From homeless to a safe shelter

Lula Suleban and her husband, Mohammed Yusuf, along with their seven children, endured a life of uncertainty and fear at home in Lascanood, Somalia, due to militia conflict and unrest. Their harrowing escape led them to Goob, an Ethiopian village at the border, where they spent six months living in crowded and dire conditions with little protection from the elements.

Lula vividly remembers the day they fled Lascanood. She was at the hospital with her son Abshir for his monthly heart check-up when chaos erupted. Gunfire echoed all around them, and terrified children cried out for their loved ones.

“It was like the end of the world,” she says. “Everyone was running and screaming looking for their kids and relatives.”

Desperate to reunite with her other six children, Lula boarded a bus that took them to Goob. The journey was filled with tears and chaos.

After arriving in Goob, life was tough. They lived in the open air, constantly fearing snake bites, and they struggled to find enough food and clean water. It was a stark contrast to their stable life back in Lascanood before the unrest, where Lula worked as a housewife, and Mohammed worked as a skilled mechanic in a reputable auto maintenance garage.

Heartache

Lula’s heart ached not only for the lack of shelter and basic necessities in Goob but also for her son Abshir, who needs regular health treatments for his heart condition. Their lives were in disarray, but hope shone on the horizon when they learned about the establishment of Mirkan refugee settlement in March 2023.

It took over three months of efforts from Refugee and Returnee Service (RRS) and the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) to relocate Lula and her family inside Ethiopia to Mirkan camp. Supported with funding from the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (NMFA), the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) provided them with an emergency shelter made of eucalyptus poles and plastic sheets.

The family outside their shelter built by NRC. Photo: Endale Gemechu/NRC

"I am grateful to have this shelter for my family. It protects us from the wind and keeps us safe from snakes and other dangers," Lula says with relief in her voice.

While the shelter is a welcome respite, it's not without challenges. The family of nine struggles to fit comfortably within its confines, leaving some of their belongings outside. Mohammed, who is not only a skilled mechanic but also possesses carpentry skills, dreams of obtaining construction materials to improve their living conditions.

Lula's family is not alone in their plight. Thousands of refugees from Lascanood, mostly women and children, find themselves in a similar situation at the Mirkan refugee settlement. UNICEF is already working on providing a stable water supply system, but there remains a pressing need for more shelters and sanitation facilities to ensure the well-being and dignity of these displaced individuals.