Isabel `{`host`}`: Silence has many forms\u2026<\/p>\n
Jadiya: I see my house..<\/p>\n
Isabel: \u2026. and many ways of revealing itself.<\/p>\n
Jadiya: \u2026 parked the car nearby.<\/p>\n
Isabel: There\u2019s the silence after receiving bad news.<\/p>\n
Jadiya: \u2026 water containers because during daytime\u2026<\/p>\n
Isabel: The silence of shame.<\/p>\n
Jadiya: \u2026 very, very hot.<\/p>\n
Isabel: Radio silence.<\/p>\n
Jadiya: \u2026 I see different neighborhoods.<\/p>\n
Isabel: Or silence as a verb, to silence. It\u2019s what happens when someone speaks, but we still don\u2019t hear them.<\/p>\n
Jadiya: A lot\u2026<\/p>\n
Isabel: Today we want to talk about voices that no one listens to.<\/p>\n
Jadiya: \u2026 of tents\u2026<\/p>\n
Isabel: In fact, instead of talking about them, we want them to do the talking.<\/p>\n
Jadiya: Many rooms made of adobe \u2026<\/p>\n
Isabel: That\u2019s why this episode began with a shipment.<\/p>\n
Jadiya: Others made of cement\u2026<\/p>\n
Isabel: We sent a recorder to the woman you\u2019re listening to.<\/p>\n
Jadiya: Children\u2026<\/p>\n
Isabel: She is a woman that lives somewhere that is far away, but also very close.<\/p>\n
Jadiya: Because it\u2019s almost school holidays\u2026<\/p>\n
Isabel: A place where houses were built as temporary shelters, but every day they seem to be more permanent. We asked that woman to do just one thing.<\/p>\n
Jadiya: \u2026 old Landrovers\u2026<\/p>\n
Isabel: To record herself every day.<\/p>\n
Jadiya: And what else? Oh!<\/p>\n
Isabel: To record what she was doing, what she was thinking.<\/p>\n
Jadiya: One, two, three, four\u2026<\/p>\n
Isabel: To record herself at home and at work.<\/p>\n
Jadiya: Five, six\u2026<\/p>\n
Isabel: To record herself when she was alone\u2026<\/p>\n
Jadiya: I can see six trees from up here.<\/p>\n
Isabel: \u2026 but also with her family and friends.<\/p>\n
Jadiya: I mean, it\u2019s not\u2026<\/p>\n
Isabel: We asked her to turn that recorder into her diary.<\/p>\n
Jadiya: It\u2019s not fertile.<\/p>\n
Isabel: So for the next 25 minutes I\u2019m going to be quiet<\/p>\n
Jadiya: What else? What else?<\/p>\n
Isabel: \u2026 and that is what you\u2019re going to listen to.<\/p>\n
Jadiya: This is what I see.<\/p>\n
Isabel: A diary.<\/p>\n
Jadiya: Peace.<\/p>\n
Isabel: First hand access to a woman\u2019s life in that place across the Strait `{`of Gibraltar`}`.<\/p>\n
Jadiya: There are no bars or places for leisure.<\/p>\n
Isabel: A place to which we are bound by for many reasons, but above all, this one:<\/p>\n
Jadiya: What else? Life here\u2026<\/p>\n
Isabel: A great silence.<\/p>\n
Jadiya: It revolves around family. Family, house. House, family. Family, house. House, family..<\/p>\n
Isabel: Welcome to De eso no se habla `{`We don\u2019t talk about that`}`.<\/p>\n
`{`Theme music`}`<\/p>\n
Jadiya: I am preparing a facial mask, according to my sister I have to take care of my skin, I must take care of my skin. Ah\u2026 I actually don\u2019t care, soap and water are good enough. But no, not according to her, because one day you\u2019ll have to get married, whatever\u2026 You have to make yourself beautiful for your future husband. Shit. I\u2019m going to make myself beautiful for myself, just for me, so that I can enjoy my pretty face. Oh, gosh.<\/p>\n
Jadiya: (Clears her throat) All right. Hi, everybody. I\u2019m Jadiya. Well, in Arabic you would pronounce it Jadiya, but in Spanish there are multiple ways of pronouncing it: one is Jadiya, the other is Jadicha\u2026 Jadicha is only and exclusively for my village, Tharsis, in Huelva. For the rest, I only allow them to say Jadiya (she laughs). It sounds strange coming from others, but coming from the people of Tharsis it sounds very nice. Well, I\u2019m Jadiya, I\u2019m Saharawi, 26 years old. Of those 26 years\u2026 Nine of those 26 years I spent in Spain, studying, and\u2026 And now I\u2019m back here. And\u2026 I\u2019m the fifth little sister. Well, and I live in a refugee camp. I\u2019ve only known the refugee camps apart from Spain. And\u2026 Well, now, I forgot to tell you, that now we\u2019re going to feed my goats, a daily activity that we do, which I sometimes like because it clears the mind a bit, you leave the house\u2026 But there are other times when it\u2019s like\u2026 Ugh, feeding