Programme 02 — Heritage
Cultural Preservation
Heritage is not a museum. It is a Pulaar grandmother teaching her grandchild a proverb in 2026, a festival drum that still keeps tempo at midnight, and a recording made today so a researcher in 2050 still has a voice to listen to.
- 60+
- Oral histories recorded
- 14
- Districts on the map
- 1st
- Pulaar archive in SL
Why we preserve
What is not written down is what is lost.
Across Sierra Leone, the Fulbe oral tradition has held for centuries — and it has lost more in the last two generations than in the four before. Cultural Preservation is the programme that fights that loss with concrete, repeatable work: archive what can be archived, record what can be recorded, perform what must remain performed.
Three streams
How the work splits.
01Pulaar Language Archive
Written, searchable, downloadable.
A growing online archive of Pulaar texts, recordings, transcriptions, and teaching materials. The first comprehensive Pulaar resource based in Sierra Leone.
Currently in private build with the Cultural Secretary and academic partners; a public preview is planned for 2026 with searchable text + audio.
02Oral History Project
Voices, recorded before they are lost.
Field interviews with elders across all 14 districts — stories, genealogies, songs, and life accounts captured with their consent and stored with their families' authority.
Over 60 interviews recorded since 2023. Each interview is returned to the family as a digital copy alongside its place in the archive.
03Annual Cultural Festival
The whole community, in public.
A full day of Pulaar music, dance, dress, food, and intergenerational performance. Open to the public, free to attend, held in a different host city each November.
2026 festival is set for Saturday 22 November in Bo. Doors open midday; main programme begins at 14:00.
Next festival
Annual Cultural Festival 2026.
A full day of Pulaar music, dance, dress, food, and intergenerational celebration. Held in Bo this year; open to everyone, regardless of membership.
- When
- Saturday, 22 November 2026 · 14:00 — late
- Where
- Bo Town Centre, Sierra Leone
- Opening performances by district youth troupes
- Pulaar storytelling and proverb recital from elders
- Communal meal and traditional dishes from across the districts
- Closing ceremony and recognition of contributing families
Pulaaku
The code under the culture.
Pulaaku is the moral code that has held Fulbe communities together across centuries and borders. Three words frame it.
Hakkil
Wisdom
The discernment to act well — to read a situation and choose the response that protects the community over the self.
Munyal
Patience
The composure to bear difficulty without losing dignity. Not passivity; sustained, intentional endurance.
Ndimal
Dignity
The carriage of a person who knows where they come from and what they owe to others. It is taught, not assumed.
Contribute
Three ways to help.
Cultural Preservation is built on contributions of time, memory, and money — in that order of priority.
01
Share an oral history
Volunteer your family's stories or introduce us to an elder we should record. The Cultural Secretary coordinates scheduling and travel.
Get in touch02
Volunteer at the festival
Help with set-up, hosting, hospitality, or documentation. Festival volunteers are recognised in the closing ceremony.
Sign up to volunteer03
Fund the work
Recordings need equipment; the festival needs sound and stage; archive infrastructure needs hosting. Every contribution is line-item visible.
Make a donation