Calm In Monrovia Aids LWR Relief Efforts

Baltimore, August 6, 2003 — In the calm that has settled over Monrovia for the last 36 hours, there's a feeling of impending doom. "For the record," says Charles Pitchford, Representative from Lutheran World Relief's (LWR) partner in Liberia, Lutheran World Federation (LWF), "all of Monrovia is generally displaced. There is little safe drinking water, food, medicine and money. All civilian members of Liberian society, high and low, need humanitarian assistance...with very few exceptions."

When that assistance will come is of paramount concern for everyone here. Earlier this week, Liberians lined up by the hundreds on the street that goes to the airport, hoping to get a glimpse of the UN Peacekeeping Forces that had just landed. Although 1,500 troops were said to be coming in the initial phase, the 300 who arrived to prepare for the larger force due early next week raised expectations that the UN Force will be able to bring the situation to a level of control fairly quickly once deployed.

And control is what is desperately needed, with hardly a trace of food to be found. That which can be found has tripled in price in recent weeks; fuel prices also have skyrocketed, limiting vehicular traffic that adds to Monrovia's calm. As LWF succeeded in purchasing 1,000 gallons of fuel to enable its distribution of material resources, the US Embassy also was successfully negotiating with the government and LURD forces to allow a convey of aid agencies into the city's port to get fuel.

With the precious fuel, LWF today began distributing aid items, including high protein biscuits to the sick children and aged persons of JFK Hospital and to an orphanage in the same vicinity.

LWR sent a shipment of seven containers—132 tons—of aid to Liberia, including clothing, quilts and blankets, sewing, school, health and layette kits, soap and medical supplies. These were safely stored prior to the latest outbreak and will be distributed as soon as security allows aid workers to reach those in need, including an area where 35,000 displaced are gathered. Medicines will help the staff of Phebe and Curran hospitals provide life-saving care, as they have consistently throughout the past decade's cycle of calm and civil strife in Liberia.

Still needed throughout this worn-torn area: safe drinking water, more food, plastic sheeting, blankets, sleeping mats, kitchen utensils, footwear and other necessities.

You can help as well by praying for a lasting peace and by supporting LWR's relief work in Liberia. To give, visit www.lwr.org or call LWR at 1-800-LWR-LWR-2.