In Mali, Hot Weather Threatens Ancient Fishing Tradition
2024-06-20
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1Thousands of fishermen holding nets stood side by side.
2They waited for the signal.
3Suddenly, they rushed to a large area of water and threw in their nets, dropping to their knees in the mud.
4Soon after, one held up a fish the length of his arm.
5For several hundred years, people have gathered in the town of San in southern Mali for Sanké mon, a collective fishing rite.
6It begins with animal sacrifices and offerings to the water spirits of Sanké pond.
7The rite, with dancers and traditional costumes, is on UNESCO's list of intangible cultural traditions.
8The list is meant to honor important places and activities to cultures around the world.
9The event celebrates the town's founding and marks the beginning of the rainy season.
10But some people say climate change and heat waves are interfering with the tradition.
11Sanké pond is starting to disappear, said a village chief, Mamadou Lamine Traoré.
12A heat wave in Mali this year has also led to deaths.
13The heat wave began in March when many in the Muslim-majority country observed the Islamic holy month of Ramadan with fasting.
14Fasting means to deny oneself food for a period.
15The Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Center said that limited data in Mali makes it impossible to know the number of heat-related deaths.
16But the group still estimates that the deaths this year have likely been in the hundreds, if not thousands.
17World Weather Attribution is a nonprofit science group that looks at the effects of extreme weather.
18In April, the group released a study.
19It said the latest heat wave in the Sahel, the area of Africa south of the Sahara Desert, is extreme.
20The researchers said climate change has made high temperatures in Burkina Faso and Mali hotter by 1.5 degrees Celsius.
21Experts have warned of more hot weather.
22At the latest Sanké mon collective fishing activity, men felt hot as they cooked chickens.
23A national flag waved on a weathered flagpole along the edge of the pond.
24"This tradition was already established before I was born," said Amadou Coulibaly, who remains faithful to it although there are growing difficulties.
25When the rite was added to the UNESCO list in 2009, there were plans to dig deeper into the pond to prevent it from filling up with dirt, Traoré said.
26"But since then," he explained, "nothing was done, and the pond is starting to create problems."
27He said, the pond's disappearance would threaten not just the ancient fishing activity but also the town's economic survival.
28I'm Ashley Thompson.
1Thousands of fishermen holding nets stood side by side. They waited for the signal. Suddenly, they rushed to a large area of water and threw in their nets, dropping to their knees in the mud. Soon after, one held up a fish the length of his arm. 2For several hundred years, people have gathered in the town of San in southern Mali for Sanké mon, a collective fishing rite. 3It begins with animal sacrifices and offerings to the water spirits of Sanké pond. The rite, with dancers and traditional costumes, is on UNESCO's list of intangible cultural traditions. The list is meant to honor important places and activities to cultures around the world. 4Climate change 5The event celebrates the town's founding and marks the beginning of the rainy season. But some people say climate change and heat waves are interfering with the tradition. 6Sanké pond is starting to disappear, said a village chief, Mamadou Lamine Traoré. 7A heat wave in Mali this year has also led to deaths. The heat wave began in March when many in the Muslim-majority country observed the Islamic holy month of Ramadan with fasting. Fasting means to deny oneself food for a period. 8The Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Center said that limited data in Mali makes it impossible to know the number of heat-related deaths. But the group still estimates that the deaths this year have likely been in the hundreds, if not thousands. 9World Weather Attribution is a nonprofit science group that looks at the effects of extreme weather. 10In April, the group released a study. It said the latest heat wave in the Sahel, the area of Africa south of the Sahara Desert, is extreme. 11The researchers said climate change has made high temperatures in Burkina Faso and Mali hotter by 1.5 degrees Celsius. 12Experts have warned of more hot weather. 13The future 14At the latest Sanké mon collective fishing activity, men felt hot as they cooked chickens. A national flag waved on a weathered flagpole along the edge of the pond. 15"This tradition was already established before I was born," said Amadou Coulibaly, who remains faithful to it although there are growing difficulties. 16When the rite was added to the UNESCO list in 2009, there were plans to dig deeper into the pond to prevent it from filling up with dirt, Traoré said. "But since then," he explained, "nothing was done, and the pond is starting to create problems." 17He said, the pond's disappearance would threaten not just the ancient fishing activity but also the town's economic survival. 18I'm Ashley Thompson. 19Moustapha Diallo reported on this story for the Associated Press. John Russell adapted it for VOA Learning English. 20_________________________________________________ 21net -n. a network of widely-spaced strings or ropes that are used to catch fish 22mud - n. wet, soft dirt 23rite - n. an act that is part of a religious ceremony 24pond - n. an area of water that is smaller than a lake 25costume -n. clothing that is for special occasions or events that is often colorful or different from normal clothing