Background
The Western Sahara is a desert region lying
between Algeria, Morocco and Mauritania. This region is the homeland
of the Saharawi, who are a mix of Arab and Berber people. In 1975
the Moroccan army invaded and occupied territory within the Western
Sahara, and most Saharawi civilians fled east into Algeria. Over
the past 27 years a huge complex of 4 major Saharawi refugee camps
has grown up around Tinduf in western Algeria, near the border
with Morocco. These camps are home to more than 160,000
people, mainly women and children. Most people under
the age of 24 have never lived anywhere else but in the camps,
which are located in one of the world’s harshest natural
environments.The Saharawi people
are wholly dependant on food and aid supplied by humanitarian
organizations. Nothing grows in the Sahara and there are no possibilities
of developing self-sufficiency.
Since 1975 The Saharawis’ armed struggle
against Morocco has been waged by the military wing of the Polisario,
an organisation originally formed to fight an earlier occupation
of the territory by Spain. Morocco keeps a heavy military presence
in the Western Sahara, and has raised a vast barrier of sand,
called the" berm", and hundreds of miles of high barbed-wire
fencing, to block attacks by Polisario guerrillas. Today the Polisario
are also the official political representatives of the Saharawi
people. The camps are run democratically, using a system of discussion
and decision-making based on Saharawi tribal tradition.
Food Aid for 2003
NLWA's partners, GAiN
Germany and GAiN Canada,
visited the Saharawi camps in Februrary of 2003 where they were
able to deliver four containers of food. Each of these containers
consisted of food valued at $150,000 and provided 22,500 meals for
a total of 90,000 highly nutritious meals.
Perhaps most important of all, GAiN staff had the opportunity to
live in their homes and really get to know the people and for a
short period of time, experience their plight alongside them.
Oil and Water for 2004
Their biggest need continues to be food and clean drinking water.
One food item
that is such an integral part of their diet and which is not always
available is cooking oil. The other need, water, comes from 35 kilometers
away, via water trucks and those trucks are barely able to keep
up with the needs. They go all day and if just one truck has any
type of delay or mechanical failure some of the people will go without
drinking water that day. They simply do not have enough trucks.
Witnessing these immediate needs first hand compelled GAiN in the
decision for the next aid transport. New Life World Aid is working
with GAiN Germany and GAiN Canada to send the Saharawi people a
water truck filled with cooking oil. The cooking oil (approx.
15,000 liters) will be distributed to the families throughout the
camps. Then the truck will be rinsed out and remain at the camps
to be used for transporting drinking water.
The estimated costs are as follows:
1. Special truck with 18,000 liter tank — $45,907
2. 15,000 liters of cooking oil — $14,231
3. Transportation to the camps — $12,242
GIVE A GIFT NOW!
Please consider how you and your contacts, as friends of the Saharawi
people, will choose to become financially involved in this project.
For More Information Contact:
Philip Morris, Project Manager
Phone: 604-514-2026
e-mail: philipm@newlifeworldaid.org
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