PRESS RELEASE: Brits prepare for Running the Sahara 2011

For immediate release: June 2009

Brits Prepare for Running the Sahara in 2011 in support of

Saharawi Refugees

Arts and human rights charity Sandblast launches its UK-wide Running the Sahara campaign for 2011 to raise funds and awareness for the plight of the indigenous Saharawi people of Western Sahara.

London, June 14, 2010 – “The sun rains down its unforgiving rays, everything tastes of sand and our feet are as sore as they’ve ever been”, says Weisi Guo, participant in the 2010 race, “but we have all left a piece of our heart in the Sahara dunes.”

 

Guo was one of the 32 people who joined charity director Danielle Smith on this adventure to the refugee camps on last February for the 10th Saharamarathon, the largest ever UK contingent to participate in the event.

As the official UK facilitator, the charity Sandblast’s annual fundraising project Running the Sahara connects the British people to the reality of close to 200,000 Saharawi refugees through the international sporting event known as the Saharamarathon.

Not to be confused with the Marathon des Sables in Morocco, the Saharamarathon takes place every year in the Algerian Sahara in the Saharawi refugee camps near Tindouf. Organized by the refugees themselves and volunteers from around the world, the solidarity sports competition has been growing from year to year. In its 10th edition in 2010, it attracted more than 400 participants from over 22 countries with an almost equal number of Saharawi refugees participating in it, including Saharawi triple gold medallist Salah Amaidan who won the 10km.

In 2010, the UK contingent raised more than £20,000 for Sandblast’s Saharawi Artist Fund, which finances activities in the camps to empower the refugees to tell their own story, promote their own culture and earn an income through the arts.

Sandblast’s founding director, Danielle Smith, explains, “protracted refugee situations like the Saharawi one suffer from oblivion, donor fatigue and trends that threaten their culture and identity. We focus on the arts because it is a medium with the greatest potential of harnessing global attention and recognition for the Saharawi plight and culture in a positive and inspiring way.”

In the next two years, Sandblast will aim to empower the Saharawis to present their culture and earn an income through their music in the form of the Studio-Live project. Danielle affirms, “there is huge talent in the camps. Saharawi music at this juncture most powerfully expresses their identity and struggle in a way that can reach global audiences and connect with musicians from all over the world.”

Information and details on the Running the Sahara campaign and how to sign up are available on the charity website at www.sandblast-arts.org/projects/running-the-sahara or get in touch with the Campaign Coordinator at runningthesahara@sandblast-arts.org.

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To find out more please visit the Sandblast website at www.sandblast-arts.org.  

Press contact:

Cathrin Lemoine

Digital Communications Manager

Sandblast

T: 0044 7825916191   E: cathrin@sandblast-arts.org

Notes to Editor:

• On Sandblast: Sandblast is an arts and human rights charity working with the indigenous people from Western Sahara, the Saharawis. Their identity and culture is threatened by the impact of protracted exile and Morocco's integrationist policies.  It is our mission to empower the Saharawis to tell their own story, promote their own culture and earn a living through the arts.
• On Western Sahara: In a barren corner of the Algerian Sahara, close to 200,000 Saharawis have been living as refugees since the 1975 Moroccan invasion of their country, Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony in NW Africa. Despite the extreme hardships of their exile, the Saharawi refugee community has managed to build a vibrant, democratically run nation-in-exile, where women play a prominent role in all sectors of life, defying many Western preconceptions about Arab-Muslim societies. The Saharawis seek their independence in Western Sahara and have been waiting for the UN to implement the long promised referendum for their self-determination, originally scheduled for early 1992.
• On the Saharamarathon: This international sporting event evolved as a way to show solidarity with the Saharawi people and raise money for projects to improve the lives of the refugees. Organized by representatives of the Saharawi government and volunteers from all over the world, the first Saharamarathon was held in 2001. The event is also child-friendly. There is a race for children which takes place in one of the camps and many Saharawi children, 10 years and older, join in. AIMS (Association for International Marathons and Distance Runs) has sponsored this race over the past few years. Many of you will think it insane to run in the Sahara and fear baking to death. Don’t worry February is a mild month and the event is very well organised. Participants will be transported to the start of each race. The courses are marked with flags and stones, the terrain is mostly packed sand and is largely flat. There will be all the usual forms of support like regularly spaced water stations, four-wheel drives to provide assistance and medical assistance is provided by the International Red Crescent. The event has been growing each year and broadening its base of International participation. In 2010, nearly 1000 people ran in the Saharamarathon races from all over the world. For more info check: www.saharamarathon.org
• On Running the Sahara: Sandblast officially promotes the Saharamarathon in the UK with their campaign Running the Sahara. It facilitates participation in the event as well as raises awareness and funds for its arts ands cultural projects in the camps. 2011 Running the Sahara will be Sandblast’s third fundraising campaign in a row.
• On Salah Amaidan: His remarkable career began under the Moroccan occupation in Western Sahara and his life story is currently being made into a documentary by UK production company Tourist with a Typewriter. He dreams of participating in the 2012 London Olympics.

