Update from Stave House in the Sahara!

For the last two weeks in October, one of our partner organisations, Olive Branch Arts, are in the Camps to run their new photography and music training programme ‘Sand and Vision’. They are working in Smara and aim to build the storytelling and creative composition skills of young participants so they can tell their stories in new ways. You can find out more information about their work here. One of their team, Matt King Smith, is a musician and he is gathering the sounds, music and voices of Saharawis of all ages and musical abilities to create some tracks documenting the team's time in the Camps. We are lucky to have Matt working with both our Stave House in the Sahara groups on two different days of workshops. ​

​Working with them on English every day is brilliant as you can see the progress made in a week. After the long summer break they were at first struggling to recall a lot of what they had learned last year. After three weeks of immersion for an hour at a time, working with a teacher who can only help them learn through the target language itself alongside gesture, we have developed our own ways of communicating and understanding one another and everything from last year is coming flooding back to them. They are becoming fearless in taking on board new vocabulary rather than looking to someone to translate the words for them.

Our classes switch between moments of calm and moments of playful energy. The children are inquisitive and bold and don't shy away from answering even when they are unsure. We focus on listening to my voice and all the strange and wonderful new sounds of the English words they are learning. They repeat over and over but also learn to question each other, learning to talk about themselves and others. We listen to English music and look at photos of England, many aspects of which are totally alien to them. We laugh at the way I pronounce their names but that helps them know that I am learning just as they are.

Bring on the next couple of months!"

Original article in Spanish by Poemario por un Sahara Libre.

We are so thrilled to announce that London's exclusive dance studio Inspiration 2 Dance has just announced that they'll be dedicating their upcoming fundraiser SUMMER SIZZLE Dance & BBQ Party 2017 next June 24 in London to Sandblast. THANK YOU!!

Our connection with Inspiration 2 Dance comes from our Founding Director Danielle Smith, who's really passionate about dancing and has had a close relationship with the school since late 2015.

Sandblast has decided to pledge all funds raised through the SUMMER SIZZLE Dance to the music and English education project Stave House in the Sahara, which has just finished their very successful second stage with over 25 children passing their certified Stave House Level 1 Music Awards. Congratulations! During its third stage (Sep 2017-May 2018), Sandblast will be the main sponsor of the project, so we need all the help we can get to make it a reality! For that, we've just set up a new JustGiving fundraising campaign. Check it out!

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Our partner project Stave House in the Sahara has just finished its second stage with a fabulous End Of Year Party in which the children have performed a few songs and had some sweet treats to celebrate a very successful year. Over 25 students have recently passed their Stave House Level 1 Music Awards, which will be fully certified by the London College of Music (University of West London) through Stave House. Congratulations!! How exciting!

Sandblast is now in conversation with Stave House in the Sahara to provide sponsorship for their third stage, which will begin in September 2017. Stay tuned for updates!

​TINDOUF, Algeria – With a master’s degree in energy efficiency, Sahrawi refugee Tateh Lehbib Breica had originally planned to build an energy efficient home in the desert, using discarded bottles for a roof garden.

But as the roof’s circular form presented construction challenges, the 27-year-old found himself left with numerous bottles which were no longer good for their intended purpose – growing plant seedlings.
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“I asked myself ‘What can I do with these?’” says Breica, who was born and raised in Awserd refugee camp, attended university in Algiers under a DAFI scholarship, and later studied for his master’s at a Spanish university.

WATCH VIDEO ABOUT PROJECT HERE

Original text in Spanish published by Poemario por un Sahara Libre yesterday 23rd January.

UPDATE: Please note that the trial has been postponed again until early March.

Summary: EIC Poemario for a Free Sahara on information and photos and Saharawi activists of human rights, January 23, 2017

According to the last hour reported by Sahrawi human rights activists, the trial of prisoners of #GdeimIzik has been postponed for tomorrow January 24 at 10 am. The judicial record of the prisoner Mohamed Layoubi has been separated from the rest of the group and his trial has been scheduled for March 13, 2017. (Layoubi Mohamed has been admitted to a hospital of AGADIR and because of that disease has been released on parole, even though he was sentenced by the military court to 20 years in prison.)

Numerous Sahrawis gathered this morning in front of the court awaiting trial against the prisoners of Gdeim Izik in Salé, Morocco, with banners in Arabic and Spanish supporting the prisoners and condemning their unjust detention. According to eldiario.es the Spanish lawyers Travieso, Sebastián, Adolfo and Serrano have acted as observers in the trial, after the initial retention of lawyer Francisco Serrano.

Spanish media such as RTVE and Cadena Ser have been present at the gates of the court; they interviewed the Saharawi activist Ahmed Brahim Ettanji (Equipo Media). Other Saharawi activists such as Brahim Dahn (ASVDH), who has also spoken to the press, were also present.
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In El Aaiun there have been intense demonstrations in connection with the re-trial of Sahrawi political prisoners of the Gdeim Izik group. The solidarity movement in Spain and France mobilised to demand the immediate release of Saharawi political prisoners by organising about 20 demonstrations (Algeciras, Alicante, Barcelona, ​​Bilbao, Jaen, Jerez de la Frontera, Madrid, Oviedo, Palma de Mallorca, Las Palmas Of Gran Canaria, Pamplona, ​​Tenerife, Santander, Lanzarote, Seville, Valencia, Vigo, Zaragoza, Granada, among others). For its part, the Saharawi community in France has concentrated in Paris.

EQUIPO MEDIA. ​January 23, 2017

​Moroccan authorities cut off Internet access in all areas around the Court of Sale, where the trial of the heroes of Gdeim Izik is taking place, in an attempt to silence the case, once they found that many assistants Began to hang pictures and videos on social networks, supporting the prisoners and their families, Equipe Media contributed to show what happened by broadcasting live and reporting through Facebook, although it was interrupted by the cut in the network, We were able to verify that this cut in the communications has applied it to a radius of approximately one thousand meters, increasing the area of interruption of the communications that used the previous time

EQUIPO MEDIA. January 23, 2017

The Saharawi boy Kamal Laroussi, son of the political prisoner Abdul Jalil Laroussi, was the victim of the impact of a bottle, thrown by one of the Moroccan agitators present, they tried by all means to provoke the Saharawi assistants, after realizing the success that was With the follow-up to the Judgment of the heroes of #GdeimIzik both in the place and in the social networks and the many samples of solidarity with them, the Moroccan police present in the place, I take no action despite the protest of the assistants Saharawis.
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We, the relatives of the #SharawiPoliticalPrisoners, associations of #HumanRights solidarity movement and the Saharawi people, support the #GdeimIzik group, denounce their imprisonment and demand their freedom. We denounce the military joke trial that took place in February 2013 and this new civil trial joke. We demand their immediate release and that the international community intervene to safeguard their rights.