the goats again? And I\u2019ll tell you what we\u2019re taking. We have a little bit of\u2026 We have bread. We have onions. We have\u2026what else do we have? Cuajed. Cuajed is cardboard. That\u2019s our goats\u2019 dessert here, yes, they eat cardboard. And\u2026 What else? What else? When you live in a refugee camp, somehow you have such a monotonous life that\u2026 You find it hard to say what you do or what your situation is. God, I\u2019m suffocating, because we\u2019re going uphill. And what else, what else? Well, that\u2019s it, soon it will be time for the fourth prayer of the day and\u2026 And that\u2019s why we\u2019re going to feed the goats first.<\/p>\n
`{`Goats`}`<\/p>\n
Jadiya: Blanquita, hello Blanquita\u2026 Biada. Biada. Biada, biada, biada.<\/p>\n
Jadiya: Damn it. My alarm failed me today.<\/p>\n
`{`Traffic noise`}`<\/p>\n
Jadiya: And I\u2019m going so fast. My mother always trusts me and doesn\u2019t wake me up. Let\u2019s see if somebody stops. What else?<\/p>\n
`{`Vehicle stops`}`<\/p>\n
Everyone\u2019s looking at me like I\u2019m a crazy person, talking into a microphone. Yes, I\u2019m going to work. To the office, 8:30am to 4:30pm, with an hour\u2019s lunch break. And\u2026 I translate documents, I do small reports\u2026<\/p>\n
`{`Door`}`<\/p>\n
Jadiya: Horrible, this door. I have a lot of work today, two documents to translate. Let\u2019s see\u2026<\/p>\n
`{`Computer`}`<\/p>\n
Jadiya: And now I have to wait for this computer to open. For God\u2019s sake, turn on.<\/p>\n
`{`Keyboard sound`}`<\/p>\n
`{`Motor`}`<\/p>\n
Jadiya: I\u2019m so famous when I\u2019m driving\u2026 All the boys look at me. Ugh. Turn down the light. It\u2019s like the road is all theirs.<\/p>\n
Jadiya: Hello, dear diary. Let\u2019s see\u2026 Well, I\u2019ve been thinking about it for days and today I finally made the decision. Tomorrow I\u2019m taking off my melhfa and I\u2019m only wearing my headscarf. This is because I feel more comfortable at work. It\u2019s mainly because of work, because I feel comfortable wearing the melhfa, but at work it\u2019s a constant battle. I think that if I do it, I could also encourage other girls that might not dare to yet\u2026 Maybe they see it as something they want to do but it\u2019s impossible, because people around them might talk about them and so on, so\u2026 Let\u2019s see if I can help girls who want to do it and think it\u2019s impossible\u2026 \u201cHow am I going to do that? If all my life I\u2019ve worn a melhfa, and they\u2019re going to see me with a headscarf and something could happen\u201d. So tomorrow is the big change\u2026 And let\u2019s see, let\u2019s see how it goes.<\/p>\n
Jadiya: Oh, Isa asked me to explain what a melhfa is, because I talk about the melhfa so often. And let\u2019s see\u2026 A melhfa is like a piece of fabric that we Saharawi women wear. There are different colors, different textures, different types. For example, there are comfy melhfas, like pajamas; or melhfas we wear at weddings and baptisms; or melhfas for work\u2026 And that\u2019s the melhfa, the traditional outfit of Saharawi women.<\/p>\n
`{`In Hassaniya`}`<\/p>\n
Jadiya\u2019s mother: Jadiya, Jadiya\u2026<\/p>\n
Jadiya: Yes.<\/p>\n
Mother: Get up, it\u2019s time to pray.<\/p>\n
Jadiya: It\u2019s twenty past two in the morning. My mother wakes me up to pray.<\/p>\n
`{`Prayer`}`<\/p>\n
`{`Car door`}`<\/p>\n
Jadiya: Well, my first day without a melhfa begins, but I\u2019m wearing a headscarf, eh? Now I\u2019ll get the car and see what I find at work.<\/p>\n
`{`Computer`}`<\/p>\n
Jadiya: Today I\u2019ve been the protagonist at work. It\u2019s the second time that so many people look at me since\u2026 The first time it was a week and a half ago, when I went to my village in Spain and I was wearing a headscarf. And this time it was also because I was wearing a headscarf. But it was something very different, because that time I was wearing a headscarf and I hadn\u2019t worn it before, and this time I\u2019m wearing a headscarf and before I would wear a melhfa. So I was the center of attention today, although my boss seemed a little shocked when he saw me come in, because his face was like, \u201cgirl, what are you doing? Why have you come like this?\u201d And it was very funny, a little weird.<\/p>\n
