Near Paoua, north west C.A.R. – The hoes which displaced mother Rebecca Dendo is holding in her hands were made locally in a blacksmith’s forge in Paoua where the ICRC team is based. They can be used for weeding crops and digging out roots and stones from the soil. When families fled during attacks on their villages they set up makeshift shelters in the forest close to their fields, so that they could go on cultivating their land. Clashes between government soldiers and rebels have been ongoing for over 18 months, making it too insecure for people to return home. The ICRC’s programme is targeting some 13,500 vulnerable families. The displaced walked for hours from their refuges in the bush to collect the hoes in the village of Bodoli.