Forgive us for failing to post. Things have been a little crazy around here. Between holidays, clinic accreditation and thousands of refugees from the Ivory Coast the blog has taken a backseat, but a New Year is here and opportunity to redeem our failed blogging past! We will “try small”, ok?
In case you haven’t been watching or listening to international news lately let us fill you in. In November 2010 the Ivory Coast (Liberia’s eastern border country) had an election in which the incumbent, Laurent Gbagbo, was beat by his opponent, Alassane Outarra. In the weeks following the election there was much debate over the true winner. Gbagbo claimed that he was the winner and guess what? So did Outarra. Gbagbo has since refused to relinquish power although many world leaders and the U.N. have agreed that Outarra is the rightful winner. There was violence in Cote D’Ivoire’s capital Abidjan and more violence along tribal and religious lines across the country. Thousands (25, 000 + are registered with UNHCR) of Ivorians have sought refuge by crossing the border into Liberia and Guinea, primarily Liberia.
An Ivorian man crosses the river that separates Liberia from Cote D’Ivoire to bring his aging mother across to safety.
Thousands of people have crossed into Liberia since November in these 3 dugout communities.
EQUIP Liberia work spans nearly every corner of Nimba County.
Nimba County shares it’s western border with Guinea and it’s eastern border with…you guessed it…Cote D’Ivoire.
Nimba County highlighted in red shares an eastern border with the Ivory Coast.
The majority of Ivorian’s that have crossed into Liberia are in Nimba County. They are spread across communities that dot the border of Liberia. EQUIP operates several clinics that have experienced a dramatic refugee influx since the November elections. EQUIP is responsible for maintaining our clinics along the border as well as responding to the burgeoning health needs of the refugees in our clinic catchments. EQUIP has also taken on the water and sanitation needs of these communities. Our pump and well technicians have raced up and down the border repairing pumps and rehabilitating broken water points so that these communities can have adequate, clean water sources for the increased population.
Words don’t seem adequate to describe the tireless way that so many of EQUIP Liberia’s Liberian staff have worked to help their Ivorian brothers and sisters. While many of the ex-pats working with EQUIP have had to sit in meetings with UNHCR and other large NGOs our Liberian counter parts have driven out to the border areas nearly everyday since the end of November. Many of them working through the holidays to meet the needs of those communities. For many of them the memories are not so distant of a time when they fled over the Ivorian border in search of safer ground. They are the real heroes of this situation. They have distributed supplies, reported important details of the situation, repaired wells, and educated the refugee populations on safety issues. The work has been great, but EQUIP’s staff has risen to the challenge with incredible willingness.
Unfortunately there is no end in sight to the situation in the Ivory Coast. Gbagbo has not relented and the U.N. has not yet ousted him. It seems to be a waiting game for everyone, both for the international community and the refugees waiting along Liberia’s border to return home. Over the next weeks and months UNCHR has plans to move the refugees from the Liberian host communities and into a camp. EQUIP will still be in these communities long after the refugees have gone. We will be working to maintain quality health services and water and sanitation for Liberians and Ivorians alike.
Community members observe one of our WATSAN technicians assessing a broken water point.
The refugee response has taken over much of our time and work, but there is still much to do on our regularly scheduled projects…already in progress! We received some exciting news last week! EQUIP Liberia has been approved by charity: water for another round of funding for water and sanitation. charity:water visited Nimba a few months ago and recently reported about their time in Liberia on their blog!
charity:water is a great organization and an even better partner in WATSAN work. This funding will provide clean water sources for many communities as well as build the capacity of our EQUIP technicians to care for the water and sanitation needs of their people. We are excited and grateful for the opportunity to continue our WATSAN work and our relationship with such a great partner!
Thanks for reading this blog. Thanks for believing in the work that is being done here in EQUIP Liberia’s little corner of the world. Please continue to check back here for updates on refugee crisis and EQUIP Liberia’s impact on communities across Liberia.
Peace,
The EQUIP Liberia Team
