ETHIOPIA - GEDEO CONFLICT

STORY 1: She didn’t have much but lost it all: the heartbreaking story of a conflict survivor in Ethiopia

It is dark in Almaz’s small hut. Her home is sparsely furnished with a few cupboards and one bed on which she is sitting. She looks fragile, with her back bent and her right hand covering her face as she is trying to hide her tears. She has dark circles under her eyes. Her clothes are ripped. Her voice breaks as she is bringing up memories of the day her life changed dramatically. The roof of her house still has cracks from the attack that forced her and her family to flee a few months ago. Just on the opposite side of her home, hundreds of temporary bamboo houses are lined up as Chirigu, her village, became one of the biggest displacement camps in southern Ethiopia.

Almaz’s story in their own words:

It was evening when all of the sudden we heard gunshots and people screaming. Me and my family were at home. We didn’t know what was going on in the village. We looked outside and saw people fleeing when we realized something was wrong. My husband went outside to look. This was the last time I saw him.

I didn’t have time to wait for him, not knowing that he was shot during the attack on our village. I gathered my six children and we started walking towards Haru, a nearby village. We were all so scared and in shock by what we had just witnessed. Once we arrived in Haru, we went to an abandoned school building where people were gathering. It became our new home for the next three months.

A few days later, some other villagers told me that my husband was killed. My heart shattered as my son brought back the body of his father to Haru. But the most difficult day was yet to come. Unable to cope with his father’s loss, my 23-year-old son committed suicide just a week after we had left our homes and old lives behind. When he found out that my husband passed away, he electrocuted himself. When I heard about this, a part of me died as well.

I would give everything to go back to the days things were normal. My husband used to work for the military, so I raised our children mostly by myself.  But in recent years we used to do farming on our coffee and wheat fields. He was the breadwinner in our family. I don’t know how we can survive without him. A few months ago, we returned to our old home in Chirigu. Our house was still standing but the roof was destroyed in the attack. So much has changed in our village, it doesn’t feel like home anymore.

We used to have nine children. I lost three of them due to sickness. It hurts so much to have lost another son. I feel so much pain inside of me. I want my other children to go to school but I can only afford to send one of them. I am weak and I depend on help from aid organizations now. I see no future for us. 

STORY 2: Having left everything behind, Amreh created a new life in displacement

It is hard to see anything in Amreh’s tent. Eyes sting as the thick smoke from the burning firewood spreads across her makeshift kitchen. The packed space inside is not only used for cooking but also for sleeping and living. Just a few months ago, this became Amreh’s new home. Blankets were hung up to create a sense of privacy but every step can be heard from outside the tent in the busy camp. The roof has holes and whenever it rains, the ground turns into mud. Only one bag is on the ground. This is all Amreh could carry when she fled from her old home that was burnt during attacks from armed groups. Amreh’s face looks serious but it lights up as she picks up her tiny newborn from the blankets on the ground. She gave birth to her son just four days ago in the camp. 

Amreh’s story in their own words:

I gave birth to my baby boy four days ago, on Sunday. He is one of the reasons I knew I had to flee. My home was in a very rural place, there were no hospitals or doctors around who could help me give birth. I used to leave occasionally for check-ups and go back but on June 30 my village was attacked and I knew I would not be able to return. My husband, 10 children and me left towards Haru, a nearby village, and sought shelter in an empty school building. We lived there for three months, which was very difficult. Many people around us were sick and we had to share the little space in the classroom with so many other displaced villagers. I was five months pregnant. After a while, we were told we could move to a camp or go back home, but since armed men had burned my house, we had nothing to which to go back.

We went to the camp so that I could give birth to my son in safe surroundings. God helped me deliver my baby. Since the ambulance could not arrive in time, other displaced people in the camp assisted. We are staying at my brother-in-law’s tent at the moment but I hope we can build our own shelter soon. Life here is still difficult but better than at the school. We have food distributions here and health workers come to my home to check on me and my baby. Still, I am worried about the future.

We used to have a stable life. I had planned to have an iron steel roof build on my old home. I had even saved up some money but all it is gone now. We were forced to live off our savings ever since we fled. All I want now is a stable future. I want to work at the market to trade coffee, raise my children and build a new home.