`{`Music`}`<\/p>\n
Jadiya: What\u2019s this? Come on, get in! La Rosal\u00eda. (clapping) What time is it? Twenty past eight.<\/p>\n
Jadiya: Why do I speak Spanish so well? There\u2019s a story behind that. I participated in the program \u201cVacaciones en paz\u201d (Holidays in Peace), where Saharawi children spend every summer with a Spanish foster family. I participated from 2001 to 2005\u2026 In a village in Huelva, Tharsis. In 2010 I returned there with my family to finish my studies: secondary school, high school and university. Then, in 2018, the summer of 2018, I came back to the camps. And I came back, on the one hand, to spend more time with my Saharawi family and also to look for a job. So far I have a job, alhamdulilah (I thank Allah), as we would say, and\u2026 And I\u2019m with my Saharawi family. But now it\u2019s the other way round. Now I miss my Spanish family and that\u2019s what often happens to children who participate in the \u201cVacaciones en paz\u201d program. We manage to come back and we get into a circle: we spend time with one family, then with the other one, and you always miss the family that you are not with.<\/p>\n
Jadiya: How cool! Today we woke up surrounded by puddles of water, because yesterday afternoon it rained very heavily, it was incredible. And it\u2019s so cool to see puddles of water in the camps. Because, of course, it\u2019s mostly desert. And when\u2026 when there is\u2026 a proper downpour, puddles form. Some kids play in the puddles thinking they\u2019re pools. It was so cool, but today the sun is already shining brightly\u2026 But it\u2019s cold, eh? And since it\u2019s cold, we take refuge in the haima. It\u2019s like a heater, the haima is the heater of the desert. (laughs) And we\u2019re all in there together. Even when we sleep, we all sleep in there together, because at night if\u2026 If it rains a lot at night there might still be water leaks in the rooms, so we prefer the haima. We all stay there. Eight family members. Eight.<\/p>\n
Jadiya: Yesterday was my third day without wearing a melhfa, only using the headscarf. A quiet day, the people at the office are already used to it and they don\u2019t care, like\u2026 Everything\u2019s normal. So, on that side\u2026 Oh, I like it because\u2026 They\u2019re kind of getting used to that change very well. I don\u2019t go outside very much though, because well, some people are very stupid. But cool, I mean, so far it\u2019s going really well. I wear it whenever I feel like it. Maybe\u2026 Two days a week or so, tops. And also when we\u2019re moving around a lot, because we have to\u2026 When we have a busy day at work, going back and forth, well\u2026 If we have to go to the camps or something, then I put on my melhfa. And\u2026 but good, so far.<\/p>\n
Jadiya: In my haima there is happiness today, because there are packages arriving from Spain, sent by my sisters. And everyone is happy. There are\u2026 They send candy, chocolates, clothes\u2026 Although the clothes aren\u2019t new, but for us, for my siblings, they are new. And here, when boxes arrive from Spain, it\u2019s all happiness.<\/p>\n
`{`Voices`}`<\/p>\n
Jadiya: Lulu! Come here! Come here! Goldilocks, Goldilocks! Come here.<\/p>\n
`{`In Hassaniya`}`<\/p>\n
Mother: It\u2019s tomorrow.<\/p>\n
Jadiya: No, no. He was born on the 2nd.<\/p>\n
Jadiya: Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you\u2026<\/p>\n
`{`In Hassaniya`}`<\/p>\n
`{`Jadiya\u2019s father sings a song he just made up`}`<\/p>\n
Jadiya: Lulu, Lulu.<\/p>\n
Bushra `{`Jadiya\u2019s sister`}`: Have you made a video (of the packages)?<\/p>\n
Jadiya: Package one, package two, package three, package four, package five. Package five! (laughs). In person!<\/p>\n
`{`In Hassaniya`}`<\/p>\n
Father: \u00bfWhere is the fifth one?<\/p>\n
Bushra: Dad, the fifth one is right here, right here.<\/p>\n
