KABUL - “The country is so rich – put a shovel anywhere and you will come back with something!”

“The country” is, of course, none other than Afghanistan – the crossroads for marauding conquerors from surrounding civilizations since time immemorial.

And eternally hatching ideas on how to get Afghans themselves to appreciate – and preserve – their own rich culture is American historian Nancy Hatch Dupree for whom Kabul has been home for half a century.

In an hour-long interview with UNAMA’s Spokespersons Unit for the Heritage edition of UNAMA’s quarterly magazine Afghan Update, the “grandmother of Afghanistan” unveiled her latest set of proposals to stem, if not stop, the fast deterioration and/or loss of Afghanistan’s rich cultural heritage.

This time, recommended are five simple ways to easily preserve at ground level the fast-disappearing heritage of her beloved adopted country.

Guarding archaeological sites – more guards, higher salaries
Asked what the Government of Afghanistan can do, Ms Dupree first pointed to the lack of guards to protect Afghanistan’s several archaeological sites.

“There are so many sites – the country is so rich – put a shovel anywhere and you would come back with something!”

“Down in Gardez, they are huge sites! There are not enough police to put guards on the archaeological sites. They pay them so little so the traffickers bribe them or kill them,” noted Ms Dupree.

“Number one, that’s a good start,” she said.

Awareness via the educational system
Second, Ms Dupree says heritage awareness and preservation just have to be made part of the educational system.

The one-time educator – having taken over the courses taught in North Carolina by her late husband, archaeologist Prof Louis Dupree – pointed out that Afghanistan’s rich heritage has “never been in the education system.”

“Awareness of cultural heritage is a big – long, long haul…” she sighed, even as she revealed that she had tried getting the Government to include heritage in the education system.

“Oh, yes. We have been talking and talking. They are revising the curriculum.”

“Awareness should start from Grade I,” she added as she regaled UNAMA about the books she has been producing for Afghanistan’s “new literates.”

Turn archaeological sites into “living sites”
Third, she recommended that instead of being “in the middle of nowhere,” archaeological sites should become “part of the community – living sites.”

“In their history, nobody really made a point of saying you have to preserve your heritage,” noted Ms Dupree, recalling how a museum in Herat “suffered from lack of maintenance, not from looting, rocketing.”

And so to her mind, communities should be set up closer and closer to the heritage sites so that the surrounding residents themselves could guard the sites as a matter of course.

Localize cultural preservation via provincial museums
Ms Dupree’s fourth suggestion is the localization of cultural preservation. “I am an advocate of having provincial museums.”

Earlier informing the Ministry of Culture about her localization plan, “they shook their heads” and said, ‘we cannot even run the national museum!’”

“So I said, let the people man it. You don’t have to run it like other museums. I am not talking about ancient artefacts. And they do not have to be big. Start with your (native implements) and so people recognize that they are producing things that are part of their heritage; and then introduce embroidery from different parts of the country.

“They should be run by the communities. Foreigners cannot save the heritage – it has got to be the Afghans themselves. They have to appreciate it and be willing to preserve it themselves,” she stressed.

Ms Dupree said the local governments could initiate the project: “Now we have established Provincial Councils – the bedrock of democracy.

“If they want, they can have a small room as a local museum. I would like to localize the preservation of heritage – but not just pretty objects but (including) carpentry tools.”

Ms Dupree’s idea of bringing preservation to the doorstep of every Afghan home has its roots in her father’s being “one of the pioneers of rural reconstruction,” the precursor of what is now dubbed as “countryside development.”

“I was brought up on the principles of development. One principle that is talked (about) over and over again is that you don’t develop a man’s life in just one direction – you have to work on them (health, education, religion) at the same time.”

To the international community trooping to Afghanistan to help out, Ms Dupree said: “If we have to go to the basics of development, if we haven’t come here knowing this – it is very sad.”

“We know it in theory but we do not practice it – one of the main things is sustainability,” she stressed.

Appeal to donors: Include cultural preservation – and coordinate!
Fifth on her off-the-cuff tips on preserving Afghanistan’s heritage sites is for donor countries to include cultural preservation in their menu of supported projects. “Poor Afghanistan – everybody is stirring the pot but not for Afghanistan’s agenda.”

“Donors would say, no, that’s not in our mandate. But it does not have to cost much. It does not have to be a huge amount.

“Donors have tunnel vision – they are so pre-occupied with life, with critical life-saving projects – they don’t see beyond…”

Still on donors, Ms Dupree stressed: “Coordination is the buzzword. Do they coordinate? They’ve got to coordinate.”

As for fund-raising for cultural preservation projects, Ms Dupree expressed exasperation: “This particular strategy is very, very, very exhausting.”

“Because I have never paid any attention to money… I have been very lucky. My father was not rich but he never let us worry about money. I had two husbands – Louis, for instance, was very bad about money but there was enough coming in…

“Now, I spend all my time asking for money and I hate it because it is humiliating. But fundraising is the name of the game – but I would like to be doing much more productive things.”

And last – so far – but not the least, Afghanistan would do well to heed Ms Dupree’s own philosophy to stop the degradation and looting of the country’s rich cultural past:

“I don’t give up: You don’t start – and then stop.”

By Aurora Verceles Alambra, UNAMA