The security crisis affecting the central region and northern Mali continues to paralyze several sectors of activity. In the city of Djenné (Mopti region), Boureima and Sory have been tourist guides for more than 10 years. Today, they are twiddling their thumbs since the shutdown of the activities in the city.
Boureima Nientao is among those young people who made their living in Djenné thanks to their work as guides. Here, he is called “the friend of the Whites”. Since the shutdown of tourism, he is finding it difficult to retrain after more than ten years in the sector. “There are no more activities here, we spend our days drinking tea. Since the crisis erupted in 2012, we do not know what to do because our work was focused on tourism”. And to add, “I’m not alone, we were a lot doing this job. Today, there are some who have gone to urban areas. Others are still there, but like me, they cannot make ends meet. We have no idea when this is going to end”.
Nostalgic, Boureima invites us to visit the great mosque of Djenné. In front of the building, he found, the time of our visit, the joy that animated him when he tells the story of the mosque. “Before, when the Whites came, it was on these sites that we brought them. Once a year, all Djenné meets to do the plastering of the mosque. You know, it is the inhabitants of Djenné themselves who built this mosque from 1906 to 1907 and the architect is also from Djenné” he explains. And to point out that before, “there was work and the coming of the Whites benefited everyone, be it the guides, the hotels and even traders. But none of this is working yet, the crisis has affected the city enormously”.
Like Boureima Nientao, his colleague Sory Cissé, whom we met on the site of the Grand Mosque, has no activity. He still remembers moments spent on the site. “Here we are on the esplanade of the mosque. This site is one of the largest mud buildings in the world. Before, we came with tourists from all around the world to contemplate this place but unfortunately, there are no more people. I come here to remember the past. Opposite there, you have the manuscripts library. These were the essential stages. There is a Madrasah (Koranic school) next door, the library and the mosque. Today, unfortunately, it’s empty. There are no more people. It’s a shame, we’re bored, we do not know what to do but we come here from time to time.
Try a professional retraining?
In referring to some possible solutions, the teacher-researcher Kalifa Daou thinks that the guides must make a good analysis before attempting the professional retraining. “Today, you have consumers of tourism products who are at their place of residence and looking to partner with people who are on tourist sites. The requested products are generally small videos of the tourist places or photos. They are paid to do it. I especially recommend this to them, or to participate in tourism intermediation”.
According to Mr. Daou, “where the security environment is not conducive, we are witnessing a sort of tourist transhumance. You have the events organized every year by Ginna Dogon where, all the material, in agreement with the populations residing on the sites, is found in Bamako. There are economic benefits. They are managed between the organizers to benefit the indigenous populations”.
It’s not just the tourism sector that’s affected. Many other activities are also idling. Sitting behind his sewing machine, in his studio in Djobro, Hama Napo, questions: “Who benefits from the crisis? And to continue: “This conflict has caused us many problems. Traders can no longer do import-export, all because of this conflict. We do not have customers anymore, we are not the only ones concerned. There are those who practice different kinds of trades. What we earned before, we cannot earn it now because of this conflict”.
Since 2016, the city is classified heritage in danger. According to the inhabitants that we met, it is imperative that security comes back for activities to resume in Djenné.
Sahelien.com
*Produced with the support of the IMS Sahel Program, funded by DANIDA.