Thesis 100dpi

the freedom to move around a critical aspect of survival. Mobility, in
fact, is much more than mere utility for them. The camps are located in
the middle of the largest desert in the world; thus, movement is essential
in connecting to the surrounding regions and the world in general.
Communication is still fairly basic: each family normally possesses one
mobile phone, radio and television.
Rabouni administration center
ECONOMY AND WORKING
The economy is not based on currency but on exchange in kind. Staple
foods have been donated by the Algerian state, and additional
goods and services are bartered among the refugees.
Some employment in institutions, such as schools and hospitals, is
unpaid and undertaken for the benefit of public interest. Sometimes
these workers are rewarded with extra portions of vegetables or
other goods.
However, the situation changed when the Spanish started paying
pensions to the Sahrawis who worked in the colonial administration.
The pensions enabled the Sahrawis working in Spain and Algeria to
send money to their families in the camps. The inflow of money into
the camps established economic differences among the inhabitants
for the first time.
96 REFUGIUM
“It seems that the tragedy
of loosing one’s
homeland had lead to
a system bringing the
emancipation to a refugee
nation.’’
HEALTH AND EDUCATION
The level of education and health care of Sahrawis was very basic
during Spanish colonial rule. To set up a decent education and
health system for a relatively small population over such a vast
territory was almost impossible. It seems that the tragedy of losing
one’s homeland had lead to a system of bringing emancipation to a
refugee nation: the relative density of life in the camps, mobility and
communication services allowed the creation of an extensive system
of schools and clinics. The level of education and life expectancy is
one of the highest among the countries of the Maghreb.
Sahrawi girls at school