Sunday 12th November

We had lunch today at Verda’s house, with a range of people from other International Non-Government Organizations (INGOs). Save the Children, Africare, World Vision and the EC were all there. We spent most of the afternoon discussing some of Liberia’s problems, and the full horror began to sink in. Here are some statistics/facts:

1. 75% of women are thought to have been raped over the last few years.
2. Unemployment is currently running at 85%.
3. A whole generation has not been educated, and many are child ex combatants, who have essentially gone feral.
4. Many women and girls (and boys?) are now reduced to selling their bodies to get food (a handful of Liberian dollars depending on the ‘riskiness’ of the practice on offer)There are around 26 doctors for the whole country of 3.5 million people.
5. Life expectancy is 39 for men and 41 for women.
6. Currently around 30 – 40% of children are not enrolled in school, and teachers earn $20 a month. As a result, there are few teachers, and around 40% of them hadn’t even finished high school.
7. Around 24% of people have access to clean water and only 5% to sanitation
8. An estimated 24% of children do not live to see their fifth birthday.
   

These are very sobering facts, and it made me quite concerned as to how we could get the government to give any priority to eye-care, when there were so many other problems to deal with. Having said that, the plight of the visually impaired here is particularly acute, and they need strong advocates.