeria. What we need to do in the Gambia and Africa, as a whole is the addressing of these troubling issues, and effectively acting upon them. Most educators in the Gambia have no clue as to what child abuse is. Take the 'slow' or retarded student for example, most teachers go as far as being verbally and physically abusive to these impressive young minds. Eventually these treatments diminish their confidence and in the end they drop out of school, thus becoming another number in the illiteracy line. The best thing that can be done to end this trend is to educate our teachers on child abuse. It should be an ongoing process that is put into practice. ===== __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Talk to your friends online with Yahoo! Messenger. http://im.yahoo.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------- Do You Yahoo!? Send FREE video emails in Yahoo! Mail. <<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>> To view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] <<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>