Continuing to travel deep inside the Sahara desert: Borj El Kadra, Tunisia

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Rollers Adventures

"From Genoa to Borj El Kadra" for the children of the desert in 2002

What to say, travel in Africa are always a great experience every kilometer enriches us by giving the landscape and feelings that one can hardly find elsewhere.
This trip was definitely different because it has allowed us to interact with the world around them and not to do only the part of spectators.
The school for deaf mute children in Douz was our first destination: The founder of the property manager spoke only Arabic, and only thanks to the headmaster and some of its employees we have achieved this. The community consists of children who ranged from age 5 to 11 years or so, has risen to the seventh heaven when it is seen delivering an avalanche of material. Instead we all have a "knot in my throat" we had to swallow several times before being able to make a simple sentence, but above all to understand that only 2500 km from our house there are many people who need serious help.
We put in a circle and a few seconds after the founder, dressed in clothes typical local has taken the story narrating the history of the foundation of the structure, all in Arabic; behind some teachers of the school, at his side the head that resulted in French what he said the founder.
A flood of pictures have documented our desire to help young Tunisian students in the structure.
Douz, wonderful town, them there are people who could teach us a lot of rules that we Europeans now we have forgotten the loyalty and sincerity, calm and under living with the indispensable and not with the superfluous.
The next day we went to coffee "the Port Du Desert" where to give a comfortable hospitality, there was Ahmed Bouali.
Our old friend, after giving us a hot plate of Cous Cous, accompanied us via the sand dunes of Bir Soltane cafes where a friend was waiting for us already because a lot Douz had the news of our arrival.
The delivery of the material is, unfortunately, occurred in the dark because, unfortunately, the stretch of dunes that joined the Cafe 'Du Desert and Bir Soltane were cut compared against our direction.
After a hot tea with mint and a couple of coffee, we set out to coffee where Ahmed rested after the night in its structure, good morning hours we put in motion for Borj El Kadra.
Before reaching Borj El Kadra for a simple technical error inherent permission to enter the south, we went to Tataouine where we lost a whole day for the process of bureaucracy.
Reached a couple of days after the community of El Borj Kadra, the reception was wonderful and our group now known by some of the head was greeted with celebration and traditional dances, but mostly originals, all surrounded by a beautiful table of various foodstuffs.
The distribution of apparel and equipment entrusted to his Douh that with great generosity gave us 4 of the desert rose by about 35 kg each.
In the community of El Borj Kadra live several dozen families with children aged between 3 and 10 years. They live about 400 km from the first civilized city, (premetto that I think they are more civil to all of us) to reach the famous pipeline or from the chains of dunes that give its name to the Grand Erg Oriental of the Sahara Desert.
E 'own them and with our off-road, we reached El Borma and immediately after the well of Bir Awin where we met a group of Tuareg who came from Algeria and who was doing the watering their camels.
Just off the engines of our cars, the youngest of the Tuareg has approached us with a metal pitcher and having whispered words in dialect has offered camel milk just milked. We thought that the exchange with a parcel of Italian biscuits, a plastic funnel to pour the water, and other clothing for their children, what was the most appropriate to the circumstance. A unique experience!
The rise of ERGOSE was tough but finally here we are.
We arrived at Ksar Ghilane where after having tried for about ½ hour to school, we finally found it.
A tiny structure located in the Ksar Ghilane true, and that is old and not tourists, accommodated 7 children that were added to our drawing.
The professor, very suspicious to us, has established a peaceful contact with our organization only when he has realized that we were there to deliver different school, only because they believed in what they were doing. He thought that the photos that we took were a means of documenting their inferiority (structural and economic) than the European one.
Welcomed the small community of Ksar Ghilane we direct, via the sand, to compulsorily Douz doing a long coffee break at "le port du desert" from our friend Ahmed.
Report of the report:
We have identified several towns perched between Matmata and Tataouine, the essential people who live, places where children go to school without pens quaderni it, but even worse without shoes.
We have contacted several schools for children in elementary and middle age, we found a community of people who live sheep, people that work with the grain the grinding stone, families with many children who are deprived of their food to give them a piece of bread , we found lot of wealth in their soul, we know what it means to marginally live poverty, but we know what it means to love our neighbor.

Our group will return in March 2003 for a new mission.

Lorenzo Bonacorsi, Margherita Coletta Fenello & Claudio
www.rollersadventures.com