garibout boys: modern day slaves

The boys carry old tomato paste cans or small plastic buckets to receive food or money as they beg on the streets each day.  Here you can also see a couple of cheap plastic shoes that belong to someone lucky - many of the boys don't seem to have shoes at all.

In Mali there is a form of modern day slavery which involves parents giving their young sons to Muslim teachers, or Marabouts.  The families seem to think they are doing a good thing and that they deserve to be blessed for sending their sons away like this, for the cause of Islam.  The boys study the Koran, and eventually they will be able to recite most if not all of it by heart in Arabic.  They are not given any other sort of formal education.  The don't learn to speak or read or write in French.  They don't study history or science or math.  Instead they spend a lot of time begging on the street.
A Marabout (Muslim teacher) may be responsible for several dozen boys.  By responsible I mean that he sees to it that they learn the Koran, and beyond that he is basically their slave master.  The boys are generally not provided with food or clothes (or medical care, or...anything).  They are sent out each day to beg for something to eat (I've never seen a fat garibout!) as well as for money that they must bring back at the end of the day to give to their Marabout or else they risk a beating.
Any time I go out on the street, and especially if I am going to a store, a restaurant, or traveling by bus, I am confronted by these boys begging for money.  I do not give money because I know it will just go in their Master's pocket and I do not want to support the system.  I have sometimes given them food if I have something to give (a banana, a leftover half of a sandwich, a piece of candy) and they are quick to share with their buddies and gobble it up.  The problem is that there are always a bunch of these boys and it can be really overwhelming to be surrounded by 5 or 10 beggars when I have nothing (or only 1 or 2 bananas) to give.  But I make it a point to smile at them and say hello, sometimes ask their names.  I refuse to ignore or look past them, to treat them as worthless.  Though they may be dressed in dirty ill-fitting clothes, (likely the only set of clothes they have), and they spend their days as poor beggars, though they sleep wherever they can find a space, and eat whatever they can get their hands on, these boys were created in the image of God and they are absolutely precious to Him.  These are human beings with incredible potential in each one. 
I have a hard time trying to fathom how a mother could willingly give her little boy away like this.  And how anyone could treat a fellow human being (a child no less!) in such a despicable way.  Frankly, it makes me very angry.  It's just not right!  Where is the justice?  How is this legal and accepted?!

I know a few people that have ministries to care for garibout boys.  One friend brings boys needing medical care to the hospital and sees to it that they are cared for, even if they need surgery.  Another friend works with an organization that runs a center for the boys.  I got to go with her last week to see what it was like. 

We arrived around 6:30 and shared a breakfast of bread and beans with the boys.  You can see I'm dipping my bread in the same bowl with the boys.  Are you ready to eat out of the same communal bowl with street beggars?
The center gives the boys bread for breakfast each morning, but my friend bought the beans for them and this is a special treat that they really appreciate as it helps their bellies feel full longer.

I can't tell what ethnicity most Malians are just by looking at them.  But Fulani people can sometimes be easier to identify.  This beautiful Fulani boy's name is Ali.  What a horrible crime that innocent Ali has been sentenced to spend his youth begging to survive.  He should be going to school and playing with little siblings and getting hugs from his mom.  When he finishes his time in the garibout system, what kind of life will he be prepared for?  Either for treating other boys the way he was treated, or for a life on the street as a mobile salesman, or for a life of crime I imagine.

There are thousands and thousands of boys like this here in Mali.  Pray with me for the end to this system of slavery.