Shelters and housing
Constructions called shelters are where we live, cook, eat and sleep. They’re makeshift, usually with corrugated metal sheeting, canvas-type cloth, wood for the support structure, nails and rope to keep everything together.
Some of us have single shelters, others share. It all depends on what was allocated when we first got here.
During the daytime, especially when it is sunny, they become ovens we sweat in. They are prone to leaking when it rains, and sand blows through the smallest gap in a sandstorm.
Wind gusts can damage them, and unless we can successfully seal around the ground edge, any number of creatures can get in. Scorpions, snakes and centipedes are venomous and can kill without prompt medical attention.
The camp is prone to flooding in heavy rain, and even if our shelters don’t get flooded, mud that sticks to everything creates chaos because all movement around the camp stops. Biting ants can be a big problem.
Without money to buy extras, we sleep on a thin mat that separates our bodies from the ground. We have one blanket, no pillow.
Malaria-carrying mosquitoes breed in stagnant puddles. We are each given a mosquito net when we arrive, but it’s never replaced.
We have to keep our food rations in our shelter. Avoiding pests like cockroaches and ants from contamination our food is a constant struggle. Rats can also be troublesome, especially because they carry diseases.
We don’t have home comforts—no chairs or tables, barely room for them anyway because single shelters measure around 8 x 8 feet. Occasionally one of us might receive a one-off donation from beyond Africa. That usually goes on food, or something to make sleeping more comfortable.
Toilets and washing facilities
The only word to describe them is dire. We don’t have flushing toilets or showers. Read our article: Toilets, showers, and personal dignity
Shelter Security
There’s little we can do to make our shelters secure. They can’t be locked and are easy for someone to break into. Sometimes we’re a target for opportunist thieves who steal anything they can eat or sell.
People have lost rations, personal items and eating utensils, and it’s an ongoing individual fear it will happen to us. The majority of camp residents are fanatically homophobic. Their hate towards us is tangible. At every opportunity, they will hurl verbal abuse, and shout to cause others to react in the same way.
The times when we have to venture away from our shelters, to collect water, rations, or other essential errands, we are each vulnerable to attack, physical violence, and the women, assault and rape.
We can’t go anywhere
We tend to spend much of our time in the shelters because there is little to do to bring much meaning into our lives. Doing so makes us feel safer, less likely to be robbed, and shaded from the sun. Sharing conversations and simple ways to entertain our minds helps the day pass. But day in and day out, it’s depressing and soul-destroying.
We’re not allowed to work. We cannot access further education facilities because other refugees will not accept us in class. We have weak and intermittent Wi-Fi, provided by the UNHCR but no laptops. Six of us have a mobile phone, our only connection with the outside world. There is no electricity in our shelters. We use a donated pre-used solar system for light and for charging phones. And okay, there’s always someone worse off than we are.
If we had the means, we’d want to help them as much as we’re asking for help now.
