Thanks to grants from the IAU OAD, the IAU OAO and the Europlanet Public Engagement Funding Scheme, we were able to ensure the sustainability of activities to support the Sahrawi communities beyond 2019. However, the Covid-19 pandemic forced us to modify our plans, as we were prevented from organising the summer programme in 2020 and 2021. The return of activities in the camps was also postponed due to travel restrictions.

Nonetheless, the project was able to continue support to the Sahrawi community in alternative ways. For instance, we initiated a training programme with the Sahrawi teachers we worked with in 2019. The programme was developed through WhatsApp, which works efficiently, even with a poor internet connection, and teachers can easily use it through their mobile phones.

In 2021, in the framework of Amanar follow-up activities, we awarded five grants to Sahrawi researchers in the camps. Over the course of the next year they made a tremendous effort to carry out interviews with various elders who lived in the desert before their forced exile, and transcribed all the information collected. Every month, we met with the researchers via WhatsApp video calls to discuss the evolution of the research, their needs and also to provide training in computer and astronomical skills.

An important outcome of the Amanar Project is the development of the Desert Stars Transmedia Narrative, which is composed of six different products: Desert Stars VR (a virtual reality documentary), Desert Stars 360º (a 360º documentary), Searching for Stars (an interactive docugame), A Refuge in the Stars (a feature-length film), GalileoCast (a podcast series) and Irifi (an art gallery installation). Each piece explores a complementary approach and user experience, based on the specific media and platform. Find more information about them here. So far, there have been very positive responses from the public regarding the products. Irifi was part of the ‘Ocupação Refúgio’ show in Sesc Quitandinha, Petropolis, Brazil, between 8 October 2021 and 30 January 2022, and the installation was visited by 137,670 people. Desert Stars 360º was exhibited at the ‘ArtSpaceShip’ on the Ukrainian platform V-Art and at the ‘Crystals of Time – CoMciência Exhibition’, organised by the Museum of Mines and Metal in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. Desert Stars 360º was also selected by The Science Film Festival 2021 and exhibited at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina Planetarium Science Center, in Alexandria, Egypt.

In 2022, after the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown restrictions were lifted in Spain,  the summer programme resumed and was expanded to several cities in mainland Spain, including Madrid, Valencia, A Coruña and Granada, where astronomical organisations and NGOs organised activities for Sahrawi children.
 

• Tenerife: The Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) and the Canarian Association of Friendship with the Saharawi People (ACAPS), in collaboration with the Museum of Science and the Cosmos (MCC, Museos de Tenerife), organised a day of informative activities for Saharawi boys and girls from the "Vacaciones en Paz" program and their host families in Tenerife. The activities consisted of astronomy talks and workshops, as well as a guided visit to the MCC. The activities also comprised a visit to the IAC headquarters in La Laguna. Find more information here.

• Madrid: The ESA CESAR team welcomed a group of Sahrawi children from the refugee camps in Tindouf, Algeria, and their host families to the ESAC site for a day of fun and learning.  Find more information here.

• A Coruña: Agrupación Io organised a fun day of activities for Sahrawi children and their host families to the Casa de las Ciencias and Planetarium as well as astronomical observations at the Santa Margarita Park.

• Granada: A group of Sahrawi children visited the Calar Alto Observatory, located in the Sierra de los Filabres (Almería), in an excursion organised by the IAA-CSIC and the company Azimuth, where  the children participated in activities and learned about astronomy in a fun way. Find more information here.

• Valencia: The University Valencia Observatory organised an activity in Valencia for Saharawi boys and girls, at the observatory of the University of Valencia in Aras de los Olmos, with the collaboration of the Sapiencia association from Sagunto.