Members of the Ouarkhokh gardening cooperative (pictured here with CREATE! Chief Operating Officer Louise Ruhr and CREATE! Country Representative Omar Ndiaye Seck) save their garden profits all year so that they can purchase a ram for Tabaski.
This Saturday, October 4th, is the beginning of Eid al-Adha, which is a four-day celebration and one of the most important holidays for Muslims worldwide. In Senegal, where approximately 90% of the population is Muslim, Eid al-Adha is called Tabaski in Senegalese Wolof.
In Senegal, Tabaski is an incredibly important national holiday during which many people travel home to rural villages to celebrate with their families. Senegalese have new clothes made for Tabaski and exchange gifts with family and friends. The centerpiece of the celebration is a feast of mutton, vegetables, rice, and sauces.
Families save all year to purchase a ram for Tabaski. In the weeks leading up to the holiday, traders bring hundreds of thousands of sheep to Senegal from Mali and Mauritania and corral them in giant pens in Dakar and other cities. Last year, Senegalese families purchased more than 800,000 rams for Tabaski, sometimes spending hundreds of dollars per ram.
On Tabaski, Senegalese families ritually slaughter their ram at dawn, before cooking and eating it. Households then share the meat with their friends and neighbors – both Muslim and Christian.
To our field staff and all CREATE! community members: tabaski mubarak!
As October 4th is also Yom Kippur, CREATE! also wishes our Jewish friends and supporters an easy fast. G’mar Hatimah Tovah.