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Running the Sahara 2010

“How does one even begin to tell the magical adventure of the Sahara desert, where we lived with people seeking refuge in the most desolate place on earth; where we raced across the sandy dunes; and endured, ate, slept and most of all laughed with each other for a week that seemed an abstract and parallel eternity. I have avoided describing the journey too soon in order for the emotional dust to settle and hope that this adequately transgresses all the salient experiences. For each one of us, our journey began a long time ago. When asked, we all recalled different moments for when we were first introduced to the idea of a Sahara Marathon and the Saharawi refugee camps. But, I think we were all destined to be there. What we have recalled in memory and named as a reason, might actually be the consequence of our lives. Simple, we ourselves are the reason for being here in middle of the harsh and beautiful Saharan sands. So, whilst our journeys began at different points spread across time and space, we all departed from the familiarity of our own civilization to the far away refugee camps of the Saharawi [...]“

My Story, written by Weis Guo

Gold winning athlete and political refugee, Salah Amaidane, visits the UK

Salah at Westminster

As part of his visit to the UK, gold winning athlete and political refugee Salah Amaidane ran on October 16, 2009 at Parliament Square to commemorate the 34th anniversary of the International Court of Justice Ruling.

During the laps he took around the square, locally known as the Freedom Square, he waved the Saharawi flag to attract public attention and especially the attention of MPs walking in and out of Westminster; invites them to attend the APPG meeting on the Western Sahara cause,

Salah calls on the IOC to recognise the SADR and impress MPs the need to increase international political pressure on Morocco to abide by international law and allow the Saharawi people self-determination.

“What is it like as a refugee?

October 21, 2009 –

An elite African athlete who has fought for his country’s independence has given a talk to a group of Bath students during an event to highlight the work of Amnesty International.

Sixth-formers at the Royal High School held an ‘Amnestea’ fundraising tea party, at which staff and

Salah Amaidane, gold winning runner

parents listened to a presentation on the human rights charity’s campaigns across the world.

The special guest was 5,000-metre African champion Salah Hmatou Amaidane, who has campaigned for his homeland Western Sahara to be granted independence from Morocco. The 26-year-old is the honorary figurehead for next year’s Sahara Marathon, an event to raise money to help build an athletics team to represent the Saharawi people.

School International Baccalaureate co-ordinator Angharad Holloway thanked Amaidane for taking the time to talk about his experiences. She said: “Peace and conflict resolution is one of the core themes in the current IB programme.

“We were privileged to have Amaidane with us and everyone was very moved by the plight of his people and his passionate devotion to their freedom. It has really brought home to the students how fundamental human rights are to a decent and dignified existence.”

Amaidane, born in Western Sahara, has represented Morocco at athletics competitions but has been arrested and imprisoned for taking part in peaceful protests for the self-determination of his people.

He was granted political asylum in France after showing a Saharawi flag during a race. The Western Sahara has been occupied by Morocco since 1976 and around 165,000 Saharawis live in refugee camps in the Algerian desert.

Amnesty International estimates that more than 500 people have “disappeared” and is trying to draw the world’s attention to the abuses of the Moroccan authorities.

SOURCE: This is bath.co.uk

Outrun by a Saharawi

Competing in Wimbledon

October 18th, 2009 –

On occasion of his visit to the UK in order to support Sandblast in  their campaigning e

fforts for the Saharamarathon, Salah Amaidan took part in the Wimbledon Audi 10k on Sunday, October 18th…and won!

Salah has been training for this race since he arrived in London on Oct 8th; that is, he tried to use every second for his training that he was not busy giving interviews, engaging in debates with student

s, activists, politicians and other members of the public. In the last two weeks, he toured through England from London to Brighton and Bath, he spoke to the Muslim community at the City Circle, to students at the Royal High School of Bath and Sussex University, ran laps at Parliament Square for each year the 1975 ICJ verdict on Sahrawi self-determination has been ignored and, finally yesterday, he competed in the 10km race in Wimbledon.

“I came to the UK to support the charity Sandblast and their efforts to campaign for the annual Saharamarathon in the camps. By this, British people get the chance to see and experience for themselves how my people have to live. When I run and win races, this is a way for me of expressing the aspirations of my people for their independence.

[To the Wimbledon Audi 10k] I enjoyed running the race in Wimbledon but it was hard for me as it is a lot colder and hillier than I am used to. I was very happy to win but I would have loved to win an Audi

4×4 to support my youth athletic projects in the refugee camps.”

Running the Sahara 2009

In 2009, 350 people ran in the Saharamarathon races from all over Europe, US and Algeria. Sandblast facilitated the participation of 22 people from the Britain. This group helped to raise over £10,000 for the Saharawi Artist Fund.