Zouerat

8 november 2022

Being able to stay in Jed's home is a real privilege. The house is one of the regular accommodation units provided to workers at the mine.

Jed's sister Savia is one of the 1% of women working for the SNIM mining company as an electrical engineer. The house comes with her job and is the home to Jed and her older sister Haya too.

They have arranged for me to stay in one of the rooms with aircon, so I have my own room and join them for food and company within the shared space adjacent. There is a kitchen, toilet and open yard too.

In the morning, we share tea and breads before Jed sets out to find out about the train to Nouadhibou. He returns with news that the afternoon train is not running and that his advice would be to wait an extra day.

I decided to go with this advice and use the time to learn more about the mining community in Zouerat and share more of life with Jed's family.

I was able to take my time visiting the huge market in the town and seeing the diverse range of people who come here to trade from neighbouring cities and countries. It also gave me an insight into this mining community - incredible.

The SNIM, iron ore mine is the main employer of the town. Employers are provided with a home and monthly food ratios as part of their salary. There are other mines in the area including a new Saudi owned one, which was currently negotiating to try to have access to the rail route to Nouadhibou. It is this rail route that if the "Train of life'. Built by the French it has been maintained by the Mauritanian owned SNIM company to ensure that the iron ore can be transported as cheaply as possible to the coast for export to China. In reverse, the train brings cement, food, materials and equipment from the coast to Zouerat.

At Jed's home, we shared a meal in the afternoon of rice and fish eaten by hand sitting round the same dish on the floor. I had brought presents of fruit and biscuits which added to our meal. Throughout the day, Jed and his sisters spend most of their time on their phones, connecting with their family members in Atar and for Jed, trying to generate business. Their kindness and generosity was incredible. This evening the sisters dressed me in one of their dresses so that I could experience what wearing one of these is like.

We finished the evening with the couscous meal and copious cups of sweet tea.