Restoring Dignity After Displacement

At Daba Naira New Camp in Tawila locality, 49-year-old Fathia Mohammed Musa sits outside her temporary shelter, surrounded by her family. Months of fear and repeated displacement have given way, for now, to something steadier.

Repeated Displacement

Fathia’s family fled violence in El Fasher for Zamzam Camp. When insecurity reached Zamzam too, they moved again, this time to Daba Naira New Camp in Tawila.

Each move cost them. “The situation was extremely difficult,” Fathia recalls. “We lost everything: our belongings, our food supplies, our children’s clothes and even our means of transportation.”

The household now numbers ten people living in a collective shelter, one of them living with a disability. They arrived with almost nothing, and food, healthcare and shelter materials were all hard to come by. “The war destroyed our stability,” she says. “We were left with nothing.”

Without mattresses, blankets or shelter materials, the family slept on the ground. Pregnant and breastfeeding women went without proper bedding through the cold, and the lack of basic household items made even hygiene a daily struggle. With no income to replace what they’d lost, the pressure to cover basic needs kept building.

Timely Support

After arriving at Daba Naira New Camp, Fathia’s family received a package of essential non-food items (NFIs) distributed by GOAL with funding from the Sudan Humanitarian Fund. The assistance included blankets, sleeping mats, plastic sheets, lighting batteries, laundry basins, children’s supplies and other core household items, providing the family with much-needed support as they began rebuilding their lives.

“We did not expect to receive assistance so suddenly,” Fathia says. “God showed us mercy through GOAL. We cannot express our happiness.”

She noted the distribution itself was well organized families were briefed on the selection criteria and complaint mechanisms and treated respectfully throughout.

Small Items, Significant Change

The items were simple, but their effect was immediate. Sleeping mats and blankets gave the family a warmer, safer place to rest. Plastic sheets reinforced the shelter against the elements; lighting batteries made things safer after dark. Laundry basins and other household items helped restore everyday routines and hygiene.

The distribution also targeted the household’s most vulnerable members: children under five received age-appropriate supplies, pregnant and breastfeeding women received blankets, and the family member living with a disability got bedding that noticeably improved daily comfort.

“After receiving the materials, our life changed for the better,” Fathia says. “We benefited greatly from the items provided.”

It also relieved some financial pressure resources that would have gone toward replacing basic household items could go toward other urgent needs instead. For Fathia, the timing mattered as much as the items themselves.

The family’s recovery is far from complete. They still need cash assistance for daily expenses, additional shelter materials, and continued access to food and hygiene supplies. After multiple displacements, rebuilding will take sustained support well beyond this one distribution.

Across displacement sites in Tawila, other families are working through the same slow rebuilding process. The material assistance won’t resolve everything on its own but it buys people room to recover with some dignity intact, rather than falling back on harmful coping strategies just to get through the day.