The countries are separated only by a small river, where women wash their family's clothes and Cameroonian soldiers are patrolling. It is the same spot where hundreds to thousands of Central Africans have been crossing the river every day only a couple of months ago - and still people are arriving.

When violence erupted in CAR in early December 2013, many families were forced to flee from their villages and leave all their belongings behind.

Mothers were separated from their children, men from their wives and many had to travel without food and shelter through the bushes for months. Upon arrival they were often very exhausted, sick and acutely malnourished.

At several border entry points, the refugees received ready-to-eat food - called High Energy Biscuits - from the UN World Food Programme (WFP). This is one of the programmes the European Commission's Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection department (ECHO) supports in the CAR emergency response.

Today, over 130,000 Central Africans are registered in Cameroon, namely in the Adamawa and East Region - the most poverty-stricken parts of the country.

More than half of the refugees are living in local communities. The other half lives in refugee sites, which are connected to villages like Gbiti or Timangolo, a one-hour drive from the border with CAR. Almost 7,000 refugees, who first arrived in Gbiti are now living here in safe distance from the conflict.

30-year-old Hadidja Abdoulaye from Yaloke is one of them. Her family had a good life in CAR, her husband was running a small grocery shop and they had land and cattle. When the conflict erupted, her life dramatically changed.

After waiting for a ceasefire for two days, she and her family had to flee immediately when they heard the Anti-balaka forces approaching. Hadidja and her family were on the road for three months before they reached Cameroon - of which they had to hide two months in the forest, barely surviving on toxic raw manioc.

Her eldest daughter, Fanne, 10, was more dead than alive, Hadidja says, when they finally reached Cameroon. She suffered from severe acute malnutrition. During their escape from CAR, much of her hair fell out.

Thanks to donors like ECHO, which supported the emergency aid for CAR refugees in Cameroon with € 7.5 million in 2014, Fanne and her family receive monthly food rations from WFP with rice, salt, oil and Supercereal, a Corn-Soya Blend enriched with vitamins and minerals.

To fight malnutrition among children and prevent its severe effects on their physical growth and mental development, all children additionally receive Plumpy'Sup, a peanut-based paste designed to meet the nutritional needs of moderately malnourished children.

Now, thanks to WFP's support and treatment in the site's health centre, Fanne's hair is growing again and all of Hadidja's kids have recovered from malnourishment - looking at her daughter, she expresses how thankful she is to WFP and all donors for saving her child's life.

80,000 refugees like the Abdoulaye family receive food assistance through WFP thanks to ECHO support. To avoid tensions between refugees and local host communities, the latter's vulnerable members also have access to monthly food rations and medical care in the health centres.

Nobody knows when the conflict in CAR will end. Hadidja is not sure if they will ever be able to take the route back to Gbiti and cross the river again.

All her family left CAR and they still fear violence in case they would return. Her husband meanwhile found a job as a community worker for a local NGO, which allows them to buy fruit, vegetables and even meat every once in a while. In Timangolo, they feel save - and their children don't go hungry.