This mosque is considered one of the most important structures in West Africa. Muslims from all over the world come here to pray and study, but also to teach. Members of the poorer villages send their children here for months, or even years, to learn to read and write, or to become an apprentice for a trade. Non-Muslims are not allowed on the sacred grounds, even during the time of rebuilding, when thousands of people gather after each rainy season to reconstruct the mosque from fresh mud. The vast number of people required to maintain the building, as well as those who live and work there, have made Djenne an economic exception to the poverty that is common in Mali, the second poorest nation in the world.