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Sandblast -a UK charity promoting awareness of the plight of the indigenous Saharawi of Western Sahara. The majority have been refugees in the harsh SW corner of the Algerian Sahara since 1975. Through educational, arts and skills development projects, we aim to provide opportunities for young people to have brighter futures and
to highlight their threatened cultural heritage.
News and developments in 2020
• Mid-June- COVID NEWS: Saharawi Health Ministry, headed by Jira Bulahe, launches camps-wide awareness campaign for the prevention of the spread of COVID19 and distributes masks and sanitisers to all members of the public at checkpoints and to people working in the markets and small service businesses. To date the Saharawi refugees have not reported a single case of COVID19 infection in the camps.
• June 9- On the occasion of her birthday, Carolina Graterol, a long time friend and supporter of the Saharawi people's cause, launched her JustGiving fundraising campaign for our Desert Voicebox project in the refugee camps. She will be running a marathon, in London, to raise funds and is the first participant to sign up for our Desert Voicebox virtual challenge. It will be held next Feb 2021 to coincide with the date of the international Saharamarathon solidarity race, which normally takes place in the Saharawi refugee camps. Due to the impact of the COVID19 pandemic and uncertainty surrounding travel restrictions to the region, this virtual challenge is being launched by Sandblast to provide an alternative to participate, but on the home front. People who sign up can choose to either do one of the traditional race distances (5, 10, 21 or 42km) or undertake another challenge to show their solidarity with the Saharawi refugees and help raise funds for Sandblast's project work in the camps. Watch this space for our social media campaign launch in the upcoming weeks. We are aiming to get a minimum of 100 UK participants and 1000 world-wide to raise £50,000 through the Desert Voicebox Virtual Challenge.
Carolina is fundraising to specifically help Sandblast purchase solar panels and generator for our Desert Voicebox learning centre. Currently, electricity in the Boujdour camp, where the project is based, is being cut almost every day for 5 to 6 hours. In the extreme heat of the Saharan summers, it is impossible to do anything without the use of air-conditioners and electricity to teach the children in our summer programme or run our remote training program for the teachers. Please show us your support and donate to her important campaign. Thank you Carolina for this generous gesture and thanks to all of you who make a donation!!
• June 1- Please check out the special blog contribution from Jack Morgan about his volunteering experience in the Saharawi refugee camps for Desert Voicebox.
• Early May- The Saharawi refugees are deeply relieved and grateful for a Algerian humanitarian convoy that arrives to the camps to distribute badly needed food aid. Since the very strict lockdown and closure of all the borders, the refugees have been unable to receive food aid and have run out of medicines to treat widespread diabetes and high blood pressure affecting large swathes of the population in the camps.
• April 15- At the height of the pandemic and lockdown period, we set up remote training with our 4 local teachers working for Desert Voicebox. In mid-April, three highly qualified volunteers began dedicating 2 hours a day, 5 days a week to train our 2 English and 2 Music teachers. Thank you Farida Alvarez (English teacher at St Giles Institute), Andrada Pascu (AB Music Academy ) training in Stave House method and Maite Heres (440hz Centre of Scenic Arts), doing ear-training. Check out our posts on instagram and facebook to follow their progress.
• Early January-Volunteers Andy Pitts and Georgia Lomax Thorpe set out to the camps for 4-5 weeks to train the teachers and do a special singing workshop with the children. See Feb 14 Sandblast newsletter in blog post for info about their story.
• January 1- Our early-learning project in the Saharawi refugee camps, known as Stave House in the Sahara, is renamed DESERT VOICEBOX This change marks not only the start of a new decade but, more importantly, reflects the significant developments and growth of the project over the past 12 months.
• Mid-June- COVID NEWS: Saharawi Health Ministry, headed by Jira Bulahe, launches camps-wide awareness campaign for the prevention of the spread of COVID19 and distributes masks and sanitisers to all members of the public at checkpoints and to people working in the markets and small service businesses. To date the Saharawi refugees have not reported a single case of COVID19 infection in the camps.
• June 9- On the occasion of her birthday, Carolina Graterol, a long time friend and supporter of the Saharawi people's cause, launched her JustGiving fundraising campaign for our Desert Voicebox project in the refugee camps. She will be running a marathon, in London, to raise funds and is the first participant to sign up for our Desert Voicebox virtual challenge. It will be held next Feb 2021 to coincide with the date of the international Saharamarathon solidarity race, which normally takes place in the Saharawi refugee camps. Due to the impact of the COVID19 pandemic and uncertainty surrounding travel restrictions to the region, this virtual challenge is being launched by Sandblast to provide an alternative to participate, but on the home front. People who sign up can choose to either do one of the traditional race distances (5, 10, 21 or 42km) or undertake another challenge to show their solidarity with the Saharawi refugees and help raise funds for Sandblast's project work in the camps. Watch this space for our social media campaign launch in the upcoming weeks. We are aiming to get a minimum of 100 UK participants and 1000 world-wide to raise £50,000 through the Desert Voicebox Virtual Challenge.
Carolina is fundraising to specifically help Sandblast purchase solar panels and generator for our Desert Voicebox learning centre. Currently, electricity in the Boujdour camp, where the project is based, is being cut almost every day for 5 to 6 hours. In the extreme heat of the Saharan summers, it is impossible to do anything without the use of air-conditioners and electricity to teach the children in our summer programme or run our remote training program for the teachers. Please show us your support and donate to her important campaign. Thank you Carolina for this generous gesture and thanks to all of you who make a donation!!
• June 1- Please check out the special blog contribution from Jack Morgan about his volunteering experience in the Saharawi refugee camps for Desert Voicebox.
• Early May- The Saharawi refugees are deeply relieved and grateful for a Algerian humanitarian convoy that arrives to the camps to distribute badly needed food aid. Since the very strict lockdown and closure of all the borders, the refugees have been unable to receive food aid and have run out of medicines to treat widespread diabetes and high blood pressure affecting large swathes of the population in the camps.
• April 15- At the height of the pandemic and lockdown period, we set up remote training with our 4 local teachers working for Desert Voicebox. In mid-April, three highly qualified volunteers began dedicating 2 hours a day, 5 days a week to train our 2 English and 2 Music teachers. Thank you Farida Alvarez (English teacher at St Giles Institute), Andrada Pascu (AB Music Academy ) training in Stave House method and Maite Heres (440hz Centre of Scenic Arts), doing ear-training. Check out our posts on instagram and facebook to follow their progress.
• Early January-Volunteers Andy Pitts and Georgia Lomax Thorpe set out to the camps for 4-5 weeks to train the teachers and do a special singing workshop with the children. See Feb 14 Sandblast newsletter in blog post for info about their story.
• January 1- Our early-learning project in the Saharawi refugee camps, known as Stave House in the Sahara, is renamed DESERT VOICEBOX This change marks not only the start of a new decade but, more importantly, reflects the significant developments and growth of the project over the past 12 months.
