Western Sahara’s Champion Athlete

The Documentary Podcast

BBC

Society & Culture, Documentary, Personal Journals

4.3 • 2.6K Ratings

🗓️ 26 April 2018

⏱️ 27 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In the wind-swept desert of south-west Algeria, thousands of athletes prepare to run a marathon through the forgotten land of Western Sahara. The runners will pass through six refugee camps; home to over 200,000 indigenous Saharawi people living under Moroccan occupation. Nicola Kelly travels to the remote outpost of Tindouf to meet champion runner Salah Ameidan.

Identified at a young age as a talented cross-country athlete, Salah was forced to run under the Moroccan flag. At the end of a crucial race, victorious, he waved the Saharawi flag – illegal in Morocco – and was immediately exiled from the country.

Nicola follows Salah as he returns home to be reunited with his family and friends, many of whom he hasn’t seen since he left several years ago. Through him, she explores the complexities of living under occupation and in exile. She meets landmine victims, youth leaders and members of the Saharawi independence movement, the POLISARIO and asks how running can help its people gain a sense of freedom.

Reporter: Nicola Kelly

**Podcast has been updated**

Transcript

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0:00.0	Thanks for downloading this podcast. I started learning about the situation in Western Sahara a couple of years ago
0:06.3	when I went to an incredible night of music called Sahara Knights. I was completely transported
0:11.9	and have had a bit of a soft spot for the desert and this issue ever since.
0:16.0	I'm also a keen runner, so when I heard about the Sahrawi athlete turned activist,
0:21.0	the pieces of the puzzle started to slot into place.
0:24.2	So here it is, my story about exile and exercise.
0:27.3	I hope you enjoy it. Sala.
0:35.0	Sala.
0:38.0	I'm really nice to meet you.
0:40.0	Sala.
0:41.0	Pizarathna.
0:42.0	Nice to meet you. I'm Nickle Kelle and for assignments on the BBC World Service I've travelled to
0:49.0	North Africa to meet professional long-distance runner Sala Amedam.
0:53.4	We're deep in the Sahara Desert in a place marked on most maps with a dotted line.
1:04.0	A land divided by a vast fortified wall,
1:11.0	separating thousands of families.
1:15.0	A place that many countries don't recognize as a state,
1:20.0	the disputed territory of Western Sahara, where Sala will soon be joining
1:25.1	hundreds of athletes in a peaceful protest, a race through the desert.
1:29.6	Do you have any family members here supporting you for the reason? My small family is in the occupied territory, but I am banned from visiting them.
1:40.0	Sala is from land now controlled by Morocco, what the indigenous Sahrawi people call the occupied territories,
1:47.0	but which Morocco claims as its southern provinces, following a bitter and bloody war more than 40 years ago.
	...

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