Zahra Abdille, an IDP in Merka: "Every day we heard explosions"

Zahra Abdille, a 35-year-old mother of four, fled the fighting in the Somali capital and is now living in the southern port town of Merka, 100km south of Mogadishu, in cramped conditions, but counts herself lucky.

Her family first escaped their home in Mogadishu in late July and arrived in Merka in the region of Lower Shabelle, southern Somalia.

Home for Zahra, her four children aged between three and 16, is a three-room house shared with three other families. Her children, who used to go school in Mogadishu, can no longer do so.

"I was a trader at the Bakara market. I used to make enough money to feed my family.

"But Halwadaag [south Mogadishu, where she lived] became a war zone. Every day we heard explosions. One day there was so much shelling that two of my neighbours were killed.

"A day later my house and my next-door neighbour's house were destroyed by shells.

"We were lucky no one was hurt. It was getting worse so I decided to take my children to a safer place.

"The shelling was so bad we did not have enough time to take anything. We grabbed a few mattresses and made for the road. We found a truck going to Merka.

"My husband used to be an estate agent in Mogadishu, but there is no real estate to sell now, so he stays at home. I was the only one who was earning anything. Now I cannot do anything. I don’t know what I will do to take care of my family.

"We had our own house, now I share a three-room house with three other families.

"I am worried about my children's future. If we stay here long they may never go back to school.

"The smaller ones are suffering from skin diseases they developed since we got here.

"But I should not complain. We are very lucky we have relatives who share what little they have and we have a roof over our heads. Some of the others have nowhere to go.

"We are civilians and we do not want this to go on. I want the fighting to stop. I want peace and for my children to go back to school."

ah/mw