Bandrélé (France) (AFP)

At the start of the rainy season, Ansufati Velou scrapes the ground with a plastic spatula. The sun is still banging and this "Mama Shingo" ("mother of salt" in Shimaore) collects the silt which will be used to make salt, according to an ancestral technique from Mayotte.

When the rainy season is really installed this winter, the 17 Mama Shingo of Bandrélé (southeast) will no longer be able to repeat these gestures. They will have to be content with selling the salt stored during the last six months.

The silt laden with salt after the tides is stored under tarpaulins to protect it from the rain, before being placed in large sheet metal trays, into which the Mama Shingo pour water from a well. The mixture is filtered, the earth is retained and a transparent liquid is collected in plastic basins. The liquid is transferred to other tanks, where it is heated over a wood fire, until the water evaporates, to obtain a salt of brilliant whiteness.

For almost eight hours, Ansufati Velou monitors the "cooking" of the salt. "It is exhausting work, we are in the sun. The smoke and heat that emanate from the baking trays are difficult to bear," says the one who is the president of the Association for the cleaning and cleanliness of the commune of Bandrélé (ANPB), which brings together all the "Mama Shingo".

By his side, Bastien and Julie, tourists from Reunion Island, are attentive. "It is surprising, as a method of harvesting salt," they say. This method of production has been passed down from mother to daughter for centuries. This production is found in southern Africa (Mozambique, South Africa, Zimbabwe) on the banks of the Limpopo river.

"Before, we did this for our personal consumption or to exchange with people from the family or from elsewhere. But it was only in recent years that we started to market it," explains Ansufati Vélou.

- Intangible heritage -

But despite the will of the Mama Shingo, this heritage is in danger of disappearing. "Young people are not interested in it. For them, it's tiring and it doesn't pay well," sums up Ansufati Vélou.

Currently, revenues are estimated at less than 500 euros per person per month. However, the expertise of Mama Shingo is recognized and anchored in the heritage of Mayotte. And every year in mid-September during the European Heritage Days, many visitors come to the salt ecomuseum managed by the "salt moms".

Government spokesperson Sibeth Ndiaye was also enthusiastic about this know-how, during her visit to Mayotte last August, and pleaded for this "intangible cultural heritage" to be safeguarded.

The Regional Chamber of Social and Solidarity Economy (CRESS) was asked to carry out an audit and make proposals so that the Mama Shingo can generate a decent income and perpetuate their economic activity.

And the Directorate of Cultural Affairs, reporting to the Prefect and the Ministry of Culture, helped promote this production of unusual salt.

In this pre-Christmas period, the crowd does not weaken at the salt ecomuseum. People returning to their families in France come to look for a typical Mayotte product. The Mama Shingo pack the salt in colored fabrics or braided coconut leaves.

Other Bandrélé specialties such as urewadjini ("devil's drool" in shimaore, condiment made with tamarind, onion and chilli) are also prominent on the stalls. A way for Mama Shingo to diversify their activity.

© 2019 AFP