Concert in Oslo!

Having spent 3 months in a refugee camp changes you as a person. And I do hope that is for the better. Not a single day passes by without me thinking about my host family, our coordinator Abba or my students. I am certainly not the only one, I know Eivind and Sunniva do the same, and not to forget the volunteers before us- Hanne, Marta and Anne Kristine. 

The only way we can show our host families as well as the project how thankful we all are, is to inform other Norwegians about the current situation in the camps. We all know that without international pressure, nothing will change and my host family will continue to live in their tent and little brick house. As a consequence of this, we came up with the idea of organising a concert in Oslo with the title 'Have you heard about Western Sahara?'. 
 
The event will take place at Månefisken 30th August 2012. Doors open at 19.00. 
 
FREE ENTRY!

Richard Skretteberg from the Norwegian Refugee Aid will speak, as well as Ingrid Aas Borge, president of Changemaker, og Senia Bashir, a Saharawi refugee now currently living in Norway. 

We are so lucky to have the most exciting band in Norway, 'Disaster In the Universe', playing. http://www.nrk.no/urort/Artist/DisasterInTheUniverse/default.aspx#top

'Making Marks', a well-known indie-band (previously known as My Little Pony) will also entertain this evening. http://makingmarksofficial.tumblr.com/

'Bård Watn' will catch peoples’ attention with his guitar and distinct voice.http://www.bardwatn.com/

In addition to this will Sarah Ramin Osmundsen, Norwegian champion in poetry from 2011, entertain, Kosti Kühler will show his films from the refugee camp and Elisabeth Stubberud will hold a photo exhibition from the same place.

We want the place to be filled up with people interested in having a good night and learning more about the Saharawi refugee camps in Algeria. After having followed this blog for such a long time- we you assume you over normal interested in the refugee camps- and there are no excuses for not showing up at the concert! 

We promise an excellent night, with good music, politics and art- all for free.

The last blogpost

We are going home soon. In 9 days we will sleep in our soft beds and smell the fresh air of Norway. There will be no sand between our toes and our tan we are so proud of, will be washed off with soap and clean hot water. 

Things we never thought we would do

• Camel slaughter
• Drive an old German military vehicle
• Do housework for a man
• Spend 45 minutes on the toilet
• Drink 712 cups of tea

Things we have learned

• Don't touch the Quran
• Don't greet the opposite sex by shaking their hand
• Tampons is only for married women
• A bride should be sad
• Hola means “hi” in the European language

Things we have experienced

• Not smile unnecessarily to men
• Licking our hands clean after a meal
• Always bring toilet paper and antibac wherever you go

• Not all children are nice
• Don't talk about Israel

Teacher for 3 months?

Teaching in the refugee camp is awarding, the students are inspiring and and the teacher role has given us the possibility to get to know people we elsewhere wouldn't have met. However, being a teacher in the refugee camp has also proven to be very challenging and sometimes on the brink to frustrating. I keep reminding myself that I don't have gone though the same teacher education as others, in order to justify all my wrong-doings. I spend hours trying to explain a rule, only to find the students making the same mistakes the next day, leading me to question the sanity of my old teachers... There are days where I simply wish I didn't have to make my way down to the community centre, and lack of motivation, freezing classrooms, or a badly planned lessons have all been contributing reasons. Nevertheless, most days are excellent, and my little classroom has turned into a little sauna in the hot sun. On good days I have up to four people per desk, twelve women in total in addition to one one man. Add all the smell and you have a room filled of cooking oil, chalk and sweat.

I was surprised to find dictation the class' favorite activity, in addition to tests and competitions. I have some very competitive students, however they might have misunderstood the concept as they believe it is all about being the loudest.. Yet, when Bruno Mars, Michael Jackson or Tom Gee are played the class turn quiet. After all, it is important to understand the lyrics of 'when you smile, the whole world stops for a while' or 'heal the world, make it a better place'.

The end of this week was celebrated with homemade cake made by two of my students. It is strange to imagine that we only have one full week on teaching left and that my students will be left to themselves after that. Perhaps some of them will be picked up by the next years Norwegian volunteers. Others will perhaps start their studies in Algeria, the not so lucky ones (depending on how you look at it) might spend more time in the kitchen. The only thing I know is that I for sure will miss every individual student that I have spent three hours with, every day, for the last three months.

What is a place without its people?

Now as our stay is coming to an end I am thinking more and more about the people and the place where we are. This is not a permanent home. Not for me, not for them. Still when I look around, this has really felt like a home the last few months.

My uncle and my cousin left a few days ago. And I miss them very much, I always had interesting discussions with one of them, and the other taught me how to drive a motorbike in the desert. When they left it made me think about this place without these people. What makes an area and a territory to a place? If it is just the people couldn't you then make a home out of anything? How different would this territory be if someone else lived here?

People all around the world create places by building a life around the resources available. Sometimes there are more and sometimes there are less. People use what they have, and after a while the stories and the memories will be attached to a piece of land. Still this place in the desert isn't any ones home. I hope that the Saharawis' will get their country back. At the same time I must say how much I admire them and their accomplishments in making these refugee camps a home. When we leave in two weeks I will not only miss the people, and my family but I will miss my home.