The Douala Maritime Museum was honored to host a group of tourists from the African Ancestry Group yesterday, 15 March 2023. Coming from different countries and continents, they were all moved by the passion to learn about their African roots.

The African Ancestry Group helps people of African descent trace their ancestral roots back to a specific present-day African country and tribe/ethnic group. It is thanks to its activities that Derek Edwards, Sandra Smith, Maisha Pope and a host of other African Americans found themselves in Cameroon. It was a mixed feeling of delight and astonishment that filled them as they walked through the expositions of the Douala Maritime Museum discovering the path trod by their ancestors.

As a reminder, it was on Saturday, 25 February 2023, that H.E. Jean-Luc Martinez, French Ambassador in charge of International Cooperation and Heritage at the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs, organized a conference on the theme " Heritage and Recuperation : what are museums for today ? ". The role museums play as an archive of man’s history and evolution over time is made evident by this visit. This is just one of the many reasons why we need museums today.