Sandblast acts in its second year as the official UK facilitator of the Saharamarathon, an international solidarity race for the displaced Saharawi refugees currently in its 10th edition. Sandblast succeeded in recruiting over 30 participants from the UK to race against over 500 expected others in the extreme climate of the South West Algerian desert where the Saharawi refugee camps are set.

1. For immediate release
Running the Sahara
Charity Sandblast takes 33 Britons to Saharawi refugee camps
London, February 2, 2010 - On February 19th, 33 British amateur runners, a
filming team and the charity director Danielle Smith travel to a refugee camp
in Tindouf, in SW Algeria. They will participate in long distance runs in the
Sahara and be joined by around 500 expected runners from other parts of
the world. The Saharamarathon is in its 10th year and is a solidarity race for
the Saharawi refugees. With the help of the British participants, the charity
aims to raise £20,000 for the Saharawi Artist Fund. The film crew are telling
the life of triple gold medalist Salah Ameidan, a Saharawi runner who won
the 10km Wimbledon race in October 2009.
The UK charity Sandblast works to give the displaced Saharawi refugees a
voice through the arts. It is the second year the charity acts as official UK
facilitator for participation in the Saharamarathon. The 33 runners will help
raise thousands for the Saharawi Artist Fund, to finance regular arts
workshops in the camps and provide vital training and resources for cultural
and economic empowerment. In February 2009, 15 British runners helped
to raise over £10,000. This year the funds will go towards setting up a
professional mobile recording studio and train Saharawis to run it in the
camps.
On February 22nd, the hundreds of participants traveling from all over the
world to Tindouf will run either full 42-km marathons or join shorter races of
5km, 10km, and a half marathon. The route connects three of the four refugee
camps, Smara, Ausserd and El-Aaiun. Each camp takes its name from a main
city in the Saharawi homeland of Western Sahara. After the races everyone
will travel to Dakhla, the most remote camp, to witness a children's race,
which is partially sponsored by AIMS (Association of International Marathons
and Distance Runs). During the week stay in the camps, participants will live
with individual refugee families. The camp-based Saharawi government-in-
Author: Sandblast
Date: February 2, 2010

2. exile and international volunteers have organized and hosted the event since
2001 to help create awareness, promote sports for the Saharawi youth and
raise money for projects to improve the lives of the long-term refugees.
Prior to the trip, Sandblast will host a reunion in London on February 12th with
the runners and two leading women from the camp- based National Union of
Saharawi Women, the Secretary General Fatma Mehdi and the head of
International Relations Suelma Beiruk. For press meetings, please contact the
charity.
About Sandblast:
Sandblast is an arts and human rights charity that aims to empower the
displaced Saharawi refugees through the arts. Close to 200,000 Saharawis
have been living as refugees since the 1975 Moroccan invasion of their
country, Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony in NW Africa. Despite the
extreme hardships of their exile, the Saharawi refugee community has
managed to build a vibrant, democratically run nation-in-exile, where women
play a prominent role in all sectors of life, defying many Western
preconceptions about Arab-Muslim societies. The Saharawis seek their
independence in Western Sahara and have been waiting for the UN to
implement the long promised referendum for their self-determination,
originally scheduled for early 1992.
To find out more please visit the Sandblast website: www.sandblast-
arts.org.
Contact:
Danielle Smith
Director of Sandblast
61 Minster Road
London NW2 3SH
e: danielle@sandblast-arts.org
t: 0783 8463310
Author: Sandblast
Date: February 2, 2010