Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Fire in Senegal Kills Child Beggars Trapped in House

i can't refrain from commenting on the report below concerning the death
of the talibe children in the medina, the neighborhood of dakar. this is
not an empoverished slum, such as you could find in the outlying regions
of dakar. it is close to the center, has streets, real streets, no a
"warren of narrow sandy alleys" but streets in a grid. i've walked
through it a million times and would not recognize it from nossiter's
report below. if there is "little electricity," it might be that there
are outages, but they applies broadly to the city, and is not generally
true of the neighborhood, where some of my students were living.
i know this might appear trivial carping, but the impression given in
the report exaggerates the poverty and "underdevelopment," just as the
description of talibe as beggars is only true in a manner. they are
children who beg, but who live with a marabout, and ostensibly receive a
religious education from him. there are good and bad marabouts. just
like reporters
ken
(ayo, i owe you an apology. this is the same reporter i was praising the
other day)

On 3/5/13 5:13 PM, Toyin Falola wrote:
>
> There is little electricity in the neighborhood, and residents said
> that an overturned candle in the boys' room had started the fire. By
> the time the fire department arrived, at least 15 minutes after the
> alarm was raised — pushing through the warren of narrow, sandy alleys
> leading to the house — it was too late.
>

--
kenneth w. harrow
faculty excellence advocate
distinguished professor of english
michigan state university
department of english
619 red cedar road
room C-614 wells hall
east lansing, mi 48824
ph. 517 803 8839
harrow@msu.edu

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