Mali’s oral tradition a potent tool for telling the Bible story

Taken from a report by Maxime Bakiono, UBS Program Consultant

BAMAKO, Mali — While global culture has inevitably had some influence on the rhythm of life in Mali, this is a country where ancient traditions, hailing from a time as far back as the fourth century, are still deeply respected and form part of everyday life. This makes Malian society complex and colourful.

Oral traditions are perhaps one of the richest and most striking features of Malian culture and are still the main way families and communities preserve and pass on their history and genealogy to the next generation. It is such a strong tradition that even an illiterate farmer in one of the country’s most remote areas would probably be able to tell you the names of the country’s most prominent kings from hundreds of years ago.

Storytelling

Illiteracy is widespread, with only about 46 per cent of the population able to read and write, and literacy among women much lower at 39 per cent. It is no wonder that storytelling has such potency here. In this situation, the tradition could prove a valuable tool in sharing the Bible story among those interested in Christianity, but this has to be done sensitively in this largely Muslim country.

An audio cassette about Abraham, presented in traditional storytelling style and accompanied by Malian kora music, has been produced by the Bible Society office in Mali. It has been broadcast on Radio Espoir, the only Christian radio station in Bamako. The broadcasts have proved so popular that the cassette’s narrator has become a star in his own right, drawing the station’s largest audience to his weekly radio programme.

Other more personal methods of sharing the Bible story are also being used by Christians in Mali. One woman, who first began using storytelling to teach children about the Bible, has found that it is a powerful way of reaching adults, too.

“Storytelling played an important role in my childhood,” she says. “My mother had the art of telling stories and, as I grew up, I was able to retell a story after having heard it once or twice. Later, I realised that one can use storytelling to teach the Bible’s message to children.

“In 1982 I began to gather the children of my village to teach them by using storytelling. I would tell a story from the Bible and then base a lesson on the themes it contained. At every meeting I had between 30 and 35 children from different backgrounds. It was very effective and I realised that I could do this with adults too.