Child Begging: A Real Problem in Mali

By Adama Kone, Teacher Project Coordinator

Some people think the kids in big cities have an easier time that kids in our small partner villages, but that is not always the case. Take begging for example. Begging is one of the hardest things that authorities have been trying to address in Mali. Beggars in Mali are usually kids although now we see all ages involved.  

Still, most beggars are young children and it is a risky business. The most common beggars are sets off twins because many people think that it is culturally right to turn your children into beggars if they are twins. Kids are sent out on busy roads to beg, risking accidents in the road or danger from strangers.  Sometimes people even make their children look like twins and send them out begging!

Unfortunately, begging has recently taken on dramatic proportions to the point of becoming a real problem Malian society. This practice is well known because it happens in every single busy roads in Mali.

In my own neighborhood, I know Fousseyni and Awa who are 8-year-old twins. They spend every day begging in front of a mosque with their mother. The twins also walk long distances every day in order to beg in other neighborhoods. The twins told me that on their walks they meet students of their age who are attending school. Fousseyni said these kids seem so cheerful and carefree to him.  

Their mother dropped her twins out of school so they could beg full-time. If they were enrolled, they would have been in 3rd grade. She explained to me that she did not have the correct paperwork to send the twins to school and their father did not support this in any case.

A band of young boys waits by the road to beg in Adama’s neighborhood.

In the long run, some children who grow up begging turn to crime because they grow out of the age to beg but have no education or skills for fall back on. That is the reason the government has been trying hard to stop the practice with no success. In fact, some times child beggars can make other kids drop out of school too by going out with them on streets and showing them how to make quick money begging rather than working in school.

I share this sad story to illustrate just one of the many pressures on young people in Mali to drop out of school and earn a living to help their family. This is part of what inspires me to do the work I do – when I see how hard kids have to strive to get an education, I want to do anything I can to help them.