Daily life the refugee camps

I feel like writing a little bit about daily life in the camps. Part of this blog so far has been about the political situation, which of course is the background for why we, and indeed all the Saharawis are here. However, the lived everyday life is concerned with more pressing matters, and I will try to say a little about some of them.

If you think the Sahara desert is a hot place, you're very mistaken. At least this part of the desert, at this time of year. I don't have a thermometer, but I would guess it's around 5 degrees celcius, giver or take a little, from about 9 PM until about 12 AM. Then the sun slowly starts heating everything up – unless it's windy, which it often is. Then it may be seriously cold until about 3 or 4 PM. In practice, this means that when we have breakfast before school and dinner (around 10PM before we go to bed), sat on the floor, shivering whilst wrapped in fleece blankets. The last couple of nights, I've slept in woollen long-johns, a woolen shirt, a fleece jumper and thick socks – in addition to a thin sleeping bag and two blankets on top of me. People here have tents and small houses, but there is little difference in the temperature inside and outside. No wonder our entire family and half my class have a cold. I can feel my own throat swelling up as I write.

Another aspect of daily life is the unpredictability of things. For example, today only four students in my class showed up. The reason was that the gas had arrived, so people had to bring their empty gas containers and pick up new ones. I asked them, as nicely as I could, to let me know in advance when these things happen. They then replied that often, they didn't know themselves before it happened, except that the gas arrived roughly once a month. Imagine that – you don't know when you'll get gas next time for your stove! In addition to this, the water at the school has ran out. Rumors has it the water is roughly as unpredictable as the gas...

All in all, it seems to be true that the camps are well organised. On the other hand, well organised compared to what?