Medieval village nearby highway 1

More than 500 families in the small locality of “Ain Rouina” in Laghouat (southern part of Algeria) live in extreme poverty suffering from isolation and precariousness to an extent that they are forced to share the unique natural water source with their domestic animals in a region known for its glorious past during the revolutionary war.

In a declaration to “Echourouk”, one of the inhabitants declared that he addressed numerous letters to the officials who ran the town hall since the beginning of the 1980s till now in a bid to find a solution for their plight, but all requests fell on deaf ears despite the location of this locality by the highway 1.

Amazingly enough, the inhabitants have to fetch water in a remote natural source of more than a century of age, while a solution lies in the drilling of well 10 meters deep.

Paradoxically, a clinic was built not far from this village but remained closed since years now due to the lack of doctors and medical equipment adding suffering to the villagers, who have to transport their sick persons to a neighboring hospital.

On the other hand the only existing school is waiting restoration since 1993 and more than 120 pupils attend classes in three tiny schoolrooms, forced to drink unfit water stored in tanks.