Waiting in the desert

"Why do you want to learn English?" The white letters are showing pretty strongly and clearly against the green background of the blackboard, despite my bad handwriting, but the classroom is so silent you could have heard a needle hit the floor.


A dusin confused faces reveal that this is not a question my Saharawi students have faced in a classroom situation before. As the minutes are passing by, the silence continues unbroken. "Is it to be able to talk with people from other countries?" I ask and is rewarded with a few nods. Finally it is a girl about my own age who breaks the silence.


"Teacher," she says, "I just want something to do."


Even though this answer might not be what an English teacher would normally want, my student expressed a wish many Saharawi youths share. These camps are known as some of the worlds best organized refugee camps. Since they were established women have always had a strong role in the organization, and today the camps have functioning schools, kindergardens and hospitals. Despite this, being a youth here is not the same as back home.


A copal of weeks ago we met the youth organization of our camp, Laayoune. Sitting on the floor in a room with around 20 children playing outside, they told us about the conditiones they are working under.


The organization is completely depending on the aid given by the international society. Twice every week they organize playtime activities for children, with toys donated from different NGOs. But for youths there is little to offer. "Every week we have youths coming here asking for jobs or activities, but we just have to send them away. There are no resources," the director of the center says. All the work the organization does is volentary, there are not even enough money to give out salaries; the organization do what they can with what little they have. "It is difficult for many young people to picture a future in the camps," she continues, "there are few opportunities and jobs here, and many youths are frustrated over the situation."



And the frustration is growing. Today there are televisions in most of the tents or houses here, giving youths an insight into the way of life in other countries. Each year between 9 000-10 000 Saharawi children also goes to countries such as Spain, France and Italia to escape the warmest months in the desert. This contributes to showing the young people of the camps the possibilities they are missing out on living as refugees. Many youths also comes back to the camps with university degrees from countries such as Algeria, Spain and Cuba, but unless you are educated as a doctor or a teacher, there are few chances of getting relevant jobs.



In 1991 the UN negotiated a ceasefire between Marocco and Polisario. Since then, for 17 years the Saharawis have waited for a Referendum in which they will be allowed the right of self-determination. However, as Marocco refuses any referendum with an independent Saharawi state as an option, the patience of the people in the camps is growing thin.

"Many youths today say they wants us to go back to war," explaines Abba Lhabib, who works within Polisario Sports and Youth. "Personally I think the only people who wants war are those who have never experienced it, but there is a limit for how much people can take."

Ali Dadi, a 27 year old unemployed Saharawi, is one of the youths who wants the Polisario to take up arms again. "Maybe we would not win," he says, "but at least something would happen. I would rather die trying to free my country, than forgotten in the desert."



And there are not much reason for optimism. To this day there has been written over 100 UN resolutions calling for the Saharawis right to self determination. However, as the years passes there is little focus on the conflict in the media, and fairly little pressure on the occuping power Marocco to accept the referendum. Instead foreign companies and countries are buying Western Saharas resources from Marocco, showing that international law and the moral obligations to a supressed people have to take the backseat when it comes to the possibilities of economical gain.



Back in my classroom I have to say that I think English is important for Saharawi youths, despite my student´s honest answer about her motivation to learn. As the process of globalisation continues for better or worse, the world is becomming smaler, and contact across the boarders is increasing. In a few years maybe there will be a stabil Internett connection in the camps, opening new doors and possibilities for youths to communicate.

The Saharawi youths experience anger and frustration over their situation everyday, and they want to tell about it.



All they need is someone willing to listen.