"By night, Lamine Hanoun works as a hospital guard in Bir Moghrein, near Mauritania's border with Morocco-occupied Western Sahara. By day, he twiddles his phone, checking TikTok and Facebook, which he uses to sell meteorites to the rest of the world. In this former French colonial garrison town, network signals come and go like the dusty wind. On a recent morning when the connection disappeared again and the Starlink at the local customs office was unavailable,"
"Eventually, he sold his goats to fund his brother's travel to Spain and to provide for their sick mother and focused on the meteorite trade. These days, he mostly waits for meteorite hunters to bring him stones to inspect. If he thinks a stone is valuable, he will haggle over a price then resell it on social media. Occasionally, he ventures into the desert to conduct his own searches."
Lamine Hanoun works nights as a hospital guard in Bir Moghrein and sells meteorites by day using TikTok and Facebook, inspecting stones brought by local hunters and sometimes searching the desert himself. He returned from construction work in Andalusia to care for an ill mother, sold goats to support the family and fund a brother's travel, and then focused on the meteorite trade. Network signals in the former French garrison town are unreliable and Starlink access can be unavailable. The Sahara's climate and contrasting sand make meteorites easier to spot and preserve, drawing hunters, brokers and buyers.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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