I would like to share with you how I experienced that tragic day of September 26, 2002, which marked a collective trauma for all the Senegalese people.

I was alone in Sédhiou, my family having gone on vacation to the village. In the evening, after 9 p.m., I went to dinner at Diop Toucouleur's restaurant, located opposite the post office. As I left, around 10 p.m., a wind suddenly blew up so violently that I had to take refuge against the post office wall to wait for it to die down before returning home. Shortly after, heavy rain fell on the town.

At 4 a.m., I received a call from my friend Diedhiou, who worked at RTS Dakar:

— Inspector, are you aware of the sad news?

— What news?

— The boat Le Joola sank off the coast of Gambia.

Shocked, I got up and immediately tried to tune in to Sud FM Ziguinchor. I heard cries of distress and tears. When I turned on the television, the images showed desperate crowds waiting in vain for their loved ones to return. The horror.

Shock. And only one question: how could this have happened?

That day I had lost several familiar acquaintances: Vieux Diatta, a teacher in Diattacounda, who had come to greet me the day before with his daughter before boarding; Alphonse Sambou of the CETF, a young, dynamic and promising teacher; as well as a Principal who had just been appointed and would never take up his new post.

Since then, eight times out of ten, when I look at the sea, I think of the shipwreck.

May God forgive all the victims and welcome them into His Paradise. Above all, may the Joola Memorial always resonate with the voices of those who have disappeared, to remind us of our demands as citizens: so that this never happens again in our country.

Jumma Mubarak.