by Magueth Diop, Headmaster
This is to report the results of the work carried out by the pupils of the Elementary School Keur Khadim in Hann Feraille by reflecting on suitable names for the baby fish mascots and their story. We selected 43 pupils, who we have then divided into four groups of about ten kids each. They worked separately and here are the results:
Group A, class CM1
Doundou is the name we gave to him: It means "to live" in Wolof. We gave him this name because we have let him live until he becomes an adult.
Walou is the name we gave to her: This means "to help" in Wolof. We have given her this name because the smaller fish need our help in order to grow at home in the sea.
Doundou and Walou are brother and sister who live together in the sea. They are afraid that people will take them before they become big fish. They just ask to be left a little more time before leaving home and bring them into the pot.
In our group there were five boys and five girls.
Group B, class CM2
The top fish is called Aarma. This is derived from "protect me" in Wolof. It is called like that because it must be protected against people who harvest and waste them.
The fish below is called Mayla. Its name means it is a gift. We have given this name because the fish are a gift. We must not squander the gifts.
Both fish are friends. Aarma and Mayla want to tell us a message. Let us grow at home in a safe environment instead of killing us while we are still babies. We are not afraid of pots, but we want to become adults first. Let us live.
There were six girls and five boys in our group.
Group C, class CM1
The fish on top is called Yaakar. His name means "hope" in Wolof. It is our hope to have a good fresh fish in the coming years.
The fish below is called Aarko. Her name means "protect them" in Wolof. We must protect them because they are the prey of greedy people, who want to fill their pockets. We must not let them do that.
Babies are innocent fish living in the sea. Every moment they are in danger of being removed from their homes. If we do not protect the baby fish by punishing people who harvest them, our hope to have fresh fish will disappear along with them.
Our group was composed of five boys and six girls.
Group D, Class CM1
The girl is called Yaakar. If we kill the babies there will be no more fish. Her name means "hope" in Wolof.
The boy's name is Touti because he is very small and this is what his name means in Wolof.
The two form a group that wants to make people understand that it is not responsible to catch baby fish. We should let them live if we want to avoid the lack of fish in the future and should establish long biological rest periods.
We had three boys and eight girls in our group.