Desert relief for refugess

In the western Algerian desert, there are almost 160,000 people living in refugee camps, dependent solely on aid. They are Saharawis, displaced from the Western Sahara, the last remaining colony in Africa, who have been made refugees by decades of fighting. As long as the Western Sahara remains under Moroccan control, the Saharawis remain refugees.

Fourth-year UNSW photovoltaic engineering student Joel Courtney has devoted his final-year thesis to developing a system that will supply solar power to a hospital and school in Smara, one of the main Western Saharan refugee camps.

“These camps are not what we normally think of when we think about refugee camps,” Joel said. “They have been described as the best-run refugee camps in the world, with literacy rates of about 95 per cent and health standards comparable to those of countries such as Morocco and Algeria.”

Joel is devising a system that will provide lighting and fans to the Smara Hospital and the Smara Women’s School, with the help of engineering academic staff Mr Geoff Stapleton and Dr Rob Corkish.

The project’s biggest challenge is securing sources of funding. “Part of my thesis requires me to seek funding, to enable the project to take place,” Joel said. “I’ll probably target medical and education-based non-government organisations and companies who have an interest in the region.”

Joel is disappointed United Nation efforts to help Western Sahara achieve self-determination seem to have slipped down their list of priorities. “These people have been living in limbo for almost three decades. It would be great if the process could be sped up,” says Joel. “But when they do move back into Western Sahara, the installations I’m planning can move with them.”

Media contact: Sarah Wilson, ph 02-9385 8079, 0412 413 923.