01/29/2004

Although the flight from Liberia to Guinea was traumatic and dangerous, Liberians lucky enough to make it over the border have been able to access services offered by UNHCR. RI visited the Liberian refugees settled in the camps of Lainé, Kola, and Kouankan in N’zerekoré, Guinea in November 2003. In addition to the food, water, and shelter programs that are standard for refugees, we also discovered active gender-based violence programs (GBV) and mental health counseling programs. In addition to empowerment activities and GBV awareness raising, there were also “safe houses” for women to come to and an active referral mechanism for anyone who was suffering from mental health problems due to the trauma they had experienced.