THE MISSING: Senegal | Young Man Vanishes on Journey to Spain | NBC Left Field

Like most people in central Senegal, Victor Ciss and his family rely on farming for their livelihood. But there is little work to be had during the dry season, when families eke out a living with the earnings from the previous harvest. In 2007, after his father got sick and needed care, Victor, then 25, decided to emigrate to Europe, where he hoped to find work and send money to his family back home. He left behind the thatched-roof family home and made his way north to Senegal’s neighbor, Mauritania, where he was supposed to join other Senegalese migrants on their boat journey to Spain. At the time, it was a typical route taken by migrants to reach the Canary Islands, a Spanish archipelago and popular tourist destination off the coast of Morocco. But once Victor left home, his family lost all contact with him. In the village of Keur Daouda, we meet Victor’s mother, Martine, who still prays for her son’s return, and Victor’s brother, Stanislas, who is striving to make a life for himself in the village despite the difficulties and lack of opportunities.