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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.
Latest news
BREAKING NEWS
Nov 13- Nearly 30 year long cease-fire ends in Western Sahara! In late October, Saharawi civilians from the refugee camps began a peaceful blockade of an illegally-built road at Guerguerat between the south of the Moroccan occupied part of the Western Sahara and Mauritania. Last week, Morocco sent in troops to drive away the protestors. By doing so it comprehensively broke the terms of the ceasefire which forbids armed forces from entering buffer zones between the parties. In response, nearby Polisario forces opened fire in order to evacuate the civilians. Later, Saharawi fighters attacked a number of positions along the Moroccan defensive wall. Click here to read more
• Nov 2/ PETITION in support of Saharawi self-determination reaches nearly 4000 signatures in just over a week. The petition calls on the UN not to abandon the process for holding a referendum so the Saharawis can finally exercise their fundamental rights and determine their future. Please support and sign so we can reach 10,000 signatures by Feb 27, 2021 and break the silence and inaction.
•INTERVIEW with Georgia Lomax Thorpe about her volunteering experience with the Desert Voicebox project in the Saharawi refugee camps.
(Excerpt) "Desert Voicebox really is an oasis in the camp. The children have so much fun in the classes and it’s a space for them to grow in ways they aren’t able to in their normal school curriculum. The curriculum offered at Desert Voicebox is all about giving the kids a voice, so they can grow up to be confident in voicing their world view."
Georgia did a four week-long singing workshop with the students at Desert Voicebox, in early 2020. Click here to read the whole interview.
• Join the DESERTVOICEBOX.CHALLENGE on instagram to give Saharawi refugee children opportunities and skills for a better future. View inspiring stories featured on it. From now til Feb 27 2021 you can take on a personal challenge to help us raise £50,000 so we can keep the project going and growing. SHOW THE LOVE AND SPREAD THE WORD!
• New penpal link between E. London and S.W. Algeria. The first exchange of letters has taken place, by WhatsApp, between Desert Voicebox students and primary school students at George Mitchell school in London. This is the beginning of a beautiful new relationship!
• Oct 2/ Liz Warner ran 100km in the ULTRA MIRAGE race in Tunisia as part of her DESERT VOICEBOX challenge to run 1000 miles by Feb 27, 2021. An amazing challenge! Please donate to her challenge and support our fantastic project.
Liz, an amazing athlete and a great Sandblast supporter who runs to raise funds for causes around the world.
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Action
• COVID19 emergency fund for Desert Voicebox. Please help us cover our extra costs to keep the Desert Voicebox project running for the next 6 months. We want to thank the wonderful generosity of our friends and supporters who have already donated but we still need more funds to keep going. We can't do this without you! As always we are incredibly grateful. Click here to DONATE.
Other developments
• REMOTE TRAINING CONTINUES FOR OUR DESERT VOICEBOX SAHARAWI TEACHER TRAINEES. We thank our amazing English language and music volunteers Farida Alvarez, Rebecca Hedley and Andrada Pascu for making this happen.
• SANDBLAST LINKS with GROW HOPE SAHARAWI, a beautiful initiative from up north to promote food self-reliance and improve access to water in the Saharawi refugee camps. Please check out their website to find out more http://growhopesahrawi.org.uk/
• SANDBLAST IS INVITED TO CONTRIBUTE A CHAPTER FOR A ROUTLEDGE PUBLICATION on the praxis of Art and Culture in Development around the world. Watch this space for publication date.
• COVID19 emergency fund for Desert Voicebox. Please help us cover our extra costs to keep the Desert Voicebox project running for the next 6 months. We want to thank the wonderful generosity of our friends and supporters who have already donated but we still need more funds to keep going. We can't do this without you! As always we are incredibly grateful. Click here to DONATE.
Other developments
• REMOTE TRAINING CONTINUES FOR OUR DESERT VOICEBOX SAHARAWI TEACHER TRAINEES. We thank our amazing English language and music volunteers Farida Alvarez, Rebecca Hedley and Andrada Pascu for making this happen.
• SANDBLAST LINKS with GROW HOPE SAHARAWI, a beautiful initiative from up north to promote food self-reliance and improve access to water in the Saharawi refugee camps. Please check out their website to find out more http://growhopesahrawi.org.uk/
• SANDBLAST IS INVITED TO CONTRIBUTE A CHAPTER FOR A ROUTLEDGE PUBLICATION on the praxis of Art and Culture in Development around the world. Watch this space for publication date.
