12/12/2003

This woman lives in Wilson Camp, a camp of around 33,000 right outside of Monrovia.  She fled from Lofa County in 2001 and came to this camp in 2001.  When fighting broke out in Monrovia, her husband was killed and she was separated from three of her four children.  She fled from the camp and sought temporary refuge in a school.  When she returned to the camp three months ago, she found that her house, as well has the ration card she had left behind in the chaos when she fled, had been burned  by the rebel forces that attacked  the camp.  An NGO helped to rebuild her house, but she has not received a replacement ration card so she cannot receive food distributions.  She has no idea where her three children are, and she is praying that they were not killed.  As we were leaving she told us, “You cannot know how my heart is hurting.  Really.”