- Algeria
- Conflicts and Disasters
“I’m too young to have known our land, the land that everyone talks about here. But ever since I was born, I’ve heard my grand-father’s stories about how it was there and it’s left an impression on me.”
In South-West Algeria, thousands of people live in camps. Dalia Jatri Mohamed, 18, is one of them. They’re Sahrawi refugees. They have been waiting for 40 years for a resolution of the conflict about Western Sahara.
“I can’t plan my future, it’s impossible to have a vision for your future when you don’t have a home. Independence is my one and only dream, like all of us.”
Dalia went to Spain for a summer, when she was younger, as part of a programme that allows Sahrawi children aged 7 to 12 to spend vacation in a host family in Europe.
“When I went to Barcelona, my host family made me feel at home. In Barcelona, I’ve discovered big houses and wide streets. Life there is so different. The vegetation is beautiful, climate is lovely, whereas here the environment is harsh and hostile. For us, seeing that just strengthened our determination, because we could have it, it’s right there, in Western Sahara. Independence is my one and only dream”.
Photo: Tineke D’Haese/Oxfam
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