Story
Hi Everyone! Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page :)
This month I will be attempting to run half a marathon in the Sarahan desert! (Can’t promise I will 'run' the entire 13 miles under the heat of the Sarahan sun, might have to resort to walking – but will most definitely try me best!) Gone slightly mad you might say? Possibly… I’m taking on this mammoth challenge to help raise money for an amazing London-based charity called Sandblast, whose mission is to give a voice to Saharawi refugees through the arts. For over 30 years, the Western Sahara has been subject to territorial dispute by its neighbouring countries, causing close to 200,000 Saharawis to flee their homeland and live in the harsh desert land of Algeria as refugees. Denied their right to self-determination, the Saharawi people still await to one day return to an independent Western Sahara. I will be flying out to the refugee camps in Tindouf, Algeria on 19th February with 32 other Sandblast runners where we will be joined by people from all over the world taking part in the Sahara Marathon. We will have the opportunity of spending time with the Saharawi people as we’re going to be camping out there for a whole week! All money raised will go towards financing the Sandblast projects in the refugee camps providing the Saharawis with skills, resources and opportunities to develop through the arts and encourage collaborations with artists worldwide. So please dig deep people! This is truly a worthwhile cause and without sounding too much like a Tesco advert – ‘Every Little Helps!’ :P Thanks again for your time and support, Love Shabana x For more information about the Western Sahara and the work Sandblast do, please visit: www.sandblast-arts.org