Somalis seek refuge in Ethiopian camps – in pictures

Families from Somalia walk for days, and even weeks, to reach the Dollo Ado refugee complex in Ethiopia, and arrive exhausted and dehydrated. Hundreds of children and pregnant women are malnourished and need special therapeutic foods to help them to recover Photograph: Samuel Hauenstein Swan/Action Against Hunger

Many children who arrive at the camps are malnourished. On arrival at Hilowyen camp, in Dollo Ado, children are weighed and measured to determine the state of their malnutrition Photograph: Samuel Hauenstein Swan/Action Against Hunger

Following their assessment, children who are suffering from malnutrition are enrolled into Action Against Hunger’s supplementary feeding programme in Hilowyen camp, which provides nutritional and therapeutic foods to aid their recovery. The most severe and complex cases are referred for round-the-clock care Photograph: Samuel Hauenstein Swan/Action Against Hunger

A team measures the circumference of a child’s upper arm to determine whether she could be suffering from malnutrition. Diagnosing and treating children for malnutrition quickly is critical. Hundreds of refugees arrive at the camp every day. Children under 18 years old, as well as pregnant and breastfeeding women, who are also vulnerable to hunger, are systematically screened on arrival Photograph: Samuel Hauenstein Swan/Action Against Hunger

Action Against Hunger is training community health workers from the refugee population, equipping them with knowledge on nutrition, basic health and hygiene. The community workers visit families in the camps to advise mothers on childcare practices, identify malnourished children, and monitor the progress of those already receiving assistance Photograph: Samuel Hauenstein Swan/Action Against Hunger

Nestebo Husein, 21, is pregnant and malnourished. She needs urgent nutritional treatment to protect her unborn baby. Malnutrition during pregnancy poses a threat to both mother and child. Husein is given supplies of therapeutic foods to treat her malnutrition and ensure she gives birth to a healthy baby Photograph: Samuel Hauenstein Swan/Action Against Hunger

Families in the camps have lost everything. Drought and conflict have destroyed their crops and livestock, ruining food supplies and sources of income. They are in desperate need of basic supplies. On arrival at the camps, families are given a tent and emergency supplies of food and clean water Photograph: Samuel Hauenstein Swan/Action Against Hunger

A simple tent is often the only shelter in the sprawling camps, where it is extremely hot during the day Photograph: Samuel Hauenstein Swan/Action Against Hunger

Some children in the camps gather firewood. Families try to earn money by selling the wood Photograph: Samuel Hauenstein Swan/Action Against Hunger

The crisis in east Africa will continue for many more months. With hundreds of thousands of people settled in refugee camps, rebuilding lives will take time Photograph: Samuel Hauenstein Swan/Action Against Hunger

The majority of residents in the camp are women and children. Many have trekked across the arid lands for weeks in search of somewhere safe, with food and water for their families. Children under the age of five and pregnant and breastfeeding women are most vulnerable to hunger. The women need extra nutrients to protect their babies and ensure a safe pregnancy Photograph: Samuel Hauenstein Swan/Action Against Hunger

Three-year-old Bisharo was severely malnourished when he arrived at the screening centre. On the day their last goat died, his family abandoned their home in Bakool, Somalia, to seek refuge in Ethiopia. His father, Adan, led his wife, Bisharo, and his other children, Saynah, 15, and Safiyo, five, through the arid land, in constant fear of being attacked Photograph: Samuel Hauenstein Swan/Action Against Hunger

Abidu is two years old and is one of the hundreds of children in Ethiopia suffering from acute malnutrition. Supplementary feeding programmes are providing children like Abidu with therapeutic and nutritious foods to aid their recovery Photograph: Samuel Hauenstein Swan/Action Against Hunger