Musulmin Afirka suna taimaka wajen farfaɗo da ƙauyen Spain - assalamu alaikum
Assalamu alaikum. Sudanese Osam Abdulmumin works as a shepherd on an old farm in central Spain, says AP. From dawn till dusk, this 25-year-old guy tends a flock of 400 sheep in the village of Los Cortijos, where around 850 people live. This place was mentioned back in the 17th century in "Don Quixote."
Nowadays, many small towns and villages in the Spanish countryside are losing residents: folks are moving to bigger cities in search of a better life. Right now, only 19% of the country's population lives in rural areas compared to 60% in 1960, and only about 4% of Spaniards are employed in agriculture. If it weren't for migrants, many traditional crafts, like shepherding, might disappear.
The government launched a program that helps refugees and migrants from various countries, from Afghanistan to Venezuela, get an education in agricultural professions and work on local farms, famous for their sheep cheese.
Local farmers, like Álvaro Esteban, who inherited the farm from his ancestors, complain that they don't know where to find workers. Seeing the decline of the village, he even went to Wales, but during the pandemic, he came back and decided to try to revive the family business. At state courses on sheep care, he met Osam and later hired him.
Now Esteban, along with his 61-year-old father, runs the farm and produces cheese that’s sold in stores and restaurants. 27-year-old Sharifa Issa from Ghana also took the sheep-farming course - he’s happy to learn the trade since he’s loved animals since childhood.
After five days of training, migrants go through an internship and then can work with the necessary documents; the authorities usually help with employment. Around 51% of graduates become shepherds, 15% go to slaughterhouses, and the rest work in orchards with olives and fruits. Most of the attendees are asylum seekers.
Osam gets up for the morning prayer at 5 AM, after which he takes the flock out to the field. He lives alone; there are three other Africans working in the village with him. Osam is learning Spanish and plays football with the locals on weekends. He notes that there are very few young people left in the village. Once a week, he calls his family back in Sudan. He earns about 1300 euros a month - by local standards, that's around the minimum wage, so he can't often help his family financially.
"I'm not going to look for another job for now. It’s quiet and peaceful here, and I like living in this village," he says.
According to Álvaro, without migrants, many farms in the region, including his, would have closed down: very few Spaniards are willing to work in agriculture and even fewer know how to do it. "Many of the farms that exist now won’t have anyone to pass them on to. Kids don’t want to follow their parents. This sector is going through tough times," the farmer sadly adds.
May Allah bless those who revive traditional crafts and help communities sustain their labor and daily bread.
https://islamnews.ru/2025/10/2