Liberians, particularly Monrovia residents, have just gone through two traumatic periods of war characterized by killings, looting, rapes, destruction of property and a near breakdown in law and order.

It all began June 6th with an early morning assault on the Monrovia suburb of Duala by rebels of the Liberians United for Reconciliation and Development (LURD). Demanding President Charles Taylor's immediate departure, the advancing rebels, after waging a four-year insurgency, were seemingly mounting a final duel to depose him

But vulnerable residents received the brunt of it. Panic stricken people of Brewerville, Virginia, Duala and nearby areas took to their heels, dodging stray bullets and carrying with them bundles of personal effects on their heads, backs and in wheelbarrows. Others boarded Ghanaian and Nigerian-sponsored ships and planes to escape the inferno. News of flying rockets falling on buildings and crowded refuge centres became a daily routine.

Barely had the aftermath of the first assault subsided when the same rebels launched a second and more vicious attack on June 24th, engaging government troops up to a stone's throw from the city centre. This round of fighting lasted nearly a week before the rebels retreated, under intensive international pressure.

In the aftermath of these two troubling events there are thousands upon thousands of internally displaced people (IDPs). The United Nations said an estimated 150 thousand people were scattered throughout Monrovia in school buildings and abandoned houses, as well as the national stadium and other communities. Liberia was now the focus of the world’s media and the hub of an international and national humanitarian consideration. One community that received huge chunks of IDPs was the already overcrowded Monrovia township of West Point. Originally home to over 40,000 residents, the township was forced to take in at least 9,000 displaced persons within a period of just under three weeks.

The displaced arrived in West Point sick, hungry, wearied, broke, and homeless. Taking care of them became an onerous task, thus setting in motion an urgent humanitarian situation not witnessed in the township for more than a decade.

Helping these despondent displaced elderly, children, men, and women became a matter of humanitarian concern. In an effort to reach out to these needy with basic food and material items, the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary and the West Point-based Star of the Sea Parish, assisted by Fr. Harry O'Brien SDB, immediately moved in to fill the gap and save the moment.

Initially, the number of displaced persons in West Point was estimated at 1,500. But this figure soon turned out to be a fraction of the real number. By early July it became apparent that at least 9,000 persons had sought refuge there, including 5,000 children.

A team of Liberian volunteers from the Parish was quickly enlisted and registration immediately began in early June. "We decided to come in and help these people. We approached the ICRC and they gave us these items", said Sr. Maria Barbara FMM, the person in charge of the West Point emergency relief program. Food and non-food items included rice, bulgur wheat, maize meal, oil, salt, buckets, and blankets. The sick were sent to the Catholic clinic in the township and malnourished children were referred elsewhere. Sister Maria added that the displaced people came sick and tired; and many of them were sleeping in the dilapidated public school building whose roofless frames were being covered with ICRC tarpaulins.

When Sr. Barbara Brillant FMM phoned me and told me about the West Point humanitarian effort, thousands of people had already been assisted. When I arrived there on July 1st, I saw dozens of people including the elderly and mothers with their babies strapped on their backs queuing up for their rations which they receive on a weekly basis.

The convent school kindergarten has since become a warehouse and the Social Work class at Mother Patern College of Health Sciences is a clinic.

In a country where civil war has raged on for nearly 15 years, no one knows when it will all be over. But for now the West Point displaced community and the community from the Masenta leprosy Colony are thankful that there are people within the Catholic community who really care about them. This could just be the beginning. (July 11, 2003)