(18 Nov 2015) Despite the recent ousting of the Islamic State group from the Iraqi town of Sinjar, former residents now sheltering at a camp across the country are still faced with a number of challenges.
Some of the Yazidi community that fled Sinjar are now residing in makeshift homes on an abandoned building site in in the Iraqi-Kurdish city of Irbil.
Khokhe Namir, a 45-year-old Yazidi woman, said she longs to visit her daughter's grave in Sinjar but she would be returning to a very different life.
"We were always saying that as soon as Sinjar is liberated, we will go back to our house. Now we have lost everything. The house is gone, livestock is gone."
In a siege that lasted for nearly a year, much of Sinjar has been badly damaged and there is little hope that its inhabitants can return anytime soon.
And despite the retaking of the city itself, many Yazidi villages outside Sinjar remain under Islamic State group control.
15-year-old Nisan Darwish, originally from the village of Grze, just outside Sinjar, said she would like to go back to her village and continue her school studies.
The 10-15 Yazidi families living on this building site have little work and mostly rely on donations to survive.
A schoolroom has been created in a tent.
As there are no regular teachers, and only occasional visits from volunteers, much of the time the children have nothing to do.

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