Jadiya: Fuck this shit. I mean, this is totally unfair. Fuck. I mean, yesterday, a co-worker told me that they had received a terrorist alert and that every Spaniard who is in the refugee camps must leave because, well, there is a terrorist threat. And those who were planning to come shouldn\u2019t come either, because the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs has said there\u2019s this threat. And fuck, it\u2019s just, it shouldn\u2019t be this way. It\u2019s just that\u2026 Fuck it. I read an article in El Pa\u00eds today and it just said that\u2026 Yes, that all Spaniards should leave for their own safety and then, the rest, to hell. Let\u2019s just leave the refugees there. Like\u2026 And it\u2019s a lie, I mean, there\u2019s no terrorist threat. What\u2019s really happening is that there\u2019s a congress of the Polisario Front, there are elections in Algeria and then, of course, the `{`Spanish`}` minister visited Morocco last week and signed an agreement with them on\u2026 on fishing, I think. So, let\u2019s not make the Moroccans angry and let\u2019s all go back to Spain, right? So we\u2019re safe. It\u2019s a lie, damn it, there\u2019s no terrorist threat here. Everybody knows that.<\/p>\n
`{`Screaming, voices`}`<\/p>\n
Jadiya: My neighbors are celebrating a wedding!<\/p>\n
Jadiya: Bushra, has the water heated? Oh, I was waiting for the water to heat up so I could brush my teeth, because the water is so cold. And there are no hot water tanks here. You heat up the water and\u2026 And you mix it with a bit of cold water, and that\u2019s it, you have warm water to wash yourself. In this case, your teeth.<\/p>\n
`{`Jadiya singing`}`<\/p>\n
Jadiya: I\u2019m feeling down today, and all I can think of is that I wish I had a room of my own, to lock myself in there until this nonsense in my head went away, and then come out and that\u2019s it. But\u2026 Well, there\u2019s no such thing here. Here, the whole family sleeps in the same room. And, either you keep your feelings to yourself, or you go out to the patio or something until you get over it. Ah\u2026 Because here families are very close, which I love, but sometimes it\u2019s like you need to be alone, in your own space. Although sometimes to feel better\u2026 We always sleep in the same room, I mean, I almost always sleep in the same room with my sister and my brothers, and everyone, really. But sometimes I say, well, I\u2019m going to change places, and I go to the other room to sleep with my parents. That way I change a little bit.<\/p>\n
`{`Car noise, whistling`}`<\/p>\n
Jadiya: Yes, yes, a woman is driving, yes. So annoying.<\/p>\n
`{`Engine noise, a horn`}`<\/p>\n
Jadiya: I just got home from work. Alsalam ealaykum! `{`Hello!`}` And I can\u2019t wait to put on my melhfa and pajamas. Today I haven\u2019t run into anyone speculating whether I\u2019m a teacher or a student. Of course, my sister would say \u201cbut why don\u2019t you wear the melhfa if you\u2019re more comfortable?\u201d Well, I say, yes, I\u2019ll wear it. Of course I\u2019ll wear it. But only when I want to. (laughs)It gets on her nerves. But my melhfa is like\u2026 Now the melhfa I wear at home, where is it? It\u2019s like wearing pajamas: you come home and you can\u2019t wait to put it on.<\/p>\n
Jadiya: (Laughs) It wasn\u2019t recording and I thought it was! What was I telling you\u2026 Why do humans always need to eat\u2026 Why do I always have to do the dishes?! I\u2019m sick of it!<\/p>\n
Jadiya: My little brother and my little sister\u2026 Both are watching\u2026 One is watching a movie in English, and the other, a Turkish soap opera. It\u2019s very interesting, I\u2019m going to ask each of them why. Jalil, why are you watching a film in English if you don\u2019t understand English?<\/p>\n
Jalil: Because at the bottom of the screen, what he\u2019s saying is written in Arabic.<\/p>\n
Jadiya: But wouldn\u2019t you be more interested in seeing a movie in Arabic and that\u2019s it, I mean, to understand it?<\/p>\n
Jalil: No, because sometimes I find that movies in Arabic are more ridiculous. I prefer them in Spanish or English.<\/p>\n
Jadiya: All right. Why\u2026 why are you watching a movie, I mean, a Turkish soap opera, if you don\u2019t understand Turkish?<\/p>\n
Bushra: `{`In Hassaniya`}` Because I love the Turks, who cares (she laughs). I don\u2019t know how to say it in Spanish, I just know that I love them. (She laughs)<\/p>\n
Jadiya: Because you love Turkish people?<\/p>\n
Bushra: `{`In Hassaniya`}` Yes, even if they\u2019re just cooking a bit of onion, I don\u2019t care (she laughs).<\/p>\n
Jadiya: And you don\u2019t care? I mean, even if they\u2019re just cooking? It doesn\u2019t matter, you watch them? And wouldn\u2019t you be interested in learning Turkish?<\/p>\n
