Sahara woman has
always played a fundamental role in her own society, that indeed is a
matriarchal one.
During the war against Morocco (1975-1991) women have been forced to run away and refugee in the most hostile part of Sahara desert: the Hammada.
Without any kind of help from men, who were engaged in the battles many kilometers from there, Saharawi women have been able to organize the community life in the refugees camps, where a part of the Saharawi population is still living( about 250.000 persons). They took charge both of the logistic, through the construction of tends, houses, schools, hospitals and the political, social and cultural dimension.
During the war against Morocco (1975-1991) women have been forced to run away and refugee in the most hostile part of Sahara desert: the Hammada.
Without any kind of help from men, who were engaged in the battles many kilometers from there, Saharawi women have been able to organize the community life in the refugees camps, where a part of the Saharawi population is still living( about 250.000 persons). They took charge both of the logistic, through the construction of tends, houses, schools, hospitals and the political, social and cultural dimension.
In fact nowdays,lot
of them are in charge of important institutional assignments and all of them
take part at the women meetings that are often very influent in many
governative decisions.
They wish their population could return in the territory they were forced to leave and where their relatives are still living under occupation; they are also divided from a 2400 km wall surrounded by mines built by Morocco in order to deny them the possibilty to return to their own country.
They wish their population could return in the territory they were forced to leave and where their relatives are still living under occupation; they are also divided from a 2400 km wall surrounded by mines built by Morocco in order to deny them the possibilty to return to their own country.
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Raffale Petralla was born
1981.he graduated in"Scuola Romana di Fotografia" in 2007. In the same year he won
“Sanlorenzofotofestival” with the reportage titled"johnny bangla".
The years after he worked for a cinema agency for location sets, working at the
same time as a free lance photographer. In the 2008 made a reportage in tibet
and in 2010 made two projects in the refugee camps of the saharawi people. On
the august 2010 he went to report the life of Marisky people in the republic of
Mari el (Russia). Actually he works for an italian newspaper called “Terranews”
https://www.behance.net/raffaelepetralla
All images © Raffaele Petralla
