LIVINGSTONE, Zambia Years of neglect and no money have left the Livingstone Museum in a sorry state. Cobwebs festoon the corners, paint is peeling off the walls, the roof is caving in and it is short of space.
The Livingstone Museum is home to rare artefacts traced to the 19th century British explorer David Livingstone, after whom the picturesque tourist resort and the museum are named. Heavy rains earlier this year and a scorching tropical sun now threaten the exhibits. "I hope we will be able to rehabilitate the museum.
I hope we can do more," said Zambian Finance Minister Katele kalumba. "It is a very essential and historically significant institution for ourselves and future generations.
It is important that we invest in these areas," Kalumba told Reuters. While Livingstone's paraphernalia is stored in a dry, air-conditioned room, priceless items, such as the diaries of an aide who accompanied him on his African journeys are stuck in cardboard boxes, covered with dust and mould and strewn across the museum floor. Staff say Livingstone's original works notebooks, writing pads, letters the centerpiece of the museum's conservation efforts, are not in immediate danger.
But they agree that decay means that a major part of the former northern Rhodesia's 19th century history could be quickly eroded.
Tribal artefacts of global note are also in danger. After rains dripped through the roof earlier this year, drenching war paraphernalia and ancient elephant hunting equipment, the extensive heat of Zambia's summer is taking its toll. The chronicle of Dr. Livingstone's 1858 second missionary journey across the Zambezi, as well as the notes of geologist Richard Thornton and Botanist Sir John Kirk, are some of the distinguished works preserved in Livingstone.
The museum does not have the technology required to preserve them.
Rising temperatures and humidity in the coming months will be another problem, staff say. But rescue is on the way for Livingstone and his memory. The European Union has signed a deal with the Zambian Treasury guaranteeing some $500,000 to save the exhibits and restore the museum. "We have basically agreed on funding to help rehabilitate the museum," said Joan Pilcher, spokeswoman at the European Union delegation in Zambia. "There is still some more paperwork and details to sort out. I hope this can be dealt with quickly," Kalumba added.
Museums Do Not Rank as High Priority Government officials say the museum's state is a reflection of the tough economic conditions in this copper-mining Southern African country of 10 million. Museums do not rank high among Zambia's priorities.
With per capita income at $315, Zambia is one of the world's poorest countries. The vast majority of the country's 10 million people live well below the World Bank poverty threshold of $1 a day. The museum authorities see the European Union package as a major boost because without proper conservation newspaper cuttings and other documents dating back decades will be badly damaged.
"As you know, works of history cannot be reproduced. They are what they were and are. Any damage leaves a mark forever, you cannot claim that you will retrieve it later," said Flexon Mizinga, history guardian at the Livingstone Museum. "Without adequate cash, expensive conservation work cannot be done. If conservation work cannot be done and these works have no replacements, then we are talking of a colossal loss in conservation terms," he added. "It means that we will bury history, we will wipe it out clean, without trace, without evidence.
(Reuter)