family reunion.

The other day we were invited to visit thehome of one of my students. He said he was getting a visit from some family membershe hadn´t seen in a long time. It was because they were living far away, he said.

He told us they were very exited about this visit. They had been preparing for weeks, putting up a big black tent that they use for special occations, buying sweets, decorating with the most beautiful carpets they have and of course, hanging up pictures of the president and their flag all over the tent!

We had seen similar tents beein put up in other places of the camp as well in the camp, and we did not quite understand what this was all about. As it turns out, a family reunion here is not the same thing as it is at home.

Many people back home would assosiate famliy reunions with their father and their uncle fighting over who has got most ram on their computer, 16 cousins that they never can remember the names of , children crying and running around high on sugar, and some aunts discussing apple pie recepies.

However, exept for the part about children running around high on sugar, family reunions here has a completaly different meening for people. It is a family reunion in the true sence of the word.

Whe Morocco bombed Western Sahara in 1975, they did not only distroy buildings and military targets. They also distroyed and seperated families. Thousands of families had to flee from their homes and leave all their earthly belongings, and most of them also had to leave their loved ones behind.Parents in one country, children in another, also seperated by a 2200 km long wall since 1986. Many of these families have been seperated ever since.

For some years now, the UN have been arrangin family reunionsfor Saharawi families that have been seperated by the conflict. You get to spend one week with your family, and when you leave, you don´t know if you will ever see your family again.

It was a family reunion like this that my student Yasaa had invited us to.

The family that was coming, was family from the occupied areas of Western Sahara. It was family that they had been seperated for 33 years, and it was family that many had never seen before.

Yasaas father ran from his home in Western Sahara the day that Morocco went into the country. He did not only leave his home, but he also left his wife and his children. After several years as a refugee, he married again and got Yasaa and his siblings.

The people coming from the occupied areas are Yasaa´s sisters and brotherand their children. Yasaa´s father left his children when they were young. 33 years have passed and this will be the first time he sees them since he left.


Yasaa and his father

We felt extremly honored to be able to take part in this great event that the family was experiencing. As we weresitting in the tent watching people dressed up in their most beautiful melhefas and draas (the traditional clothes here) they have, we could see the exitement and nervousness in peoples faces. I started to become a bit emotional myself thinking about what this reunoin must meen to people.


Suddenly we saw people starting to pack things together. A dissapointing look spread over peoples faces. We found Yasaa and asked what was going on.
"They are not coming after all" he said. " It is raining so much where they are so their plane can´t take off. They will come tomorrow inshallah".
We could see how dissapointed and sad he was, but as he said " What is one more day with waiting, when we have been waiting for 33 years?"