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Reports from the desert
by Javier ·
desert report
Each mission has its own personality. Here, for example, virtually the entire population is overdue, unlike Rosso where most are black African. Atar is a town of some 30,000 tourists because people well known in his day was one of the stages of Paris-Dakar rally and it is an indispensable step to visit two ancient cities heritage of mankind (Chinguetti and Ouadane) found between 100 and 200 km from here.
Tie color is the sand that is everywhere and with which you plastered over many of the houses, but so is the gray of the stones and the green of the palms. Because it is impressive all around the town because after miles and miles by taxi (7 persons in a vehicle with seating for five, with each other so tight you can almost feel the heartbeat of your neighbor) that virtually only see a landscape of sand, when you approach Atar appear on the horizon huge mountains of stone of a prehistoric age and small oasis with water and palm trees. In the city many houses, such as the tasks are built of stone and beams that support the ceilings are trunks of palm trees. Nearby there is plenty to visit as cave paintings, small oasis with its own micro climate or places to pick at little to find fossils, prehistoric arrowheads or desert roses (mineral formation and climate over time have like small carved stone roses).
I have yet visited almost nothing about it because although my visit was scheduled a month ago, my colleagues have had to leave for a contingency (Bar.’s Brother, Polish, Morocco because he needed to renew his passport and the Polish Embassy more is near there, and the father JL, French, Senegal). So I’m alone, without a car and almost no money, waiting for his return in a few days to visit some of these attractions.
What I am doing is to use to rest and sleep was missing me and take small trips around town. Not far from our house is home to three Spanish nuns: a teacher, another nurse and another doctor, and veterans, and as the sisters of Rosso, working to promote women and two clinics for malnourished children. The visit every day and pray and eat together. Today I was at work knowing what they do and come back tomorrow to see if I can lend a hand in anything.
When I walk, especially in the early days, I can not avoid being taken by tourist guides approaching, dealers and hustlers. Although virtually nothing yet Hassaniya speak, when I explain that I work in the “Kanisa” (the Church) in Rosso leave me alone.
A few days ago a young man approached me moro than 19 years, he said he made his living as a tour guide. We talked a little and at one point told me I had a proposition for me but it was a secret. He said he knew where, not far from there was a camp of Senegalese women where beer could find no problems. It changed my face and I spoke softly but I was very blunt and told him I would looking for a big problem with the police if he kept getting into issues of prostitution and trafficking in alcohol. He said it was not for him but for tourists, especially Italians. As before had told me in high school, I told him what I had to do was push those issues and focus on their studies. He realized that he had the wrong person and left saying goodbye politely. I have no doubt that the police must know about all these issues and probably take their cut.
So far, the austere desert and hidden, comes the scourge of sex tourism. God how much suffering and injustice drowning man!
Well, this is a bit of my day to day. I know I’ve written the e-mail but do not know when can I send it because the internet connection here is even worse than in Rosso.
back to Reports from the desert
written by Javier in missionary tour in Mauritania
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Tags: Atar, Canary Islands, desert, desert tour, report
