The delegation of Roman schools, accompanied by the Bambini+Diritti Association and the Fondazione Mondo Digitale, has just returned to Rome after a week (March 14-21) in the Western Sahara.
Students, teachers and other participants shared the hardships of refugee life in the Wilaya of Aaiun refugee camps. It was an intense week with a full programme, including institutional appointments with Saharawi government in exile authorities and the managers of various social structures who were able to overcome serious difficulties and efficiently organize the week in terms of inclusion and participation.
Silvia Celani, Coordinator of International Projects for the Fondazione Mondo Digitale, arrived in Fiumicino just a couple of hours ago. Four photos and a brief post are the first summary of her experience:
Women are the backbone of the Saharawi society. They give birth to the children who are the hope and strength of these people in their resistance against Morocco. Women nurture the society and children who represent the hope that one day they will get their land back. The diaspora of the Saharawi people must not take place. This is a society that is strongly attached to its traditions as witnessed by their tea ceremony. Tea is prepared in three different ways: bitter like life, sweet like love and soft as death. The Saharawi are extremely hospitable people even if they own nothing. Their eyes and their gestures fill one with a serenity and affection that leaves one speechless. They are proud and the hardships that they have to face every day makes me resolutely declaim “Sahara Libre!”.
