Whose need is it anyway?

In a writeup of his trip to Mali (“Tribute to Islam, Earthern Yet Uplifting”, The New York Times, April 19, 2012), Holland Cotter speaks of the Great Mosque at Djenne, a mud brick building that was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The building now standing does not date to the 13th century, but is rather a “new original” built in 1907. Because in the climate of Mali cracks and leaks form in mud-brick structures, each year the citizens of Djenne replastered the mosque in a ceremony called the “Crepissage de la Grand Mosquee”. Decades of replastering altered the contours of the structure, rounding and softening them and weakened the structure by adding too much weight to its walls. Since 2006, when the Aga Khan Trust for Culture took on the responsibility for the mosque’s well-being, the replastering has ceased. This deprived Djenne of a civic holiday and its citizens of the spiritual benefits of repairing their house of worship. It also raised the very difficult question of which need should have greater priority– that of the building or that of its occupants.