News from Maison de la Gare
Our Work with the Talibés – Annual Report 2023
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You are changing lives … a glimpse into Maison de la Gare’s world
Maison de la Gare promotes the well-being of the begging talibé street children, providing them
with protection, education, and a safe haven. We strive to make a significant and lasting
difference in their lives. Our priorities are:
Protection: Protecting the children from all forms of violence and abuse that can harm
their physical, moral, or psychological well-being.
Learning: Giving them access to education, literacy programs for the youngest children,
and vocational training for older ones. This gives them skills they will need for successful
successful integration into society. For the older talibés and others, we support them in
starting small businesses to become financially independent.
Safe Haven: Providing the children with shelter, clothing, food, and psychological and
medical support, in a safe and nurturing environment.
We are committed to eradicating child begging by talibé children and to combating all forms of
child abuse and exploitation.
We invite you to read our 2023 annual report to see for yourself how we are progressing towards
these goals. This
is the link. Here are the highlights:
- We registered children entering our center an average of 2,680 times each month in 2023, a total of 2,326 different children over the year.
- We treated on average 527 children each month in our infirmary for cuts, wounds, scabies, dental and vision problems, burns, diarrhea, malaria, and broken limbs. We also made 184 visits to the daaras where the children live, providing 4,543 treatments there.
- 188 children whom we rescued from the streets found refuge in our emergency shelter before being reintegrated into secure situations.
- We gave basic literacy instruction to about 30 children each day in our three classrooms. These children came from over 50 different daaras and had a wide range of ages.
- 27 older talibés graduated from our poultry farming apprenticeship program, and 7 from the tailoring program.
- We granted 38 microfinance loans totaling $12,660 US during the year, 19 of these to older and former talibés.
- 10 volunteers spent 3 to 12 weeks with us during the year, making invaluable contributions to all our programs and enriching the lives of the children we serve.
All of this is only possible because of your support, because of the many hundreds of donations that we receive from you, our supporters around the world. Well over half of our total funding comes from your individual donations through GlobalGiving in the US, Europe, and Australia, through CanadaHelps and the C.F. Johnston Foundation in Canada, and through direct donations to us in Saint Louis.
We are deeply grateful, and we are committed to making every dollar, every pound and every euro count in giving these precious children the chance for a better future.
