One of the villagers who has taken in refugees from the Ivory Coast with some of the children who have arrived. © CARE/Anders NordstogaHaving already once seen his village burned to the ground, Moungourou Touo Georges did not want to go through that again.
Moungourou and his family packed all they could carry and left their home in western Cote d’Ivoire for Liberia in late December 2010. Moungourou saw what was coming when the political crisis in Abidjan escalated.
The two major tribes in the region of Cote d’Ivoire where the Georges family lived were on opposite sides of an ongoing conflict.
“There was a lot of suspicion. That made me afraid. Ten years ago our village was burned to the ground by armed militia. I was afraid that it would happen again. It was a difficult decision to leave, but the situation was very uncertain.” he explains.
Not enough for everyone
The family of 13 walked for two days, spending a night in the bush, to reach a village a couple of kilometres across the border in Liberia. Moungourou says they were well received. The villagers there share what they have, but with hundreds of new refugees arriving every day, there is not enough for everyone.
“It is very difficult. We do not have enough food, water and there is not much room to sleep in houses. Many are now sleeping outside.” With rain forecast.
There have been three food distributions since the Georges arrived and last week CARE and local partner ADRA distributed non-food items. “We got two pieces of soap, a bucket, a cup, a blanket and sanitary pads. These are all things we need, but the main problem now is that we do not have enough food,” he says.
"We can take care of them here. We only need food."
The Georges family is now living in the home of a local woman, Mata Kossleau. More than twenty people in all are sleeping in two small houses. There is not much room, Mata admits, but to her there was never any question of leaving them out.
“They are our brothers and sisters. They came because of the war and they have nothing, no food, no clothes, and no cooking pots or place to sleep. We give them what we can, but food is the biggest problem. Some are saying they should go to a camp, but we can take care of them here. We only need food” says Mata.
The influx of Ivorian refugees into Nimba County is rapidly depleting scarce resources. Some of the heaviest fighting during the Liberian civil war that ended in 2003 took place in Nimba. Villages have barely recovered. Sharing supplies of food, water, shelter and sanitary installations with thousands of refugees means they will have less to support themselves in the coming months. Wells are drying out, seeds being used for food and the scarcity of latrines is a health hazard.
Many Ivorian refugees will remain for a long time. They are offered local land to farm, but lack seeds and tools. CARE Liberia is well prepared to support the refugees and the host communities to cope with the shock of the situation. The organisation is currently working with communities in other parts of Liberia on food and income security, as well as water and sanitation. CARE plans to extend this type of work to Nimba.
