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Wayan and the turtles

- Yvette Bezuibenhout

Wayan lived in a small village by the sea.
The people there believed that when you died, you returned to the sea.
The sea is a special place where the ancestors live.
Wayan's father and grandfather were fishermen. Most men in the village were fishermen, and it was always that way.
Every morning at sunrise, the men went fishing in jukung boats. Every evening at sunset, they came back with their boats full of fish.
Wayan learned to fish just as everything was changing for the fishermen.
There were fewer fish, and they were always small.
Sometimes, the boats came back empty, even though they had been at sea all day.
The beaches also changed. They were always polluted, with plastic trash thrown on the sand.
When the tide went out, it washed plastic into the sea.
Gradually, people in the village began to get sick. They could not get well.
One day, while Wayan was fishing, a storm blew over. He was swept into the waves.
A turtle saved him. "I am Bintang. I will help you, climb onto my back," said the turtle.
"Maybe you can help me. My grandfather is sick and no one knows what to do."

License information: CC BY 4.0
MPAA: PG
Go to source: https://www.africanstorybook.org/

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