New Website Tells the Saharawi Story through the Arts

“Arts and human rights charity Sandblast launches new website on its
5th anniversary to highlight mission with the Saharawi people.”

London, May 25th - To celebrate its 5th anniversary, arts and human rights charity Sandblast today announces the official launch of its new website www.sandblast-arts.org. The website was re-designed to complement the charity's vast multi-media resources on Saharawi life and culture and promote digital engagement with community members, artists, scholars and activists with the Saharawis.

Following several months of research on the uses of websites for small charities, the new design was developed with stakeholders, designers and creatives with the aim of creating a space that is easy to access and experience Saharawi art and culture, get information on the situation in Western Sahara and learn of Sandblast's work with the Saharawi refugees.

Cathrin Lemoine, Digital Communications Manager, Sandblast says:

"The new website is now optimized to make information on Saharawi culture and society easily and dynamically accessible to the public to raise awareness for the situation in Western Sahara. Sandblast facilitates art and capacity-building workshops in the refugee camps each year which just could not be showcased very well on the old website.” 

"Now we can engage and connect with artists from all over the world. Members of the public who want updates on ongoing projects will not only encounter facts and figures in endless reports, but also images and stories from those running the workshops and the Saharawis benefiting from them," enthuses Sandblast Director, Danielle Smith.

Through this virtual space, the charity hopes to encourage collaborations to develop ideas and projects with or in aid of the Saharawi people."

New features on the website include:

• access to a vast array of multimedia art by and about Saharawis;
• updates and high-quality material on ongoing projects in the refugee camps;
• archive of multi-media resources on the situation in Western Sahara.

The launch of the website represents a crucial phase in the charity's online presence as the primary UK hub of information on Saharawi culture and its mission to build an active community of collaborators working in different ways to promote the visibility and support of the Saharawi plight through the arts and other educational means. 

You can view the new Sandblast website at http://www.sandblast-arts.org. To win a Tiris Sandtracks mp3, the sound of the Saharawis, send your feedback to info@sandblast-arts.org.

Sandblast at the Arts4HumanRights Festival "DisPLACEment"

Charity director Danielle Smith spoke at the first Arts4HumanRights festival "DisPLACEment" in Southwark last week (May 13). Partnered with social worker Ioannis Athanasiou on the topic of Displaced Peoples and Creative Practices, Danielle spoke about the indigenous people of Western Sahara, the Saharawis, whose identity and culture has been threatened by the twin impact of protracted exile and Morocco's integrationist policies since their invasion in 1975

Addressing the audience at Art's Bar for the first time, Danielle read a Saharawi poem from the bilingual poetry book, 31 treinta y uno, a collaboration project between Sandblast and the editors Pablo San Martin and Ben Bollig at Leeds University (published in 2007).

Danielle's warm and sensual voice carries the poem line for line through the room, reaching not only the ears but the hearts of the audience. She has read them many times, to herself and to others. She knows the poem word for word, but more than that, she knows its meaning, its origin, the poet and his story behind the words. It touches the audience, draws them in and doesn't let them go.

When Danielle goes on to speak about the Saharawis and the major obstacles they face in fighting for their right for self-determination, her voice is not warm any more. Her voice is passionate instead. Unadulterated passion for the cause, for the promotion of the rich Saharawi culture, for making the Saharawi voices heard:

The indigenous people of Western Sahara were forcibly displaced when the Moroccan army invaded their homeland in 1975 claiming its sovereignty. When a 16-year long war enraged between Morocco and the POLISARIO Front, thousands of Saharawis escaped the war-ridden territory to seek refuge in Algeria. They have lived in temporary refugee camps since then. Having been denied their Heimat, the Saharawi refugees embraced creative practices, such as poetry, performance art and music as a way of expressing their culture. As a way of keeping their distinct identity alive, the refugees use the arts to actively defy the uprising bitterness of not being heard by the international community, of not being able to work and earn a living, of seeing a people's hope and aspirations drained by protracted exile.

When the talk comes to a close, the audience felt enlightened and thankful to being able to learn about the Saharawi refugees and Sandblast's work. A raging success in 2010, we are all looking forward to next year's Arts 4 Human Rights festival and hope for many more events to come in the next few months.

Franco prosecutor Garzón on trial?

The Observer reported last weekend that the Spanish Judge Baltasar Garzón it to be put on trial for abusing his power over the investigations he opened in 2008 into Francoist crimes against humanity that terrorised Spain during and after the civil war.

Garzón had made a name of himself by ordering the arrest of Chilean director Pinochet in London in 1998 and investigations into Italian Prime Minister Berlusconi as well as offering judicial advice on how to capture Osama Bin Laden. He is widely understood as the driving force behind a new understanding of human rights law. It is not surprising, thus, that some call for him to receive a Nobel Peace Prize and that others want him behind bars.

