Thousands gather to repair Mali’s Grande Mosque

The Grande Mosque of Djenné. Image by Juan Manuel Garcia / CC BY 2.0

A whole town of thousands has gathered to render the entire façade of the world’s largest earthen building –  the Grande Mosque of Djenné – in a single day. The traditional assembly line started at the riverbank, where the young children scraped together mud. This was then passed to teenagers who carried the load in baskets atop their heads to the hundreds of masons who were clambering up the towering structure on timber-and-rope ladders. This event is an annual occurrence to protect the historical building from the ravages of erosion caused by the rain and cracks due to changes in temperature and humidity. One of the masons noted that more people were bringing Malian flags this year, and he feels they may be demonstrating their attachment to their country during this time of violence. Read more: bbc.co.uk