Photo Credit: Refugees International/ Sally Chin
06/10/2005

Conditions in the Mission are bordering crisis-level, with the nuns fearing for the health and safety of the displaced. “It won’t be long before we are dealing with deaths,” said one nun. The majority of people have been sleeping in the open air on the ground. The seasonal heavy rains have turned the ground to mud. The lucky ones have been able to stake out a place under an overhang or one of the few marquis-style tents. The sanitary management capacities of the Mission are overwhelmed, with long queues for the few latrines on site and no plan for the removal of mounds of piling up refuse. At night, there is little in the way of lighting, contributing to insecure living conditions.