Sittwe , Myanmar ( CNN ) -- With a steady hand , Myanmar Red Cross volunteer Tin Tin Wae , 22 , measures out chlorine powder , adds it to a large bucket of water and begins to stir . This will eventually reach some of the 100,000 displaced people in Rakhine state who have been forced from their homes after violence swept through their communities in 2012 . Q & A : What 's behind sectarian violence in Myanmar ? In the town of Sittwe , the violence has divided the once peaceful ethnic Rakhine and Muslim communities , turning friends into enemies and driving neighbors into exile . At first glance the town appears peaceful , and the streets are bustling with people visiting shops and restaurants . But just a short drive from the town center the landscape alters with relief camps and NGO vehicles , the telltale sign that we are reaching our destination . Mozala camp houses 573 people from ethnic Rakhine communities in temporary bamboo shelters . The Red Cross is bringing in drinking water as part of its emergency relief program that distributes 8,000 liters of safe water to camps each day . The water is a lifeline for the people living in this camp . One of the residents tells me that despite other water tanks nearby , this is the only water safe for drinking . Terrorized , starving and homeless : Myanmar 's Rohingya still forgotten . The cool weather in Sittwe is a shock after the oppressive heat of Yangon where we are based . People in the camps tell me they are already concerned about flooding when it rains . The tattered sandbags piled outside shelters do little to prevent the muddy , dirty water from flowing inside . In a few more months the rainy season will arrive in earnest . Will these families still be here ? We visit a Muslim camp situated further out of the main town . Because of the violence and continued tensions , the camps are divided to separately house the ethnic Rakhine and Muslim communities . Read more : Obama lauds Aung San Suu Kyi , gives a nod to Myanmar . The car pulls up along the side of a busy road where a large queue is already forming outside a clinic . Red Cross volunteers inside are treating Faranarli , 14 , who was in a cycling accident . His bandaged ankle covers a series of severe cuts , and he winces , as the volunteers carefully take off the bandage to clean and dress the wounds . The Red Cross is supporting health clinics in more than 10 camps , treating patients from both communities . The need for these services is evident . Mothers are clutching babies with skin complaints , and men with bandaged arms are leaning against the fragile bamboo shelter . In this dusty and crowded camp , cuts and grazes can quickly become infected , and with limited toilets and a lack of sanitation facilities , diseases can quickly spread . The Red Cross has built toilets and wells in this camp to help respond to some of the health and sanitation challenges . Volunteers have the unenviable task of regularly disinfecting the toilets with chlorine powder . The Red Cross team has been drafted from other parts of the country to help respond to substantial needs . Read more : What a difference a year makes in Myanmar . The 30 volunteers , who come for a month , live and sleep together in a small shelter in Sittwe . The conditions are basic , the work is hard , but there are no complaints . Soon a new rotation will arrive , and these teammates will return home , back to their communities , jobs and normal day-to-day lives -- an impossible reality now for the thousands of displaced families in Rakhine . The humanitarian crisis in Rakhine first erupted in June 2012 , meaning many of the families we have met over the last few days have been living in camps for up to seven months . As time passes , greater priority is being placed on providing adequate temporary shelters for families unable to return home . Several hundred `` long houses '' -- temporary shelters which house eight to 10 families -- have already been built . These shelters can be seen in some of the camps we visited , but there are still not enough for the entire displaced population . In the coming months the Myanmar Red Cross plans to support the construction of up to 160 temporary shelters . While the longterm solutions to this crisis remain unclear , the need for drinking water , food , shelter and medical care are very evident . As dislocated families continue to cope with life away from home and their livelihoods , it is critical that humanitarian assistance continues to reach people in both Rakhine and Muslim communities .
Clean water is a lifeline for people living in Mozala camp in Sittwe . Camps separate ethnic Rakhine and Muslim communities because of the violence . Hide Caption Need for drinking water , food , shelter and medical care are evident .