On our third day in the camp, I was walking back from the hospital with Rais, and I asked where all the youth our age were. He said something about Spain that I didn’t understand and we kept on walking. Literally two minutes later, we met a girl (finally someone my age!!!!!) with a beaming smile - her name was Ferra. Haley and I ended up spending a good amount of time with Ferra and her sister Ceetu, as they were the only girls our age who lived close to Rais’ house. Ferra was 23 years old and Ceetu 20, they were two of five children. We got to meet both their dad and mother and got to hear bits and pieces of their story over multiple cups of tea. Their father had been a commander in the Western Saharan army many years ago when the Resistance was still fighting Moroccan forces. You could tell from the excitement in his voice and beam on his face that he was proud to have served his country even til the end when Western Sahara was forced to give up fighting. He told us many times that life here in the desert was hard, very very hard. And yet he looked forward to the day where he would live again in his homeland. This was something that every person I talked to said multiple times.
Ferra’s mother was the sweetest lady and she gave each of us the cutest little hugs and kisses each time we entered her tent. I got to talking to her about her oldest child- one older son who is currently in Cuba right now finishing up his degree to be a doctor. He is in his last year of a 13 year trip to become educated enough to come back and serve his people. In his mother’s eyes there was such a deep mix of grief and pride; grief from being separated from her son for well over a decade and pride to know that he was coming back to serve his country. Ferra also wants to serve her country- she just graduated from a University in Algiers, Algeria after studying Communication and Information Systems because she has a dream that she will one day be able to share her story, the story of her family and her people, with the world. Family here is everything, and loyalty to one’s country and kin is, I believe, the strongest chord that is holding this exiled nation together.
-Tal