My first photograph in Tindouf. The first day, in the Sahrawi refugee camp of Awserd. Far from the postcard image of the desert, I discovered a reality that unsettles—where every gesture of daily life becomes a challenge.
Our vehicle sank into a maze of indistinct roads. A singular organization seems to emerge from what might appear as disorder. As we were heading to a family’s home, an unusual spectacle caught my eye:a truck distributing gas cylinders at the heart of this intense activity.
The Symphony of Survival
I opened the window. And that’s when I heard it: a metallic, irregular symphony. The clatter of iron stopping, resuming, approaching. A strange melody - dissonant yet rhythmic - that seemed to orchestrate life in the camp. Then I saw the source of this music.
And I understood ...
The Heavy Burden of a Family Meal
An empty gas cylinder weighs about 13 kg. A full one, 23 kg. Their means of transport? Women, who with astonishing agility, roll them along rugged paths by pushing with their feet. Without this incredible choreography, no hot meal would be possible.
On the way back, the task becomes an ordeal. The 23 kg of the full cylinder presses heavily on the journey home.
For those living farther away, a heroic donkey and a cart take over—the final link to the most isolated families.
The Lingering Anxiety
But this cylinder, symbol of survival, never lasts until the next distribution. A few days before delivery, the gas runs out. The fire dies.
The pot cools... and anxiety grows.
Our Role in This Reality
That cylinder pushed along the ground is far more than a simple metal container. It is the weight of dignity, the burden of feeding one’s family, and the symbol of resilience matched only by the precariousness of life itself.
By supporting Sahrawi communities, you do more than provide emergency aid. You lighten, in a tangible way, the burden carried by these women.
You allow them to win their daily battle - for a hot meal, for a fragment of normality, for the preservation of their strength, which is the strength of an entire community.
Let us help them carry this weight. Because dignity should never be such a heavy load.