Tears held back and sobs manifested, but also enormous smiles and many kisses. The children said goodbye with sadness, but with the hope of seeing their people again. Without a doubt, those who have the hardest time are the host parents. It has been two months of coexistence in which very strong bonds are created. And some have been sharing their holidays with the same child for four years, since the "Holidays in Peace" program began.
Zeini, a member of the Saharawi Community of Lanzarote (COSAL), was also there, who wanted to "thank all the people of the Island of Lanzarote who have welcomed the children from the Sahara, who come to spend their holidays here, but also come as ambassadors of their own cause". He also had words for the political leaders when he mentioned that "in addition to the President of the Government, the refugee children of Western Sahara also spend their holidays here, and the Spanish Government must be reminded that it must make all possible pressures so that the territory of the Sahara is recovered by its inhabitants and so that the Moroccan repression of the Saharawi people ceases". He asked that International Law be definitively and once and for all complied with through a free referendum of self-determination. "Finally, I thank the families who have welcomed the children for their humanitarian work, which reaches all hearts and unites us through solidarity actions," he concluded.
For his part, Juan Manuel Gutiérrez, coordinator of the Association of Canary Islands Families in support of the Saharawi People (APUSA), assured that "everything has gone perfectly, we have met the objectives we had set; the families have been very happy, the children are well, within what is possible, because they are children and some days are better than others". He reported that there are two children who are staying on the Island this year, as they are hospitalized.
He said that the children "are happy to return to the camps to see their families" and that those here are a little sad, but they know that they are children who have to return because "they have their roots there, in the camps".
He wanted to thank the people of Lanzarote and its institutions: "thanks to those who have collaborated with us and, to those who have not, tell them that they are still in time, because this is not just a summer job when the children are here, but throughout the year we work to get the resources and funds to make this program of "Holidays in Peace" viable. They hope that next year, when they come back, they will not have to go from place to place explaining who they are, what they do, or what functions they perform. "This is the fourth year that the program has been running and to the extent that they can, we ask them to give us a hand".
This year 260 children have come to the Canary Islands, of which 125 have stayed in the province of Las Palmas: 10 in Fuerteventura, 11 in Lanzarote and the rest in Las Palmas. Juan Manuel Gutiérrez assured that "more children could come to Lanzarote because there are families willing to welcome them, and if they don't come it is due to lack of budget".
