---
title: "A glimpse of joy"
description: "Halima could finally move into a shelter from NRC. Two days later she gave birth to twin girls in their new home."
url: "https://www.nrc.no/news/2016/august/a-glimpse-of-joy"
language: "en"
published: "2016-08-16T11:04:16Z"
modified: "2016-08-16T11:34:27Z"
---

![“I hope for a better future for my children," says Halima. Photo: NRC/ Rosalyn Velds ](https://www.nrc.no/globalassets/images/countries/nigeria/dscn0208.jpg)

# A glimpse of joy

Rosalyn Velds|Published 16. Aug 2016

[Nigeria](https://www.nrc.no/themes?categoryId=90) [Shelter and settlements](https://www.nrc.no/themes?categoryId=162) [War and conflict](https://www.nrc.no/themes?categoryId=308)

This article was first published more than 10 years ago

Halima could finally move into a shelter from NRC. Two days later she gave birth to twin girls in their new home.

“I hope for a better future for my children, but for now we need assistance to stay alive,” says Halima (Her name has been changed for privacy reasons).

She is one of more than 43,000 internally displaced people and people of host communities in Maiduguri receiving assistance from Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC).

### 2.2 million people displaced

Nigeria is one of the main countries that continue to be affected by violence in the larger Lake Chad Basin. The violence caused by Boko Haram in 2009 has left an estimated 2.2 million people displaced. Homes and livelihoods have been destroyed and people are struggling to survive under desperate conditions.

However, amidst the many dire and tragic stories, a little joy can be found. In 2015, Halima and her husband escaped the massacre caused by insurgents in Baga. Together with their three children aged 11, 6 and 3, they walked almost 230 km to seek safety in Maiduguri, northeast Nigeria. On arrival, the family found shelter in a primary school classroom, sharing little space with 20 other displaced people who had all fled from violence. Shortly after, the family was registered by NRC and on 31 July 2016 they received a shelter.

> Life is difficult but at least our family has a place to live.
>
> Halima, internally displaced Nigerian

### Just in time

The shelter came just in time, with Halima giving birth to twin girls in their new home just two days later. When looking at her babies, she smiles.

“There was no time to get to a hospital, everything was going very fast”. Despite the stress of displacement and illness, Halima is relieved her babies were born healthy.

While still adjusting to life in Maiduguri, she says “NRC assistance made a difference. Life is difficult but at least our family has a place to live.”

A proud mother of five children, she fears for their future. Her husband used to be a fisherman and now generates some income as a tailor. Her children do not go to school and her family misses the life they had before they were displaced.

Following shelter assistance, Halima’s family will receive non-food items such as soap, laundry detergent, a bucket and a mosquito net. Her newborns will be assisted by the legal assistance team with birth certificates, which are required to obtain national identity documents and facilitate access to services such as education and health care. Plans are also underway to establish a borehole in the community, which provides access to safe drinking water.

**The crisis in Nigeria**

• The crisis in Nigeria is part of a larger humanitarian crisis in the Lake Chad Basin and among the fastest growing displacement crisis in Africa.

• Recent UN reports estimated that of the 14.8 million people affected by the crisis, 7 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance.

• The majority of displaced people (92%) live in the host communities, while the remaining group resides in recognised camps or camp-like settlements.

Read more about our work in Nigeria [here](https://www.nrc.no/countries/africa/old-versions/nigeria2 "https://www.nrc.no/countries/africa/nigeria/").

**NRC relief operations**

• In September 2015, NRC started its relief operations in Maiduguri. NRC assistance has so far reached more than 43,000 internally displaced people and host communities in Maiduguri. We provide shelter, non-food items such as soap, laundry detergent, a bucket and a mosquito net.

• NRC assists with birth certificates, which are required for people to obtain national identity documents and facilitate access to services such as education and health care.

• The ongoing tension and threats of insurgency in northeast Nigeria continue to limit any plans for return for those displaced and prevent them from resuming any former livelihood activities.