Bushra: `{`In Hassaniya`}` Yes, of course. I want to visit Turkey.<\/p>\n
Jadiya: What for? Why do you want to go to Turkey? Who told you that Turkey was so beautiful? (Laughs)<\/p>\n
Bushra: `{`In Hassaniya`}` I\u2019ve seen it in the soap operas! (She laughs)<\/p>\n
Jadiya: Because you\u2019ve seen it in the soap operas? But soap operas are always an idealization.<\/p>\n
`{`In Hassaniya`}`<\/p>\n
Bushra: What?<\/p>\n
Jadiya: Soap operas always make everything seem lovely.<\/p>\n
Bushra: I don\u2019t care.<\/p>\n
Jadiya: So if we made a soap opera in the camps\u2026 For example, if we made a soap opera in the dunes of Dajla, I\u2019m sure everyone would want to come to the camps. But once they arrived at the camps they would say \u201cOh wow, it\u2019s a refugee camp\u201d. It\u2019s the same with Turkey.<\/p>\n
Bushra: `{`In Hassaniya`}` No one can give what they don\u2019t have. We have the camps, but what we want is to go to Turkey.<\/p>\n
`{`Jadiya singing`}`<\/p>\n
Jadiya: (Singing) Roxanne, you don\u2019t have to wear that dress tonight\u2026 Don\u2019t care if it\u2019s wrong or if it\u2019s right\u2026<\/p>\n
`{`Jadiya singing`}`<\/p>\n
`{`Theme music`}`<\/p>\n
Isabel: Western Sahara is located between Morocco and Mauritania. It was a Spanish colony since the mid-19th century. Between 1958 and 1975, Western Sahara became a province of Spain, on the same level as Alicante or Badajoz. It was called \u201cProvince 53\u201d. In 1975, a few days after Franco\u2019s death, the Spanish government abandoned the Saharan territory and left it in the hands of Morocco, which had been trying to occupy the country for weeks with a march of hundreds of thousands of people: the Green March. When the Moroccans arrived, a large part of the Saharawi population fled to take refuge in Algeria. Today, 165,000 people live there, in refugee camps. They have been waiting 43 years for a referendum on self-determination that has still not arrived. But no one talks about this very much either, because it affects many interests, many other silences. Meanwhile, the Saharawi people continue their struggle to return to a country from where they were forced to flee. And where many, like Jadiya, have never even set foot in.<\/p>\n
I am Isabel Cadenas Ca\u00f1\u00f3n and we don\u2019t talk about that\u2026 or else we do.<\/p>\n
This episode was recorded by Jadiya (or Jadiye, never Jadicha) Ali, in the refugee camps of Tindouf, before the pandemic began. Now, to the confinement of living in a refugee camp, another confinement has been added: there are no buses, no planes, no way out of the camps.<\/p>\n
The script and the editing of this episode were done by me, Isabel Cadenas Ca\u00f1\u00f3n. Elena G\u00f3mez helped us in the editing and also Paula Morais, who is our assistant for almost everything. Vanessa Rousselot is our script editor and Laura Casielles, our text editor. The sound design is by me and Marcos Salso, and our sound studio is Isol\u00e9 Divisi\u00f3n Sonora. Our theme is by Alva Noto and Ryuichi Sakamoto. Laura Casielles is in charge of communication, and she was also the one who introduced us to Jadiya. The illustration of this episode is by Carmen C\u00e1ceres.<\/p>\n
Thanks to Brahim Chagaf for being the messenger of the recorder, and thanks to all the people who, in the first days of our confinement, participated in our virtual listening session.<\/p>\n
If you have a story of silences, talk to us. On our website, www.deesonosehabla.com, you can subscribe to our newsletter, listen to the rest of the episodes, or send us a voice or text message, or an email. We are also on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook and you know how much we love to talk. If you liked this episode, do us a favor and subscribe to our channels on Spotify, Google Podcasts, Podimo, Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts.<\/p>\n
De eso no se habla is produced in the proud neighborhood of Lavapi\u00e9s in Madrid, and today it was also produced in the proud Tindouf refugee camps thanks to the support of PRX \u2013 Public Radio Exchange \u2013 and the Google Podcasts Creator Program.<\/p>\n
We\u2019ll be back in two weeks.<\/p>\n
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