Do you think there are other young people like you in a similar situation around the world?
We're sitting in Ouled Driss, an area connected to M'Hamid El Ghizlane, near an old abandoned well in the middle of a dry reservoir, dry desert and 360-degree dead palm trees.
We're sitting in Ouled Driss, an area connected to M'Hamid El Ghizlane, near an old abandoned well in the middle of a dry reservoir, dry desert and 360-degree dead palm trees.
I had the opportunity to interview students Fatima and Khadijah, as well as Khadijah's father, a camel tour guide in the M'Hamid oasis, along with climate activist Halim Sbai.
The water shortage is obvious at this site, with a well and reservoir almost completely dry. You can still see the pumps that used to pump water from the ground using solar energy. This solution was not suited to the region. It depleted the region's water instead of using a reservoir, and killed off much of the surrounding vegetation and date palms. What remains today has been dubbed a palm cemetery.
With no date palms in the region, farmers are unable to produce anything on their farms. When the date palms die, his family cuts the undergrowth to sell to the animals.
In this first video, we ask the question: "Do you think there are other young people like you in a similar situation around the world?"
- Yes, in Tagounit and Zagoura (near M'Hamid in Morocco), Mali, Mauritania and Senegal.
- How do they cope with this situation?
- I don't really know.
- What would you like to see happen?
- We'd like to pray for a green oasis.
- How do you feel or think when you sit in Ouled Driss?
- My stomach hurts.
- There's sadness in my heart.
