'So my mother saved us' - an account
from a young Saharan girl
TINDOUF (Algeria) - The camp
known as the '27 February' is located in a steep-sided, narrow and winding
canyon. It is ideal for channelling rainwater and due of this, with three
days of solid rain, 30 years worth of buildings made from earth bricks
have collapsed. During the night, on 11 February, a mountain of water rained
down upon the Saharan refugee camp in the region of Tindouf, in south west
Algeria. It was a downpour in the middle of the desert.
The house where I lived was as old as me, it was built in 1989 - the year I was born. I had lived there my whole life. Now, there's nothing there anymore' sitting on the ground Nasiha Mohamezd Mbarek, 16 years old, hugs her young brother Mohamed Lamin, aged 2 years. Under the tent where she lives, her mother prepares tea while her father, outside, is in the process of putting up the walls of his family's future shelter.
I remember that night well, it rained so hard' continues Nasiha, ' and the water started to stream in, the current was so strong that it took everything away with it. We were scared. At two o'clock in the morning, our mother called her seven children to her and said 'now we need to flee, run quickly!' We sought refuge on a nearby hill. It was hard to climb and we slipped and fell. It continued to rain throughout the night and we stayed there in the rain without shelter and did not move. But at least the rain could not reach us there'.
When the Mbarek family went back home, in the early hours of the morning, they found their house still standing but covered in cracks. On 12 February, the dawn revealed the devastation. Collapsed buildings, animal carcasses, a thick layer of mud covered anything that was left. The torrents of water and mud took everything away with them. Some things could still be saved, wiped off. A carpet, two plates, a television put on the roof of a neighbour's van. Some hours later, the walls and bricks start to give way, but with a dull noise they fall back on themselves. Finally, they do give way and one more home no longer exists.
'We have lost everything' the young girl continues, 'our stock of food, flour, lentils, oil...' The call for help is already underway and for two days alarming messages have been reaching the offices of the humanitarian organisations that are busy assisting the Saharan populations. Three of the four refugee camps were destroyed by the flooding. The Algerian army arrives that day. The Mbarek family is comforted and fed. On 14 February an urgent decision is taken by the humanitarian department of the European Commission (DG ECHO) and €900,000 is allocated to help address the most urgent needs. The partners of DG ECHO - the High Commission for Refugees and the World Food Programme - see to the distribution of food, tents, blankets, mattresses and plastic tarpaulins. 'It's strange, before the flooding we received aid but I felt that the world had forgotten us' Naziha goes on ' therefore I'm almost grateful for this misfortune, because at last we have got back a bit of attention.'
The school of '9 June' has partially collapsed and many others are so damaged that they cannot be re-opened until serious consolidation works have been completed.
'I don't go to school anymore. I had to leave because of my lungs' says Naziha. 'I suffer from asthma that prevents me from going to school. I got medicine from the community clinic. Actually, I would like to be a doctor but as for the future, I don't know' she finishes.
'I was born here, I have visited Spain twice and it was wonderful, the way of life, the games, there was even a swimming pool full of water. That's my dream, to become a doctor and live in Spain but I can't allow myself the luxury. I need to help my mother here, I do the cleaning and look after my brothers. So, that's my life.'
Daniela Cavini - ECHO Regional Information Officer