The brutal 14-year Liberian civil war, known locally as ‘World War Three’, may be a history but the country is facing a new conflict. Orphanages all over the west African country are in dire need of international help. Years of poverty, conflicts and corruption have made the orphanages run out of vital finances to feed a large number of deprived children. Liberia is known for the presence of a large number of orphanages for the civil war had ripped up thousands of families and children got separated from their parents while fleeing from war zones.
But what is most surprising of all is the fact that there is a steady rise in the number of orphanages since the war ended in 2003. This is a clear indication that extreme poverty has forced families to give up their children to orphanages. Moreover, traffickers have used the camouflage of orphanages to run their trafficking businesses. Again, some corrupt orphanage owners use the international aid provided to the children to meet their own ends. Many aid agencies have reported seeing orphans selling the UN donations in the streets of Monrovia according to instructions provided by the owners. There are many rogue and illegal orphanages that recruit children from the families and keep them in appaling conditions in order to receive aid for their own profit motives.
Democracy might have returned in Liberia, a country founded by the freed American slaves in 1847, but lots of steps have to be taken to prevent the rise of corruption. Due to some rogue orphanages, genuine children homes are being deprived of aid like the Ktoe Comfort Orphanage, situated just outside the capital Monrovia. The orphanage of 52 children run by the 78-year old Peter H Toe and his wife Comfort is struggling to feed the poor children and is in immediate need of foreign and government help.
Image and Source Link: Independent
