Rip Hopkins Paradise's Aftermath © Rip Hopkins, 1997 Liberia has been totally destroyed by 7 years of civil war. The majority of its infrastructures are reduced to rubble, and health and education services are non-existent. Out of 2.5 million Liberians, an estimated 150,000 to 200,000 people have been killed, 900,000 have been deplaced and 600,000 are refugees in neighboring countries. The fighting has temporarily stopped, Charles Taylor, head of the NPFL (National Patriotic Front) faction is now president but Liberia is still in a state of shock. Of the 60,000 fighters, 10,000 were children, the large majority now suffer from psychological trauma brought on by the horror of the fighting. Death from Malnutrition, cholera, measles and murder is common place, ECOMOG (Economic Community Cease-fire Monitoring Group) soldiers are still present in a country who’s 7 year civil war could easily flare up from one day to the next. Back Next