SOS Children's Villages to push humanitarian assistance for Monrovia

In the case that LURD rebels retreat from the port area of Liberia's capital Monrovia tomorrow, as has been announced, SOS Children's will as quickly as possible organise relief supplies (rice, oil, blankets, tents, etc) for the 5,000 people who have sought refuge at the SOS Children's Village during the last weeks. Most of them are from the Matadi neighbourhood, where the SOS Children's Village is located. It has not been possible to provide these people with food and other essential goods for days, as access to aid supplies could not be gained due to the occupation of the port area.

Available medical services provided to the starving and traumatised population are totally insufficient. This is why SOS co-workers will revitalise an unfinished building to secure adequate treatment for the many people (among them numerous children) suffering from malaria and other diseases. Around the clock, SOS doctors, nurses, youth from the SOS Children's Village and other voluntary workers will help to establish the clinic so that it can start operation next week. The director of SOS Children's Villages Liberia and co-ordinator of the relief measures, George Kordahi, has made arrangements for Médecins sans Frontières and other organisations on the ground to provide drugs and medical equipment.

The small SOS Clinic, which has remained open throughout the crisis, treated 2,500 patients and delivered nine babies during the last month.

According to George Kordahi, there was again a cut-off in communication with the co-workers at the SOS Children's Village Juah Town due to a new outbreak of fierce fighting between Model rebels (the second-biggest rebel group in Liberia apart from LURD) and government troops. The SOS Children's Village Juah Town in Bassa County seems to be cut off completely from Monrovia as it lies behind the rebel front line, and communication via radio is not possible at the moment.