Eid al-Adha Impact on Senegal’s Fisherman
Eid al-Adha is the biggest religious celebration of the year in much of West Africa.
The religious feast is called as Tabaski in Senegal. It is when Muslims kill and consume sheep, making the animal highly sought after in the days leading up to the feast.
Families save for months to purchase a sheep to be slaughtered in honor of the Quranic story of Ibrahim’s willingness to sacrifice his son Ismail as an act of obedience to God.
Ibrahima Diouf is a fisherman who lives in Dakar’s Thiaroye area, alongside other fishermen and their families.
His father was a fisherman, as were his neighbors, and he was born into the trade.
He claims his father used to shoot three or four sheep for Tabaski, and they would share the meat with the less fortunate.
Diouf claims he has struggled to make finances meet and was unable to purchase even one sheep this year.
“All I think about is Tabaski. I can’t sleep. “I can’t do anything,” he remarked from his one-room house near the shore.
Oumar Mbeye, like most fisherman in Thiaroye, began fishing as a child.
“If you went to sea, you’d return shortly with fish. But right now, the sea is in ruins. You lose more than you gain. “You put your money into it, go to sea, and come back with nothing,” he explained.
Poor communities, like as Thiaroye, massively supported President Bassirou Diomaye Faye and his campaign companion, Ousmane Sonko, who is now the Prime Minister.
Sonko and Faye were imprisoned under previous President Macky Sall, and their release only weeks before the March election sparked massive jubilation in the city.
The couple ran on a platform of change, promising to assist Senegal’s fishermen, who fish on small wooden boats, in competing with giant trawlers.
Former President Sall’s government had inked fishing agreements with the EU, allowing European vessels to access Senegal’s waters.
Diouf believes it is too early to judge whether Faye’s presidency would meet expectations.
“We backed them and had high hopes for them, and we hope that we are not disappointed. “We want them to change things,” he explained.
Source AFRICANEWS