Allegations against Garzón cause great outrage amongst Spaniards who were affected by Franco's crimes as much as among advocates of international law and human rigths law. The Observer reports:

"Both Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have called on the supreme court to throw out the case. "Garzón sought justice for victims of human rights abuses abroad and now he's being punished for trying to do the same at home. The decision leaves Spain and Europe open to the charge of double standards," said Lotte Leicht, EU advocacy director at Human Rights Watch. "Instead of a criminal complaint against Judge Baltasar Garzón for investigating crimes under international law committed in the past, Spain should, irrespective of the date of their commission, bring perpetrators to justice," said Amnesty's senior director Widney Brown." (Source: G. Tremlett, "Charismatic judge who pursued Spain's fascist assassins finds himself on trial" on 25th April 2010)

Why does it matter to Sandblast?

Garzón started investigations into genocide allegations against Morocco with regard to their occupation of the Western Sahara territory:

"As Morocco’s government and military have been exploiting the Saharan resources, like fishery, phosphor and oil, and abusing basic human rights of the Saharawis to being “free and equal in dignity and rights” (Article 1), to a Heimat  (Article 12) or “one’s native land” (Euripides 431 B.C.), as well as systematically persecuting those of Sahrawi origin and others of pro-Saharawi ideology with torture (Article 5) and “arbitrary arrests” (Article 9), investigations have been opened by the Spanish prosecutor and judge Baltasar Garzón Real into genocide allegations against the Moroccan government under King Mohammed VI (Marraco 2007, Anon 2007a, 2007b)." (Source: C. Lemoine)

The Argentinian court will rule next month on whether it accepts the case. 

Without having too much insights into what form of abuse Garzón is accused of, it is a great injustice that he is punished for speaking up for the victims of viscious crimes and to take up the fight for their essential human rights  with the world's leading criminals against humanity.

WOMEN: International Women's Day in Saharawi Refugee Camps

Today is International Women's Day.

There may be debate about whether the the International Women's Day is an anachronism and defies everything that the feminist movement has achieved to date; or if this day is a reminder of said achievement and should therefore be celebrated on a sunny spring day. Whatever side you are leaning to, the International Women's Day certainly gives me the opportunity to contextualise this blog post on the Saharawi women in an internationally relevant way.

The International Women's Day is associated in Western societies with the empowerment of women through the industrialisation of the workforce and the heightened visibility of women through the permeability of domesticity; with the achievements of women for women in terms of political engagement, inclusion, emancipation and "cracking the glass ceiling". However, pay gaps, absence of women in leading positions, gender inequality in schools, courts, media, and throughout society ought to be on our minds while marching the streets and celebrating womanhood.

This is different for Saharawi women.The Saharawi refugee camps are managed by the democratic and representative government-in-exile, Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) since 1975. Promoting education as a means to self-determination and gender equality as a foundational principle, Saharawi women have been known as the powerful pillars of Saharawi life in exile.

According to an old Saharawi saying, "a tent is raised on two poles: a man and a woman", understanding both partners in a relationship as equal leaders. However, during the violent war between the Moroccan occupiers and the liberation movement from 1975 to 1992, male and female Saharawi soldiers were absent, injured or killed. In a time of instability and chaos amongst the hundreds of thousands Saharawi refugees that escaped the war-ridden occupied Western Sahara, Saharawi women took the initiative to secure shelter, provide supplies and protection and physically as well as socially construct those refugee camps that in the 35 years of exile have become home for so many Saharawis.

As so often in societies so violently disrupted by war (think Germany, UK and France during and after World War I), women experienced a new scale of responsibility in their homes and more and more often outside of their homes. Unlike their fellow females from the post-war Europe (by no means diminishing their achievements), Saharawi women remained in charge for the administration of the camps, education and medical care for their people: over half of all medical staff is female (nurses, doctors, surgeons); one third of all parliamentarians are women; one third of the Saharawi representatives in the African parliament are female; local administration units, the Dairas, are predominatenly headed by women.

Today, we are celebrating the women of the world. The Global North and the Global South have made significant, though radically different, accomplishment in legal, political, cultural and personal terms to achieve equal rights and equal opportunities.

Multimedia:

Listen to Radio 4's Woman's Hour on Saharawi women (by Danielle Smith & Beatrice Newbery).

Resources:

Elena Fiddian, 2002. Promoting Sustainable Transformations in Gender Roles During Exile: A Critical Analysis With Reference to the Sahrawi Refugee Camps, Dissertation

UNIFEM United Nations Development Fund for Women. Gender Profile on the Conflict in Western Sahara.

 

For more information, also see:

National Union of Saharawi Women 

Zeina - two Saharawi female bloggers

TWIZA: Solidarity with Saharawi women (Ana Arenas)