Under The Surface

Not many people from the outside world have heard about the Saharawis, much fewer get to see the inside of the refugee camps. Most of the foreigners (read Spanish people) who visit the camps come in delegations and stay for one or maybe two weeks. The delegations we have seen pass through have been students, scientists, activists or medical staff. These groups of engaged and interested Europeans obviously want to see as much as possible on the little time they have, so they often travel from camp to camp and stay only a couple of days in each place. Being busy traveling around provides the visitors with a lot of information. It lets them meet many different people, they get to take a lot of photographs and hear many different stories.

However, there are a lot of things one can not see when passing through the camps like most people tend to do. You can not see that the eight year old boy you just photographed is in reality twelve. Nor can one see that almost every second woman suffers from anemia caused by malnutrition.

The Saharawis treat their guests in the most hospitable way and serve every piece of valuable food to the foreigners who stop by on short visits. But these rich meals are far from the normal, every day food composed by donations from organizations like the EU and the WFP. Most of the food does not hold a minimum standard of quality. The flour given by WFP is not good enough to make bread and the oil donated by the US is not exactly virgin olive oil. The donations to the camps have not been reconsidered the last 30 years, so the food they receive is aimed on people living in short term needs. Now generations are growing up on these fable gifts from the north.

The children we live with suffer from constant infections. Diarrhea and vomiting is something the families experience on a almost a weekly basis due to bacterias that hit their weak immune systems. You never forget the first time you see a diaper filled with blood. This is the harsh reality of the refugees. Behind their smiles and their more than welcoming gestures their bodies weaken day by day.

They say that a photo can say more than a thousand words. My experience from the last three months is that the contrary can be just as true.