Donate Webshop

(Nederlands) :

Culture

The Initiative Dogon Culture (IDC) wants to strengthen the role of heritage in local development programs as well as the cohesion of the community and its own identity. To achieve this goal, the IDC is engaged in the restoration and maintenance of the UNESCO heritage in the Dogon region. In close cooperation with the Mission Culturelle de Bandiagara, a local department of the Ministry of Culture of Mali.

The IDC also organizes classes in schools about how important is the preservation of the cultural heritage. Awareness and education are of the utmost importance to create a greater sense of responsibility and involvement of the local community in preserving the cultural heritage.

Our Culture projects

To preserve the heritage, raising awareness of its value is essential. It can be achieved through education program and working with the local community.

View projects

Educational program

Awareness and training of the population is necessary to ensure the protection of the heritage in the long- term. Increasing this awareness have to start with the children at school, in this way they learn to understand the importance of preserving the heritage. In schools, the teachers use the pedagogical approach of l’AMI (Approche Les Mots Imprimé). Through this approach, the stories from their own culture get meaning. Knowledge of the historical sites is also part of the lesson program. The children visit these sites, they draw and write about what they find there. They discover that they are the owners of their ancient culture. They investigate and ask questions to the older generation. Vandalism, deriving from ignorance, is thereby counteracted and long-term protection of the heritage is guaranteed.

All school directors in the Sangha region endorse the importance of cultural education.

Restoration projects

The restoration program involves the restoration of some specific buildings in the villages of Nando, Neni, Yougo Dogourou, Yendouma Ato and the Toloy Cave at Pegue. These villages are part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site and should be protected because of their Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) and their position within the local community. The unique clay architecture of these villages shows the traces of a deep-rooted relationship of the population with this area and the harmonious integration of the human settlements with the landscape. In fact, the architecture has been adapted to take advantage of the physical constraints of the place.

Local knowledge of traditional construction techniques is transferred to younger generations.