Displaced But Not Defeated: Three women share their stories

From walking miles to get their children lifesaving treatment, to learning new skills so they can earn an income, they are taking courageous steps to rebuild their lives with dignity and determination.  

Today, one out of every sixty-seven people globally has been displaced. Most of these people have been forced to leave their homes due to persecution, conflict, violence, and human rights violations. Sometimes they cross international borders for safety, and become refugees. Other times they become internally displaced, remaining within their home country, often in temporary shelters or camps far from the home they know. 

Here, three women who have experienced displacement share their stories. 

Today, Dehlia* is running a restaurant in Wedweil refugee settlement, nestled in the din of a busy marketplace. Like many women in Wedweil, she had made the difficult journey from Darfur to South Sudan with a child in her arms. Now, her three year-old son Farid* (3) watches as his mother prepares lunch for a queue of hungry people. 

Two years of conflict in Sudan has led to extreme levels of displacement, both internally and across Sudan’s borders. Over 3 million people have fled to neighbouring countries, such as South Sudan. 

Before the crisis, Dehlia and her family were living in Nyala, South Darfur. She worked as a housekeeper while her five children attended a local school. Her husband Jai* is a retired soldier. 

One day, soldiers broke into the house hoping to find Dehlia’s husband and when they failed to do so, they attacked Dehlia and her children. 

“While we were living around them, we were living under threat, we were afraid we might be shot. So due to that we decided to move… It was not safe for us,” Dehlia says. 

After crossing the border, Dehlia and her family found themselves in Wedweil refugee settlement. With her husband unable to find work, it fell to Dehlia to find some way to support her five children.  

“When we arrived here in Wedweil, I thought that my money is going to run out, and I don't have any work. So I thought to build something that could provide even for my basic life needs. I went to the market, and I bought some grass sheets like this one, and made a small shelter. Then I started my restaurant.” 

Soon, Dehlia was cooking and selling meat, beans, lentils, porridge, and kisra, a type of flatbread. “My restaurant is popular with everyone, those who are living around the settlement, the host community, refugees, and even those who are working with NGOs,” she says. 

Dehlia has also formed an association with other women who run small businesses in the market so that they can take care of one another. 

“For instance, if one of the women get sick, or her child gets sick, and the treatment is not available here in the camp. Or, when one of the women lost all her money from her work, we’ll take that money to her so she can continue her work,” Dehlia explains. 

Dehlia and the rest of the women’s association have provided remarkable support to the community, including providing for funeral costs when there was an unexpected death, or paying for a sick child’s transport to a hospital. 

When Aldegonde’s son, Japhet, began walking, she realised he had a disability and needed medical care. But she had to fight to get him what he deserved.  

“I went to the health centre where I told them my story about the baby, but they asked me for $100 [around £80] for the consultation. I was obliged to go back home because I didn’t have the money,” she says. 

Aldegonde and her husband had been cultivating a farm in Beni, but their lives were turned upside down by conflict. The Democratic Republic of the Congo has  
one of the largest, yet also most overlooked, internal displacement crises globally. Over 7 million internally displaced people are currently seeking shelter in informal sites or with host communities. 

After they had to leave their home, healthcare became prohibitively expensive.  

“I just gave up and told myself that my child’s problem would never be treated. Somebody told me to go to the traditional doctors, but they would also ask for money,” Aldegonde says. 

Later, when two of her children became ill, Aldegonde took them to the hospital and again raised the issue of her son’s struggle to walk. That’s when one of the nurses told her that he could receive treatment free of charge from Congo Handicap and Première Urgence International, who are two of Concern’s humanitarian partners in the Enabling Affected Communities to Survive and Thrive (EAST) project,  funded by the UK government. 

“When I got in touch with Congo Handicap staff, right then I felt like I had the solution to my problem,” she says. “Later, Congo Handicap referred me to this health centre. When I reached here, I was welcomed and taken care of. Japhet started receiving treatment. His leg was put in plaster, and then, two weeks later, the plaster was changed. Afterwards, Japhet received shoes that are helping to correct his malformation.” 

Japhet has been receiving life-changing support and is now able to play with his siblings. 

“Now, when he wears the shoes, his knees are not clashing anymore. When he first got the plaster casts and new shoes, he was frustrated because he wasn’t used to wearing them and he had to rest while his twin brother was very active. But he's now able to move and join others as they are playing. I have seen improvement in his energy and mobility."  

Thanks to his mother’s love and determination, Japhet has received the specialised care he needed to thrive. 

“If I try to remember when I was hopeless and compare it to now, after my child has been through the therapy programme, I am very happy today. The emotion I have is one of joy to see that my child is being taken care of,” Aldegonde says. 

Fatima and her husband have six children, including seven month-old Hamza*. Today they live in a displacement camp in Lahij Governorate, in the southwest. They were displaced nine years ago from Maqbanah during the country’s civil war.  

When Fatima noticed a difference in little Hamza’s behaviour, she knew he needed medical attention. 

“My child was unusually quiet, showed little interest in playing, and barely ate, unlike other children,” she says. She took him for a check-up at a her local health clinic, where he was diagnosed with severe acute malnutrition.  

“I was worried that he might have blood clots like his brothers, along with severe acute malnutrition. Although I was worried about malnutrition, thanks to Allah, the health clinic is still there, and the nurse helped me to understand the situation and started treatment. They told me that my child will recover.” 

Fatima was given nutritional supplies for Hamza, and has since been monitoring his condition and bringing him for follow-up appointments. Community health volunteers have also supported the family with nutrition and hygiene advice. 

Concern supports the health clinic in the displacement camp where Fatima lives, providing integrated health and nutrition services to people living in the camp. Concern also supports community health volunteers who live within the community, conducting home visits for health and nutrition counselling, and referring sick and malnourished children and women to the health clinic. 

“I truly hope that my son will recover with the help of these nutritional supplements and become healthy and safe, as I constantly struggle with health issues among my children,” she says. “Currently, there is cholera, diarrhoea and dengue fever in my community. I am afraid that he will get it; however, I tried to keep him safe as told by the community volunteers.” 

After ten years of conflict, Yemen remains one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises. An estimated 4.5 million people—14 percent of the population—are currently displaced, most of whom have been displaced multiple times over a number of years. Fatima’s family used to have a house where they raised chickens, but when conflict and bombing began, they fled for their safety.  

“Before the war, my husband had a stable job and our situation was relatively good — we were well off, thank God. However, things are now very different, and we are living in harsh weather conditions in this shelter, having been displaced for a long time,” Fatima shares. “My husband no longer has a permanent job; some days he finds work, and other days he doesn’t.” 

On the days where Fatima’s husband does not earn enough, she and her children collect plastic and metal to sell to the scrap shop. The family does their best to eat three meals a day but often has to make do with just one.  

“Health is the most important thing, so I wish good health and well-being for all my children. We wish to return home and live peacefully there. I wish we had a good income to meet our basic needs.” 

Concern is working with thousands of displaced people across the world, but each one is an individual with dignity, agency, and hope for a better future. 

You can support displaced families who are working every day to rebuild their lives. By donating today you can help provide a displaced family with shelter, food, clean water, and medical support.   

*Names changed to protect identity