Our new generation & historical heritage [Archives:2002/40/Culture]

BY MUJAHED AL MUSSA’ABI
YEMEN TIMES STAFF
mujahed75ye@ yahoo.com
Despite the fact that Yemen is one of the least developed countries of the world, it seems to be widely affected by globalization and the information technology sweeping across the world and imposing themselves on the lives of Yemenis willingly and unwillingly. By saying this, I am not blaming our country for allowing globalization to affect our lives. On the contrary, I do strongly support development and progress which are not in conflict with our identity or individual characteristics.
In fact, it is not surprising for a nation with a glorious past and well-respected civilization to use available modern tools to achieve greater development. Yemen was once the cradle of human civilizations represented in a rich ancient urban cultural heritage and astonishingly well-designed historical cities and it surely does want to go back to its glorious days.
The Yemeni city of “Azal” -now Sana’a- is among the most ancient cities of the world. The mystical architectural beauty of Old Sanaa makes it a source of fascination and charm by all tourists visiting the city.
Nevertheless, the lack of awareness of the significance of the cultural heritage of Yemen among young Yemenis, whom we bet on for the future of the Yemen, is also a source of concern. Most of those young men and women have little respect and appreciation to the cultural heritage or historical assets of the country. Unfortunately, they are fascinated more by the developed world resembled by the western modernization and they blame globalization for that. They tend to indirectly contribute to the possible loss of this valuable heritage because they know nothing about it and don’t care of what could happen to it if abandoned.
This is a dangerous phenomenon that could have catastrophic consequences on our country’s heritage. Young Yemenis of the day know more about New York and Paris than Sa’ada and Shibam. They may even ask with a sense of carelessness “What do we need those old mud buildings for?” or “If heritage is needed so much, why is a country like the USA with no architectural heritage or deep-rooted civilization still the most developed country in the world?”
This is yet another example of the poor education taught to our new generation. Hence, we cannot blame them before blaming ourselves for not providing them with thorough and better education to raise their awareness of the value of historical heritage for every nation.
Our duty towards our children
It is the responsibility of the whole society, private sector, civil organizations and government to exert efforts to strengthen the concepts of the value of cultural heritage in our children’s minds.
All fathers and mothers are requested to teach their children that a nation without past has no future. People who forget their ancient civilization would be neglected in history and become a nation without roots. They should be informed that cultural heritage and original inherited professions are invaluable assets that should be maintained. They are considered a national wealth not only for us, but for all humanity to learn from and discover. We should have our children investigate why are tourists coming from the so called ‘modern world’ to see our historical sites and why are they fascinated by them.” They should ask “Why is UNESCO declaring some Yemeni historical sites like Old Sana’a, Shibam and Zabid as world heritage sites?”
They should learn that such significant cultural heritage is contributing to the development of the country like any other natural resource such as oil, gold or gas. Our young generation should feel proud of its history, which they need to value and study in schools. Let them feel and appreciate the beauty of the new unique architecture of our historical cities, which we should protect just as we protect our interests and treasures. They should recognize that a new modern building in a historical city would distort its identity and historical value. So, we should integrate these principles in their daily life activities at school, at home, at the theater and the on TV programs.
The second step would be to involve our children in dealing with issues related to historical sites and cities to make them familiar with risks of modernization which threaten the historical value of these cities that remained firm for ages.
A good step forward
I have read that within its national awareness raising campaign, the Urban Cultural Heritage Program UCHP is holding several cultural activities, the last being in Zabid. Those activities involve the participation of school pupils in historical cities in painting workshops to eventually present a unique exhibition showing the paintings of children at the end of the workshop.
We need to encourage such appreciated steps and motivate other governmental and non-governmental organizations to hold similar activities if we really want to raise a generation aware of its historical and cultural heritage.


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