Amanar is a project organised by the astronomy outreach project GalileoMobile to inspire young Sahrawis through astronomy. The initiative pays special attention to children, young people and teachers to awaken their interest in science. The project facilitates the development of scientific skills, such as critical thinking, by performing hands-on activities and sky observations. Moreover, the programme promotes teacher workshops to encourage educators to use astronomy as a didactic tool to contribute to the improvement of the quality of teaching in the region. The Project also values the Saharawi knowledge of the sky, contributing to strengthening their resilience and making them feel part of a global community.

Amanar was established in 2019 with activities both in the Canary Islands (Spain) and in refugee camps near Tindouf (Algeria). The project started as a collaboration between GalileoMobile, the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC), the Asociación Canaria de Amistad con el Pueblo Saharaui (ACAPS), and the International Astronomical Union (IAU), through its Office for Astronomy for Development (OAD) and its centenary celebrations. During the summer of 2019, we organised hands-on astronomy activities and visits to professional observatories in the Canary Islands for the Sahrawi children and host families participating in the “Vacaciones en Paz' programme, which brought Sahrawi children to spend the summer with host families in Spain.  In October of that same year, an international team of astronomers, educators and filmmakers travelled to the Tindouf refugee camps to work with the local students and teachers, taking educational materials to the schools and making a study of ethnoastronomy, as well as various audiovisual products. In total, 635 children, 66 teachers, and 150 people from the general public participated in the project activities.

Thanks to grants from the IAU OAD 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. Other important actions included supporting a Sahrawi research group, with whom we started a study on ethnoastronomy and the development of ‘transmedia narratives’.

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. In 2023, we will organise the summer programme again.

​The project has been selected as Special Project by the International Astronomical Union through the IAU100 program and since 2019 has received funding from the IAU Office of Astronomy for Development (OAD), the IAU Office of Astronomy Outreach (OAO) , the IAU Centenary Celebrations (IAU100) and the Europlanet Society.

 

​