Life in the Camp
Read about Bilan’s life in a refugee camp.

For each definition find the words in the text. Type one word in each gap in the form it is given in the text.

E.g. Definition: A person who has been forced to leave their country or home, because there is a war or for political, religious or social reasons.

Answer: refugee

After Bilan and her family crossed the border, they were taken to the Kobe refugee camp. This camp is one of the five set up by the UNHCR in the southern region of Ethiopia. Together, these camps serve hundreds of thousands of refugees.

The camps are all located in a large, remote area. But despite its isolation, the Kobe camp is a hive of activity. Nearly 50,000 people live there. The camp is like a sprawling town, with tidy rows of bamboo shelters separated by wide dirty streets.

Around the world, there are more than 100 refugee camps. Each one is different. Each faces unique challenges. But every camp has the same basic purpose: to provide food, medicine, housing, and protection to refugees.

Life in these camps can be grim, with families crowding into tents that boil in summer and freeze in winter. There may be shortages of food, water, and power, or inadequate bathroom facilities. Basic supplies, like toothpaste and shoes, may be hard to get. Not all refugee camps have schools, and those that do may not have enough teachers or books. Outbreaks of violence and disease are constant threats. Sometimes there isn’t enough medicine for everyone who needs it.

A refugee camp is certainly not a place where most people would choose to live. But the Kobe camp in Ethiopia does have much to offer. It’s clean, it’s well organized, and it has the essentials: food, water, durable shelters, and a health clinic. Six schools serve about 6,200 students. In the bustling market, refugees can shop for everything from soaps, perfumes, and colourful fabrics to delicious samosas, goat meat, and pasta. There is also a place to get cell phones repaired.

Bilan remembers that when she first arrived at the Kobe camp, she was struck by how different her life was going to be. She would no longer live in a home in a big city. She would live in a small shelter in the middle of a vast and empty desert. She would no longer have running water either. Instead, she would have to lug water from the camp’s well, a time-consuming and arduous chore. She would also have to fetch firewood for cooking, trekking far outside the relative safety of the camp – and that frightened her. It still frightens her today.

But early on, Bilan made a choice. She decided to accept her new life – and to make the best of it.

«I had to adapt,» she says simply.

1. Far from towns or other places where people live.
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2. Spreading over a wide area in an untidy or unattractive way.
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3. The aim that someone wants to achieve, or that something is intended to achieve.
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4. The sudden start of something.
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5. Full of noise and activity.
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vitalii1962svet    1   11.10.2020 18:40    17