CHI Update: Uniting to Protect Local Cemeteries in Mali
By Darren P. Ashby | 麻豆直播 Cultural Heritage Programs Manager
The location of Naf茅gu茅. Photo Credit: AESPAT.
Some of AESPAT鈥檚 members are from Naf茅gu茅 and they saw an opportunity to bring the community together to protect their shared heritage and learn a bit more about each other in the process. To achieve this goal, AESPAT started with a community meeting that gathered the family leaders of the different ethnic and religious communities. The conversation focused on why the cemeteries had deteriorated so badly and how to involve everyone in their preservation. One main conclusion was that commitment to maintenance of the cemetery had weakened as memory of its inhabitants had dwindled.
A meeting of community representatives to consider the event. Photo Credit: AESPAT/麻豆直播.
To help restore this sense of shared connection, the community chose to restore 13 graves that represented the full range of the community. Over three days, community members, especially the youth, cleaned both cemeteries and worked together on the grave restorations. As part of this, AESPAT prepared new grave markers so that each individual would be known to future visitors.
A member of the Muslim community restoring an animist grave. Photo Credit: AESPAT/麻豆直播.
Community members cleaning an animist grave. Photo Credit: AESPAT/麻豆直播.
Although there was some hesitancy at first, the community members enjoyed the collaboration and began to think about other ways they could work together to protect their shared heritage. As Mr. Issouf Traore, the chief of the village, put it:
鈥淎t first, I was a little reluctant to the idea of restoring our tombs, as it was not in our culture for other communities to participate in the funeral work of our ancestors; this was reserved solely for the families of the deceased. However, given the state of deterioration of these tombs and AESPAT's convincing explanations, we accepted this practical example. I'm very happy with the result, especially with the participation of all the communities in my village. To see Christians working on the graves of Muslims and animists, and vice versa, is a first in the history of the village of Naf茅gu茅. From now on, the names and tombs of our ancestors will never again be forgotten by future generations, as there are several ancient tombs in the cemetery of which we know nothing about the ancestors buried there.鈥�
Members of the Christian community restoring a Muslim grave. Photo Credit: AESPAT/麻豆直播.
A restored animist grave. Photo Credit: AESPAT/麻豆直播.
Events like this offer a powerful way for people to unite around the shared experience of loss and remembrance to learn more about each other and to build the relationships needed to achieve common goals.