UK Summer Program: Recap!
Celebrating a Summer of Exchange & Transformations
This summer, Sandblast was proud to host its UK Cultural & Language Immersion Summer Programme - an epic six-week journey that brought 10 Saharawi graduate students and 2 teachers to the UK from our Desert Voicebox after-school programme in camp Boujdour.
Together, we filled the weeks with creativity, learning, laughter, and friendship — all while deepening a global understanding of the Saharawi story, which marks 50 years of exile and occupation in Western Sahara in 2025.
This August, the Desert Voicebox group traveled back to the Algerian Sahara to reunite with their families and return from the summer programme. In this newsletter, we’d like to take you on a journey to commemorate this momentous experience and share some spotlight stories of the trip, made so much richer thanks to the fantastic support of our many generous partners and contributors!
Highlights from the Summer
Exploring the UK:
From the bucolic deer-studded fields and magic woodlands of Cudham, to the elegant rose gardens of Regents Park, from the sandy shores of buzzing Brighton to the buzzing beekeeping farm of Wythenshawe park in Manchester, from the grandiose halls of Westminster to the giddy heights of the Shard, from the historic banks of the Thames river to the placid lakes of Windemere, the children experienced contrasting landscapes and worlds.
Arts & Creativity:
From songwriting to photography to protest art, to street dancing, to chocolate painting workshops, they found fresh ways to express themselves and tell their stories. From watching a classic silent Charlie Chaplin film at the Wells Walk theatre in Hampstead, to seeing the iconic Lion King musical at the Lyceum Theatre, to witnessing daring circus street performances in Covent Garden , to immersing themselves in interactive art installations at the Tate Modern, they caught inspiring glimpses of UK cultural life.
Cultural Exchange: Meeting UK students from Camden School of Girls, Harris Academy for Boys and refugee youth at the Migrant Help and Playing for Progress centres, gave our Desert Voicebox students a rare chance to learn about different lives and realities, being hosted by families in Manchester enabled them to experience diverse home life settings, and the talents of our volunteers and workshop leaders offered exciting new experiences and challenges.
Teamwork & Growth: Living together at Cudham Environmental Activity Centre and at Camp 100, the group shared responsibilities, cooked meals, navigated public transport, and learned vital life skills in a supportive environment.
Making Music with the Founder of the Stave House
Ruth Travers was the inspiration and driving force behind our after school project, which was first set up back in 2016 (known then as Stave House in the Sahara). Consequently, it was especially meaningful to have her deliver the first workshop of the UK Summer programme to our Desert Voicebox students at Cudham and doing so on her birthday! Ruth’s creative and engaging approach was immediately evident as she showed the children how to turn the simplest of things- like saying one’s name -into a exercise to put together rhythm and melody to make music and sing their names one after the other at a constant tempo.
The fact that everyone felt they could express themselves musically with relative ease was a true testament of Ruth's skill and experience and reaffirmed the power of her method to encourage young people to make music. We cannot help but hope that someday she will make it to the camps to inspire more children to love music.
While we cannot say what the outcome of this meeting will be, Andy was definitely keen to raise the issue of the Saharawis’ self-determination rights in parliament and to enquire about providing humanitarian aid for the refugees.
MP Andy Slaughter Listens to Saharawi Youth Ambassadors
On July 21, the day before Parliament was due to go on break for the summer, the DV group met their first ever British politician. Andy Slaughter the labour MP for Hammersmith and Fulham had booked a private room to spend 30mins learning from our young Saharawi delegation about their lives in the camps, their aspirations and the support they sought from the UK. It was touching and impressive to see how genuinely Andy listened to the four who bravely stepped into their role of cultural ambassadors to read out their written statements in English, expressing their desires for a Western Sahara free from occupation and help to access educational opportunities to have better futures. This meeting was particularly important to the Saharawi group as they felt like their voices were being heard and valued, something which unfortunately does not happen often enough.
Reigniting Solidarity at Camp 100
An important highlight of the summer, was the 10 days spent at Camp 100. Hosted by Woodcraft Folk with 2000 people on site, it celebrated a century of bringing young people together across cultures, backgrounds, and borders to live and learn in peace and equality.
The Woodcraft Folk had welcomed Saharawis in the past - almost two decades ago - with limited connection with our cause since. That changed the moment our group arrived. Everywhere we went, people recognized the flowing melhfas of our teachers or stopped them to recall stories from past encounters.
