(Western Sahara) We're thrilled to have a video from one of the great singers of world music. Mariem Hassan has a voice that would make Aretha Franklin sit up and take notice. She's been rightly called "The Voice of the Sahara," and as a representative of her people she has also been a tireless advocate for their cause. Not enough people know about the plight of the Saharawis, who inhabited Western Sahara prior to Spain's colonization of it. Spain abandoned the territory in 1975 to be divided up between Mauritania and Morocco. Since then, the Saharawis have struggled to get their land and independence back, and hundreds of thousands of them live in refugee camps under dire conditions. Mariem Hassan has kept the culture of the Saharawis alive and visible, and by doing so, has nurtured their spirit through these trying times.

(Western Sahara) We're thrilled to have a video from one of the great singers of world music. Mariem Hassan has a voice that would make Aretha Franklin sit up and take notice. She's been rightly called "The Voice of the Sahara," and as a representative of her people she has also been a tireless advocate for their cause. Not enough people know about the plight of the Saharawis, who inhabited Western Sahara prior to Spain's colonization of it. Spain abandoned the territory in 1975 to be divided up between Mauritania and Morocco. Since then, the Saharawis have struggled to get their land and independence back, and hundreds of thousands of them live in refugee camps under dire conditions. Mariem Hassan has kept the culture of the Saharawis alive and visible, and by doing so, has nurtured their spirit through these trying times.