The court is a precarious cement floor, threatened by cracks and sand. He endures ailments as if he were another survivor of the refugee camp in which he finds himself. In the middle of the day, when the stifling heat provides some respite, the team conquers the track. The audience, sparse and sheltered from the sun under the shade of cars parked on the side of the road, watches as the players dribble the ball while dragging their wheelchairs across the swamp.

They are Defenders of the Desert, a group behind a pioneering initiative for people with disabilities who brave the daily challenges of one of the most inhospitable camps on the planet, where nearly 200,000 desert refugees have barely survived for 47 years. Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony occupied by Morocco. “For them, sports are a way to get together and talk about their lives,” he says. Ragheb Ahmedbabateam coach.

This is our way of showing people that we can also play and participate in society.

OMAR NAJI, BASKETBALL TEAM MEMBER

Omar Naji He is part of a team that takes to the court twice a week, on Mondays and Thursdays, as part of a project trying to shine a light on a community that has until now lived in the shadows. “This is our way of showing people that we can also play and participate in society,” says Najee. Like most of his teammates, he suffers from the effects of polio. He is married and has a daughter. He earns his living as a security guard in one of the camp libraries. He used to do this as a salesman in a store.

Omar attends his two weekly meetings on time. The adventure began in 2019 and was put on hold as the coronavirus health crisis spread. “So far we have played on this court and in Tindouf. [la ciudad argelina en cuyos alrededores están enclavados los campamentos], but we would like to travel. We were invited to Beirut, but we don’t have the opportunity to go,” says the young man during a break between training sessions. Their resources are limited. The uniforms worn by the team members represent the chaotic rotation of foreign sports groups.

Champion Lala’s Dream

Lala Ali shares the desire to cross the borders of the desert. At 36, she walks on crutches as she waits her turn to play seated volleyball, a discipline reserved for women. “We’d like to go on tour and play with girls from other countries who are in the same situation,” he comments in the Spanish he learned during his time in Spain. Almeria in the summer of distant childhood. “It’s very difficult to be disabled in a place like this, to move between the sand and rocks without tripping or falling.”

In such a place it is very difficult to become disabled, moving between sand and stones.

LALA ALI, MEMBER OF SID’S VOLLEYBALL TEAM

This project, unique to the Sahrawi camps, brings together people with disabilities from all the wilayas, the provinces in which the camps are organized. It is supported by the Ministry of Youth and Sports of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic and the Red Cross. “We started with 15 people, and every day the number of people wanting to join is increasing. Opportunities are few, and participation makes them happy,” admits Raged, one of the instigators of the initiative, who combines work as a journalist with managing a team.

In the shadow zone

Before joining the volleyball team, Lala spent her days in a tent, “doing nothing.” “I saw on television that in other countries girls like me were playing sports, and that was my dream,” she recalls. “Volleyball means a lot to me. It’s a way to have fun, play and change your mindset,” says she, who is now a group leader. “For many people with disabilities, there is no alternative but to stay at home. This was my first time bringing a friend. She had a lot of doubts, but I convinced her. We must leave behind the shame that many feel. They are very reserved and are used to staying at home. There are a lot of people with disabilities, both internally and externally,” he says.

The rest is participation in the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris.

The reluctance that, together with taboos and discrimination, continues to characterize the disabled in the camps was invisible until recently. Non-governmental organizations working on the ground among the diaspora who are trying to support the return to the occupied territories of Western Sahara are warning of particularly dire conditions facing the community due to the lack of adequate medical care. assistance and lack of knowledge about disability. A combination of factors that increased their vulnerability and seriously impacted their well-being and autonomy.

Aware of the challenges, Raged set out to successfully complete the odyssey of turning sport into a tool to claim his place in a society that had made resistance a way of life. A few months ago, Lala and Omar, along with the rest of their fellow sufferers, received shoes and “sports equipment.” “The goal is to continue to improve the athletic performance of our future champions,” the ministry explains. “The goal is to take part in the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris. We already know that this is a difficult dream,” Raged stammers. But for the defenders of the most hostile desert, there are no impossible goals.