ZIGUINCHOR, Senegal (AFP) - "I am living better but every day I struggle to forget all of this, even if it is impossible," says Pierre Coly, one of a handful of survivors of the shipwreck that sent 1,863 people aboard Le Joola to a watery grave just off Gambia's coast.
In stormy weather late on September 26, 2002, the ship Le Joola sank after setting off from the port at Ziguinchor in the Casamance region in southern Senegal, carrying 2,000 passengers.
Among them were students, school children and artists from around Senegal as well as nationals from elsewhere in Africa and Europe.
News of the shipwreck reached the capital Dakar the next morning, but by then it was too late. Only 64 passengers, pulled from the water by local fishermen, survived.
"It was my first time on a boat," recalled Coly haltingly, every sentence punctuated by a memory of the stormy night that claimed the life of his older brother.
"I remember it was raining. The boat was listing badly, almost like it would roll over. There was water everywhere -- it all happened so fast..."
There has never been a definitive answer as to why Le Joola sunk, although maritime experts are clear that the boat was overcrowded, carrying four times the number of passengers it was meant to.
Overcrowded ferries are common in coastal Africa, where lax security and an ignorance of capacity rules often make for tragic sailings, though few of such magnitude as Le Joola.
In the aftermath of the tragedy, two ministers representing the maritime sector resigned, while high-ranking military officials were sacked in August 2003 in a bid to spread the blame around for the worst nautical tragedy to hit Senegal in decades.
A Senegalese public prosecutor in August 2003 shelved a lawsuit filed in the aftermath of the tragedy, since the only person to claim responsibility for the wreck, the ship's captain, was among those who perished at sea.
Unbowed, anguished French families filed suit for involuntary homicide and failure to provide assistance to people in peril in a French court, but little progress has been made with that suit either.
Compensation has been paid out to survivors and the families of victims, roughly 10 million CFA francs (15,200 euros, 18,700 dollars) to some 1,262 people -- including Pierre Coly.
"I can't imagine what I am going to do with that money," he said. "And anyhow, it's stuck in the bank."
From Friday through Monday, prayers, offerings, processions and funeral services, accompanied by photo exhibits and a film will mark ceremonies to honor the victims of Le Joola, both in Dakar and in Ziguinchor.
For many families it is not enough, as just 500 bodies have been recovered from the dark waters of the Atlantic Ocean, just 40 kilometers (24 miles) off the Gambian coast.
Coly is unlikely to participate in any of the celebrations, anxious to put the entire incident out of his mind, out of his life.
"All I want is to forget," he said. "I wish sometimes that I could go live somewhere else, somewhere where no one knows anything about what happened."