Catherine returns to refugee camps

"As a climate activist, I've dedicated much of my life to the pursuit of a safe climate future for the world. The fight against climate change is the most important challenge of our time, but it must not be used as a smokescreen to mask injustices perpetrated against some of the world’s most marginalized people."

LOVE SURROUNDS THEM: Catherine Constantinides with some of the children in one of the refugee camps.

CATHERINE Constantinides (#iWillTellYourStory), international climate activist and humanitarian, , recently returned home from yet another trip to the refugee camps of the people of the Western Sahara. The refugee camps are situated in the southwestern part of Algeria where they have lived in harsh climatic conditions since 1975.

On her recent time in the camps, Constantinides explained how she was welcomed by the children and families who fondly remember her last visit and wait for her return each year.

The people of Western Sahara are some of the most vulnerable in the world to climate change. Increasingly common extreme weather events amplify the hardship posed by already inhospitable conditions. Last year, severe floods devastated the adobe structures of the refugee camps, destroying homes and displacing some 25 000 people.

Constantinides has been actively involved with the plight of the Saharawi people for nearly two years and spends her time in the camps to strategically work on aligning support from the international community with the Western Sahara, working closely with youth groups and women organisations in the camps.

With her passion for climate justice, human rights and active citizenry, she has been trying to share best practice and knowledge in the camps with all of those she connects with and during her school visit there.

The Western Sahara is a country in North Africa that has been occupied by Morocco for 41 years. The occupation has seen human atrocities take place. The Saharawi people have relied on international solidarity to ensure that their cause remains on the agenda and relevant in order to secure them their freedom, self-determination and sovereignty.

Constantinides has stood at many international platforms advocating for this very fight and unjust occupation. Each time she goes to the camps, she continues to be more entrenched within the refugee community. Her dream is to film a documentary and share their story. She describes the time in the camps vividly and reminds us of how we have so much to be grateful for and to appreciate and we take it for granted.

In the camps the people live without direct access to safe drinking water. Their water comes in by truck every few weeks and their food is dropped by air, by the World Food Programme. Across the five camps, not everyone has access to a small solar panel for basic necessities, and even fewer have access to electricity.

Constantinides left us with the following words; “As a climate activist, I’ve dedicated much of my life to the pursuit of a safe climate future for the world. The fight against climate change is the most important challenge of our time, but it must not be used as a smokescreen to mask injustices perpetrated against some of the world’s most marginalised people.”

Constantinides was born and raised in the south of Johannesburg.

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