Scriptures distributed in response to Senegal ferry disaster

DAKAR, Senegal — UBS Rapid Response Reserve funding of US$3,700 is being made available for the production of a Scripture Portion in response to the sinking of the Senegalese ferry Le Joola on September 26. The UBS Francophone Africa Regional Service Center reports that the whole country has been plunged into mourning by the disaster, in which 1,000 people are believed to have died.

The Bible Society of Côte d’Ivoire has already responded by offering a Selection entitled Secours en Temps d’Epreuve (‘Help in Testing Times’) to N’gom Ousseynou, the Bible Society Representative in Senegal. A further response will be a French translation of the American Bible Society’s Portion The Lord is Near to the Brokenhearted. It is planned to produce locally in Dakar 20,000 copies of this Portion, at an estimated cost of US$3,700.

The Portion will be distributed free across all of Senegal’s 11 regions, with particular attention being given to the province of Casamance, the home of the majority of the victims.