During their stay, the group received love and support from many corners- Lucy, Imogen and Joel at Village 15, where they were hosted, did a fantastic job to integrate the group and make them feel welcome. Longstanding Woodcraft Folk friends, Hannah Lewis, Georgia and Julie Lomax, ensured that the Saharawis were woven into the heart of camp activities, hosting tea ceremonies, performing traditional dances, running Western Sahara workshops, and captivating everyone they met.
But the impact went even further. Moved by these encounters, camp members pushed for a resolution of support for the Sahrawi cause to be put to a vote at the Woodcraft Folk’s AGM. Hanan, one of our older Desert Voicebox graduates gave a stirring, heartfelt speech which was translated into English and read aloud by her new camp friend Ellie who presented the motion.
Hanan’s words were so powerful that the resolution passed unanimously, committing WoodCraft Folk to actively campaign the UK government for Saharawi rights to self-determination and increase its support for future exchanges with the refugee camps.
Northern Hospitality
During their stay, the group received love and support from many corners- Lucy, Imogen and Joel at Village 15, where they were hosted, did a fantastic job to integrate the group and make them feel welcome. Longstanding Woodcraft Folk friends, Hannah Lewis, Georgia and Julie Lomax, ensured that the Saharawis were woven into the heart of camp activities, hosting tea ceremonies, performing traditional dances, running Western Sahara workshops, and captivating everyone they met. But the impact went even further. Moved by these encounters, camp members pushed for a resolution of support for the Sahrawi cause to be put to a vote at the Woodcraft Folk’s AGM. Hanan, one of our older Desert Voicebox graduates gave a stirring, heartfelt speech which was translated into English and read aloud by her new camp friend Ellie who presented the motion.
This leg of the trip gave the Saharawis an another exciting change of environment!. From first living altogether, they were split up between five households and spent the next 12 days enjoying the simple pleasures of family life, practicing their language skills, playing games, going cycling, but also joining the others for interesting visits to local projects like beekeeping farms, a day trip to the beach and getting interviewed by the BBC. Their stay culminated with 2 days of doing water sports at Ghyll Head in Windemere where they surprised everyone with their daredevil spirit when it came to trying out challenging activities. We know the time spent with these families kindled real bonds of friendship and affection that we expect will endure over time.
Pen Pals Come to Life
One of our most heartwarming activities at Desert Voicebox have involved the connections we've been making with UK school children through our pen pal exchanges of letters, drawings and photo and video stories.
This summer, those connections leapt from the page into real life. When Kathryn Lee, a teacher at Selby High School, learned that her students’ pen pals would be in the UK, she organized for them to meet in person while our group visited Manchester. The children who had been writing to one another — sharing family stories, hobbies, dreams, and challenges — were finally face-to-face.
They played games and picnicked together, laughed together, and discovered that the bonds built through simple letter-writing felt like friendships that had already lasted years. It was a powerful reminder of why we love our pen pal exchanges: they allow UK children who may never have heard of the Saharawi refugees to discover a close friend on the other side of the world, and in doing so, they bring the cause to life in the most human and meaningful of ways.
A Surprise Ride on the London Eye
From the moment the children landed in the UK, they kept asking: “Will we see the London Eye?” It was one of those landmarks they knew by heart, their eyes lighting up at every glimpse of it from the train or across the Thames.
What they didn’t know, was that thanks to the generosity of our extended community, we had a surprise in store which we only revealed at the very end of their stay. Through our close ties with the Saharawi diaspora in the UK, a supporter named Nuni and his partner helped secure a donation from his partner’s company — enough to take all 10 children for a ride on the London Eye.
To keep it special, we told the group they were heading to a ghost-and-skeleton museum that afternoon. They didn’t suspect a thing until we were standing right beneath the giant wheel. The moment Danielle revealed the real plan, their shouts of joy and astonishment filled the air.
The ride itself was joyous and full of wonder: smiles, laughter, wide-eyed amazement at the London skyline, and even a few impromptu TikTok dances high above the city. For us, it was more than just a fun excursion — it captured the spirit of the programme: surprise, joy, solidarity, and lasting memories made possible by community generosity.
Media Coverage
One of the goals of the UK summer programme was to generate media attention and we are thrilled that the WSSG garnered BBC coverage for the Growing Hope project they help fund in the camps. Headed by Fatimelu Bachir, she came to Manchester as a feisty 13 years old 20 years ago, as part of a group of Saharawi children and remained in touch ever since .
