Tag: Mauritania
-
Saif Islam’s Mission to Save Chinguetti’s Library City from the Desert
Chinguetti: A City of Libraries Besieged by Sands In the heart of Mauritania’s vast Sahara lies Chinguetti, a village famous for its ancient libraries and scrolls that tell the story of a once-thriving trade route. As desert winds shift and sands reclaim the land, the town’s famed library district faces a slow, invisible threat: erosion…
-
A Mission to Save Mauritania’s City of Libraries from the Deserts’ Advance
Introduction: A Guardian at the Gates of the Sahara In the heart of the Sahara lies Chinguetti, Mauritania’s famed cradle of learning often called the city of libraries. On a recent afternoon, 67-year-old Saif Islam walked into the courtyard of a dusty library, his flowing boubou striped in two shades of blue catching the sun.…
-
The man on a mission to save Mauritania’s ‘city of libraries’ from encroaching desert sands
Introduction: A mission in the Sahara On a quiet afternoon in the desert town of Chinguetti, Mauritania, 67-year-old Saif Islam steps into the courtyard of a library that has stood for centuries. Clad in a flowing boubou striped in two shades of blue, he moves with a deliberate, if unsteady, pace toward a stubborn enemy:…