I am back in Goma, one month after I visited Oxfam's cholera emergency project in the town. This time I am here to speak with people who have been displaced by the recent conflict in the North Kivu area in the East of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

I wake up to the sound of water tapping on my window, immediately my thoughts are of the displaced people that I am visiting today. I can only imagine that they have spent a sleepless night under their makeshift shelters.

When we leave for the office at 8, the rain has picked up considerably, I only have a t-shirt on, every raindrop that falls on my skin makes me that little bit colder. At least I have the luxury of a rain jacket, a warm office to go to and a cup of hot coffee, which is much more than the people that I will meet later in the day.

At the office, the engineering team are an in an early morning meeting with our local partner, Action Sante Femme (ASAF) - Action, Health and Women. After, I speak briefly with Richard Katshongeri, the technician for ASAF.

"If Oxfam and ASAF do not intervene now, the water system will not be able to cope with the demands being put on it by the new arrival of communities and people will not have safe access to safe drinking water. Instead they will have to collect water from the lake," says Richard.

He continues to tell me that this puts people at risk of getting attacked, particularly women and children as traditionally, they are the ones who carry out the household chores, such as collecting water. There is also the risk of people contracting water-borne diseases, as I have learnt from my previous trip to Oxfam's cholera project.

When I arrive at the first settlement I am to visit, the Oxfam vehicle is quickly surrounded by a large number of people, some are soaked to the bone it seems and others are holding plastic sheeting over their heads and " Kikwembe" a traditional thin cotton fabric, with colourful designs, which the local women wear.

Immediately, the president of the settlement, Deo Nkundio approaches us and is eager to let us know the community's needs.

" We have no water or medicine . Most people here have to go and get water from the nearby lake, which is about 45 minutes away by foot. There are mothers here, delivering their children in this environment - we really need help. We want the international community and our government to bring us peace, if there was peace we would want to return home but until then we will have to stay here. Just look around you, this situation is deplorable."

A few metres away, I meet Devota and her family outside the shelter that she has managed to put together. She tells me of how she gets access to water, something which a lot of us take for granted when we turn the tap on in the morning. "I beg, and I wash clothes for other people in the city to try to get an income."

Devota has to balance her time between getting water and making a living so that she can feed her family, but it is not always possible to do the two in one day with now, a reduced family. "Some of my family have fled to Rwanda; during the displacement we lost some family members. My husband went over to Uganda and I am here with my three children " adds Devota.

" To get water, I have to go to the lake. Sometimes I buy water from other people. It is about 100 francs (10p). I need about 2 per day, that is 20p worth. On one day I use the little money that I get to buy water, and the next day I use what I have to buy food. "

This is all the more reason why Oxfam and ASAF are rehabilitating water systems close to the settlements. The average income here is 100 to 150 francs per day, 10 to 15p. Not only will the repaired water system reduce the amount of time that people need to fetch water thus freeing up time to do all that they can to get food but it will also reduce the dangers that people face when en route to get water from the lake. I hear throughout the day of people's fear of attacks when fetching water from Lake Kivu.

The rain gets stronger again. The irony strikes me; in spite of the abundance of water around us people still struggle to get access to safe drinking water, something that I am pleased Oxfam is going to address in the coming weeks.

As I take a closer look at what some people might now call home, I am astonished by the skill that has gone into making these temporary structures which are made of a long sticks covered with banana leaves. I ask myself is it because people in the northern Kivu have been forced out of their homes more than once - be it because of natural disaster or man-made conflict - that they have acquired these survival skills?

Now that I have left the settlement and I have reached the end of the long day, I am more than grateful to be back inside the sturdy brick walls of my temporary home, with colleagues, a hot meal and soft music. The settlement is only 15km away and in this moment it seems that our lives are miles apart - yet we all have the right to have our basic needs met and we all need clean water to live.