1. Close up, refugee woman picking up her child with belongings.
2. Various shots, refugees fleeing with their belongings
3. Med shot, feet of refugees as they flee
4. Various shots, refugees fleeing
5. Various shots, Marinyesi with her children.
6. Med shot, Marinyesi walking with some of her belongings
7. SOUNDBITE (Kiswahili ) Marinyesi Nyota, Congolese Refugee:
“We ran without anything. When the rebels arrived, no one took anything, not even a hoe, not even bedding, not anything. You are only saving your body to get here.”
8. Various shots, Esteri with her hungry grandchildren
9. Close up, children trying to scrape food from empty plates
10. Med shot, Esteri with her hungry grandchildren
11. Close up, child with an empty plate
12. SOUNDBITE (Kiswahili ) Estheri Naram, Congolese Refugee:
“We flee without anything, only our children. We don’t have anything to help us. We are suffering from all kinds of diseases. Hunger will kill us here.”
13. Various shots, Marinyesi. And family arranging to relocate
14. SOUNDBITE (Kiswahili ) Marinyesi Nyota, Congolese Refugee:
“It's painful when I see my kids not eating. My children go to sleep hungry. They suffer and I keep thinking what will I do? The thoughts are killing me and I'm getting high blood pressure from these thoughts.”
15. Various shots, Lucy interacting with the refugees
16. Med shot, refugees listening to Lucy
17. SOUNDBITE (English ) Lucy Beck, UHNCR External Relations Officer:
“A lot of the refugees arriving are hungry they have been saying they have been at the border. They have been travelling for a couple of days. We are seeing quite a lot of malnutrition especially many young children, and we see high level of malaria around 25, 30 to 35 percent of people we have actually been receiving in the health centre are malaria cases, certain amount of diarrhoea, but mainly malnutrition is our biggest issue, and malaria.”
18. Various shots, refugees at the camp as they arrive

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Storyline

They managed to grab only their most precious belongings. Some came with nothing – just happy to save their lives.

These refugees spent several nights sleeping rough in the forest after an attack on their villages in Kamango, eastern Congo.

Most Congolese refugees have walked some 15 kilometres without food or water to reach this border point in Uganda.

The UN refugee agency is now helping some 20,000 registered refugees from the recent fighting in eastern Congo.

35-year-old Marinyesi Nyota is relieved to have found safety at a primary school inside Uganda with her husband and five children.

On her way here, Marinyesi saw women giving birth in the forest, some of them dying. She didn’t manage to save anything but her family’s lives.

SOUNDBITE (Kiswahili) Marinyesi Nyota, Congolese Refugee:
“We ran without anything. When the rebels arrived, no one took anything, not even a hoe, not even bedding, not anything. You are only saving your body to get here.”

For the last three days, Estheri Naramn has stayed in this open building in Busunga, a small town just inside Uganda.

Her main worry is how to feed her children, grandchildren and husband. For three whole days, they have barely eaten.

The entire family is looking to Estheri to provide medicine and food.

SOUNDBITE (Kiswahili) Estheri Naram, Congolese Refugee:
“We flee without anything, only our children. We don’t have anything to help us. We are suffering from all kinds of diseases. Hunger will kill us here.”

Marinyesi is now grateful to receive help from UNHCR, and is preparing to move to Bubukwanga transit centre where she will get food and other aid for her hungry children.

SOUNDBITE (Kiswahili) Marinyesi Nyota, Congolese Refugee:
“It's painful when I see my kids not eating. My children go to sleep hungry. They suffer and I keep thinking what will I do? The thoughts are killing me and I'm getting high blood pressure from these thoughts.”

Lucy Beck is UNHCR’s external relations officer. She is concerned about condition of the Congolese refugees.

SOUNDBITE (English) Lucy Beck, UHNCR External Relations Officer:
“A lot of the refugees arriving are hungry they have been saying they have been at the border. They have been travelling for a couple of days. We are seeing quite a lot of malnutrition especially many young children, and we see high level of malaria around 25, 30 to 35 percent of people we have actually been receiving in the health centre are malaria cases, certain amount of diarrhoea, but mainly malnutrition is our biggest issue, and malaria.”

As thousands of refugees continue trickling in from the Congo side, pressure is mounting on the facilities available to accommodate them.