It has been more than a month since Guiniane Ciss has had any news of her son Modou Sène and her grandson Youssou Diop, who have been missing at sea since December 3, 2024. Distraught, she is experiencing unbearable anguish while the search for intense did not produce any results. She launches a heartbreaking cry, in the hope of finding her children.
Guiniane Ciss is a distraught mother. Disoriented. She is heartbroken. Fifty-year-old, for more than a month now she has displayed a look darkened by sadness and anguish. She feels lost in an ocean of despair. His son Modou Sène and his grandson Youssou Diop, all single men in their thirties, have disappeared, and their absence creates a deep and inexpressible void in his life. “According to what I was told, they embarked with two of their comrades in their canoe on December 3, 2024 to go fishing for fish off the Gambia River, more precisely in Bandiol, 50 km from Banjul. They were due to return on December 7, 2024. But since then, no news from them. They disappeared at sea and, until now, none of their personal effects have been found despite the intense searches that have been carried out,” said Guiniane Ciss, reached by telephone. At the end of the line, we feel the sadness that assail him.
Born in Tatène Sérère (Jobaas), a village located 15 km from the Thiès region where the two missing people also came from, Guiniane Ciss has no taste for life since the news was announced. She no longer sleeps soundly and no longer eats her fill. “I am traumatized. I no longer sleep, my nights are haunted by dark visions. I don’t eat either. They constantly occupy my thoughts. I don’t know if they are dead or if they are still alive. We want the authorities to help us find them. For our part, we have consulted many marabouts who told us that they are still alive. We make the offerings they recommended to us and we continue to pray to find them safe and sound. We do not lose hope,” she narrates, taking pauses that betray her pain. Indeed, Guiniane Ciss was the last person to be aware of the misadventure of her child and her grandson. Her husband, knowing that she had fragile health, tried to protect her from the news. He didn’t tell her anything. But she will eventually learn the truth.
Children, pillars of the family
“When I was informed, my world fell apart. I let out a loud cry before falling. Since then I have been sick. I finished taking my medication earlier, before your phone call,” she explains. According to Guiniane Ciss, Modou Sène and Youssou Diop represent a lot for the family. They are the pillars of their lives, good men with dreams in their heads. “If the family has never lacked for anything, it is partly thanks to them. They were at everyone’s bedside. They bring light to our dark days. Their presence in the family was a comfort to all of us. Their ambition was always to succeed,” she emphasizes, before announcing that a week before their departure at sea, the uncle and nephew had come to visit them and had taken the opportunity to buy the entire food ration. “That day, we thanked them and prayed for them, they left happy, unaware from afar that they were going to experience this misadventure,” remembers Guiniane Ciss. She feels melancholy and wonders if she will ever see her son and grandson again.
Aliou DIOUF
