1. Med shot, river border between Niger and Nigeria
2. Wide shot, Niger village
3. Wide shot, family construct shelter
4. Med shot, building materials
5. Various shots, Hamid fixing timbers on shelter
6. SOUNDBITE (Haoussa) Hamid Ibrahim, Nigerian refugee:
“It was very unstable – attacks with heavy artillery, bombs, strafing. We saw relatives killed. Bodies were strewn on the ground.”
7. Various shots, Niger village
8. Med shot, man in boat
9. Wide shot, heavy rain on shelters
10. Med shot, woman enters shelter in heavy rain
11. Med shot, women stop water entering shelter
12. Med shot, refugees stand in rain
13.Various shots, Fati washes dishes
14.Med shot, Fati collects wood
15.SOUNDBITE (Haoussa) Fati Moussa, Nigeria refugee:
“The army started shooting but what was terrifying was Boko Haram. They were cutting people’s throats. I saw it with my own eyes. The night Boko Haram came into the village, they shot at everyone, they beat everyone, men and women.”
16. Wide shot, Fati’s home
17. Med shot, Fati sweeping
18. Med shot, Falmata walks under shelter
19.SOUNDBITE (Kanouri) Falmata Boukar Nigerian refugee:
“My husband left for the school where he taught. On the road Boko Haram rebels killed him. People brought his body home hours later.”
20. Close up, Falmata holds child
21. Med shot, Falmata Boukar and Binta Boulama sit under shelter
22.SOUNDBITE (Haoussa) Binta Boulama, Niger villager:
“She knew no one here, not us, not anyone. My husband opened his door to her when he heard her story.”
23. Wide shot, village
24. Med shot, Women with donkeys
25. Wide shot, Women with donkeys
26. Med shot, boy on ox driven cart
27. Wide shot, women crossing river on foot

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Storyline

The river is a border. On the other side, carnage.

On this side in Diffa, Niger safety and thousands of new refugees.

In the village of Bosso a family builds a shelter. They fled the fighting between the Nigerian army and Boko Haram armed rebels with nothing but their clothes.

SOUNDBITE (Haoussa) Hamid Ibrahim, Nigerian refugee:
“It was very unstable – attacks with heavy artillery, bombs, strafing. We saw relatives killed. Bodies were strewn on the ground.”

The village helps them with plots of land and UNHCR helps the village, setting up local committees to channel relief supplies.

In the heavy rain of summer, the hastily-built shelters offer barely-enough protection. But the weather doesn’t kill.

Fati Moussa is from Niger, but got married in Nigeria.

She fled back to Nigeria to her aged father’s home, for safety

SOUNDBITE (Haoussa) Fati Moussa, Nigeria refugee:
“The army started shooting but what was terrifying was Boko Haram. They were cutting people’s throats. I saw it with my own eyes. The night Boko Haram came into the village they shot at everyone, they beat everyone men and women.”

She escaped with her youngest child. Her husband took three other children, but they were separated. Falmata Boukar was much more unlucky.

SOUNDBITE (Kanouri) Falmata Boukar, Nigerian refugee:
“My husband left for the school where he taught. On the road Boko Haram rebels killed him. People brought his body home hours later.”

This is a story of strangers helping people like Falmata Boukar, strangers like Binta Boulama, who took her in.

SOUNDBITE (Haoussa) Binta Boulama, Niger villager:
“She knew no one here, not us, not anyone. My husband opened his door to her when he heard her story.”

Strangers and UNHCR trying to cope with a new influx of the defenceless and the homeless.

For those who flee their homes and homeland, a welcome and a helping hand is a gift, a gift of survival.