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'Stay here, work here, succeed here': Why this Senegalese woman is against migration

Yaram Fall makes tea in her home in Guet N'dar, Senegal on October 6. She is the head of an economic interest group for women who preserve fish. She represents hundreds of Senegalese women who do her kind of work, and she discourages youth from taking the boat to Europe clandestinely.
Ricci Shryock for NPR
Yaram Fall makes tea in her home in Guet N'dar, Senegal on October 6. She is the head of an economic interest group for women who preserve fish. She represents hundreds of Senegalese women who do her kind of work, and she discourages youth from taking the boat to Europe clandestinely.

Yaram Fall has a moto: "Stay here, work here and succeed here."

Fall is staunchly against people leaving Africa to build their lives elsewhere.

"The development of Africa comes from its own people," she says.

She is the head of a group of women who preserve fish in Saint-Louis, Senegal. Her job has allowed her to see firsthand how challenges in the fishing industry have changed livelihoods in Senegal.

Commercial overfishing and climate change have decimated the availability of fish stock, while soil that was once arable has given way to salinization.

Despite the challenges, Fall is convinced that Senegalese are better off if they stay in Africa.

Listen to our full report by clicking or tapping the play button above.

Mallika Seshadri contributed to this report. contributed to this story

Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Ari Shapiro has been one of the hosts of All Things Considered, NPR's award-winning afternoon newsmagazine, since 2015. During his first two years on the program, listenership to All Things Considered grew at an unprecedented rate, with more people tuning in during a typical quarter-hour than any other program on the radio.
Ayen Bior
Ayen Deng Bior is a producer at NPR's flagship evening news program, All Things Considered. She helps shape the sound of the daily shows by contributing story ideas, writing scripts and cutting tape. Her work at NPR has taken her to Warsaw, Poland, where she heard from refugees displaced by the war in Ukraine. She has spoken to people in Saint-Louis, Senegal, who are grappling with rising seas. Before NPR, Bior wore many hats at the Voice of America's English to Africa service where she worked in radio, television and digital. Bior began her career reporting on the revolution in Sudan, the developing state of affairs in South Sudan and the experiences of women behind the headlines in both countries. In her spare time, Bior loves to kayak, read and bird watch.