About us

Hello everyone, we are Said (34) a previous nomad from the Sahara desert and Linde (31) a visual artist from the Netherlands/Denmark. I, Said, come from a big family that is descended from the Tuareg-Imazighen. For many years, we lived a nomadic life moving from place to place in the Sahara desert. After the drought hit the area so strong, we decided to stop at the edge of the desert, in the Daraa Valley. While my parents now live in Tagounite, I decided to move to the small village Bani Hayoune, 7,5 kilometers further away, to live and work in a 200-year old old mud house. My father comes to work here almost every day. Coming from a nomadic Tuareg family, my family and I feel most at home deep inside the desert. Far away from the city sounds and lights, we find rest and satisfaction as soon as I enter the quiet, golden dunes. It is a hard way of living, but at the same time there is a lot of peace to find in the simpleness and in the direct approach to life that the Sahara desert and its surroundings have to offer. During the everyday life in the small villages, I often think back to the previous life deep in the desert. It contains a certain way of living that is difficult to find in our current time. But in the Sahara desert, it can still be accessible. The quietness, the harsh but calm lifestyle and realization that we are such a small being in this enormous universe, those are some of the precious gifts that the desert has left behind.

My place

The house is based in a calm area, and you will find yourself in an oasis consisting of a couple of date palm trees and several fields. We have a donkey, a dog and several cats :) Since a short while ago we have some electricity and we have created a small plumbing system for water. There is no WiFi in the house (you can get a cheap sim card in town if you need internet) and we sleep in a very old, simple but traditional building made out of mud bricks, which makes the place even more calm. The house is half open because it has no roof in the middle, so that the stars and the moon are largely visible inside the house, giving you the feeling that you are very directly in nature. The place where we are settled gives you a good experience to get a lot of ideas about the basic ways of a nomadic life. For a moment you can discover and understand how technology can change your life. At the same time, it is a good opportunity to enjoy the peace and quiet and escape the rush of modern life. The weather here is sunny every day, you can enjoy gorgeous sunsets almost every evening and at night you can see the millions of stars or the beautifully bright moon in the sky. We enjoy meeting people from different backgrounds and all kinds of cultures. Through this way, we hope to exchange various knowledges and ideas from all over the world. Since we have learned a lot from our parents and grandparents, it will be our pleasure to share with you in return this knowledge of our basic Bedouin life and to show you the desert. We will be very happy to organise a tour into the Sahara desert if you are interested, and it is Saids pleasure to show & tell you more about his roots and the surroundings of the Sahara where he was born and where he grew up.

Projects

After many years of living a nomadic life in the Sahara desert, our family settled down in a village called Tagounite. I live next to the small village Bani Hayoune, 4 kilometers outside Tagounite, where we live and work on a 200-year old mud house. Behind the house there is a large garden which needs a lot of care and work. Our aim is to make the land green again, bring the oasis life back and to grow enough food for us and for the community. Our wish is to recover and expand this house by (mostly) natural materials and to make this area livable again. The place carries many memories and the history of our ancestors. As a child, my family and I still moved around as nomads, but we would sometimes visit my grandparents in this area, who had already stopped in the area of Tagounite. After rebuilding this old house, the goal is to bring back the oasis life - plants, water, birds, insects - in the gardens and help stop desertification, as it is a severe and growing problem in this area. We will also create a small guest space for travelers, a cultural & education place for children and an empowering space for the women in this area. My father Mohamed comes to the house every day with his donkey, to work in the gardens and to help with the work that is needed for the house, and sometimes my brother comes to help. We will do different work: rebuilding the mud house, fixing walls, working on the electricity that needs to be installed, taking care of the donkey and cats, walking our dog, taking care of the palm trees, cooking, making bricks and finishing/fixing the water reserves. You can choose the work what you would like to do, and everyone does what he can or wishes to do. Please don't worry about the need of any special skills. We will be happy to show you what to do and we will be thankful for any help you can do. In our gardens we grow wheat and grass at this moment. Our wish is to grow all kinds of organic vegetables and fruits in the gardens that belong to our piece of land. With the drought here in the south, water is a big difficulty, but we are trying our best to find solutions and all your ideas about permaculture and growing organic food are welcome :-) The tasks could be all kinds of different tasks, varying day by day or week by week, like: - Building different traditional rooms in the house. We want to build some new sleeping rooms and a big living room. For the building we will use mud bricks made of 2 types of sand and water - Mixing mud and making a lot of mud bricks - Cooking. We are happy to teach you how to make traditional Moroccan meals & tea, and happy to learn new recipes - Cleaning the house & dishes etc. - Building a sink and several other parts for the house - Moving rocks - Creating covers for the water reserves - In some periods we need help with collecting water - Digging canals for water - Create irrigation systems - Watering the plants. We use recycled water for watering the plants - Fixing and cleaning the old rooms and walls (made with mud) - We will soon start to build a new kitchen - Make new door entrances in the rooms - Building more benches - Finishing a small bridge in front of the house - Building a wall for the whole project - Gardening. We regularly plant new trees and plants and we want to grow organic vegetables and fruits in the near future - We are always happy with help of taking care of our animals; our dog Sou Sen, the cats and our donkey Khanaffi. The plan is to have other different animals in the future, including more goats & chicken - We need help with finding fund platforms/organizations - And with English writing and marketing for our desert tour website - Veterinarians are often useful here :) We are always thankful for anything you can help with! Besides the work there is a lot of free time where you can relax, or we will be happy to walk together with you in the palm gardens. If you like to visit the nearby village Tagounite, we can arrange a visit to go there all together by tuk tuk.

Accommodation

When you arrive in Tagounite by bus or taxi, you will find us waiting for you at the CTM busstation. From there we will go to Bani Hayoune, sometimes by motorcycle or we can call a tuktuk (70 dirham) for you. In the house in Bani Hayoune we have two shared rooms which you can use and share with the other volunteers. We sleep on the floor, and you can use our mattresses, pillows, blankets and sheets for sleeping. We also have one large bed if desired. The meals will take place together in the living room, in our open space inside the house or outside in the gardens. We will cook, eat and clean together. We have a traditional Moroccan bucket shower and toilet which you can use. We recycle all our water and have several systems for this, which we are happy to explain to you when you're here. As we use a part of the recycled water for the garden, please bring a natural soap. Next to the house there is a wonderful palm garden where you can relax and enjoy the many beautiful sunsets. Some practical information: - The weather is sunny everyday and the sun is very hot, so bring sunscreen - Bring with you a comfortable shoes for working and some flipflops - In summer (April-October): bring mosquito repellant and if possible a mosquito net - Please bring your own towel and natural shower soap (as the water goes into the earth & garden) - It is good if you bring clothes that cover the legs and shoulders, out of respect for the locals - Please let us know what kind of transport you will use so that we can be waiting for you in right time - Let us know if you eat vegetarian or vegan, or if you have any diets/allergies. We are flexible with food and always do our best to accommodate everyone's dietary requirements - During winter the nights are very cold, so bring warm clothes as well if you are coming in winter - Due to wild dogs and passed on responsibility, walks outside the property will be enjoyed only together. This does limit your ability to explore the area alone, but opens doors for closer connection to the land and yourself. Thank you for your understanding and please don’t hesitate to ask any questions you have in mind!