Awareness Creation on Cultural Preservation in Dire Sheikh Hussein:
Project Launch Highlights U.S. Cultural SupportAgreement to Preserve Historic Mosque

U.S. Embassy Public Affairs Counselor Dr. Anthony Fisher traveled to the Bale Zone of Oromiya on December 3rd, along with Oromiya Region Culture and Tourism Bureau Chief Ato Aliyu Umer to launch a cultural preservation project at the historic Sheikh Nur Hussein Shrine, a religious pilgrimage site established in the 13th Century. 

The Ambassador’s Fund for Cultural Preservation, an annual competitive program of the U.S. Department of State, provided a grant in the amount of $25,600 to the Oromiya Regional Government to conduct structural assessment at this unique site and to arrest further deterioration of the mosque built by Sheikh Hussein nearly a thousand years ago.  It is hoped that the support provided through this program will help further the efforts of the Oromiya Regional Government to register the Sheikh Nur Hussein Shrine as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. 

The Ambassador's Fund for Cultural Preservation, created in 2001, is the only U.S. Government program that provides direct small grant support to heritage preservation in less developed countries.  In 2005, 120 countries were eligible to participate in the Ambassador’s Fund; Ethiopia’s successful program was one of 87 chosen for funding out of a total of over 150 proposals. 

Speaking at the launching ceremony, Dr. Fisher noted that Ethiopia’s successful participation in the 2005 Ambassador’s Fund competition was a sign not only of deep U.S.-Ethiopian cultural ties, but also of the American people’s recognition of the richness and depth of Ethiopia’s cultural heritage.  He pointed out that the Sheikh Hussein Shrine is an important symbol of Ethiopia’s history and religious diversity; a lasting symbol of the pluralist and tolerant version of Islam traditionally practiced in Ethiopia.