Saharawi Republic Waits to Be Born

0 Comments | Insight on the News, Oct 4, 1999 | by Catherine Edwards

Melmnine's story is typical of Saharawi women. They can leave at any time but choose to stay in the desert. They are proud of their people and their story of self-reliance in the harshest region of the desert. "They are the most liberated women of the Muslim world," Madjid Bouguerra, Algerian foreign affairs minister for Africa, tells Insight in Algiers. They enjoy a freedom of religion unknown to much of the Islamic world.

Every summer the women part with their children. Because a whole generation has grown up in the camps knowing nothing but war and refugee life, the Polasario leadership started a program for young Saharawi children to spend their summers abroad. "We sent out 10,000 kids this summer. What other refugees do that?" asks Said. "We want them to learn about other cultures, learn foreign languages and learn about the West." Said explains that it is important for the children to understand Western culture so that later in life they will not be hoodwinked by Islamic extremists who may denounce the West. "They'll be able to counter that fundamentalism by their own eyewitness accounts," assures Said.

European countries have been taking in the kids for years. This summer marked the first time Saharawi children have come to the United States -- all at the expense of the host families. Ten stayed with families in Oshkosh, Wis. Janet Lenz is one of the host mothers. "I feel like I have found gold in the desert," she says of the children.

Will the Saharawis be able to function as a country if granted self-determination? The groundwork is in place for their transition to statehood, should the referendum occur. "They are the last African colony; they have had time to learn from other countries' mistakes," says McColm, who has worked in Africa and Eastern Europe for many years. "Of all the people I have worked with, the Saharawis have been the best. They actually get things done!"

That day cannot come soon enough. Fluent in English and self-taught in Spanish, Digya Salek Mohamed looks forward to living in her country as a young woman with her own job and her own house -- maybe later getting married and having children. Walking in the blinding afternoon sun, she talks of her dreams that are on hold. Now she is happy and grateful that she lives safely with her people, her mother and two brothers.

Fifteen-year-old Aghaila has just returned from the United States. As the plane touches down at Tindouf airport, she looks across the great duncolored expanse she calls home, glancing at other passengers' passports. "I don't have a Saharawi passport," she explains with a sigh. "We don't have a country. Maybe someday."