Liberia_War's Children Project { 6 galleries }

Since the height of the civil war in Liberia in 2003, I have been documenting the country's turmoil and reconstruction through the eyes of three children whose lives were overturned by the war - two boys, Momo and Fayah, who fought as child soldiers and a girl,Musu who lost her right arm by mortar attack.

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Civil War 2003

20 images

Over 15,000 children were forcefully recruited into militias during Liberia's civil war and exposed to violence, drugs and alcohol from their early teens. Many children saw their families killed in front of their eyes; others were maimed and dismembered in the crossfire. These children continue to struggle physically and mentally to adjust to post-war society.
2013_Scenes

15 images
Fayah_Childsoldier

25 images

Momo and Fayah were teenage government militia soldiers wielding AK-47 rifles when I first met them during the war. International goodwill and generosity doesn't trickle down evenly. The boys, along with 15,000 other former combatants, struggle to find jobs, training and other means to put their violent pasts behind them.
Musu_Unhealing Wound

35 images

International donations helped the family of Musu, the girl I carried to the hospital after rocket shrapnel tore her right arm. She was 6 years old then. Musu moved into a new home, was given a prosthetic arm and the opportunity to study in the U.S. That good fortune in some ways turned into a burden for Musu. Her parents were banking on her to find a way to bring the entire family to the U.S. - a heavy responsibility for an 11-year-old to shoulder. Musu ended up being sent back to Liberia in 2010 as she struggled academically and has shown behavioral problems.
Momo_Childsoldier

26 images

Momo and Fayah were teenage government militia soldiers wielding AK-47 rifles when I first met them during the war. International goodwill and generosity doesn't trickle down evenly. The boys, along with 15,000 other former combatants, struggle to find jobs, training and other means to put their violent pasts behind them.
Gift_Lone Survivor

14 images

Gift was 13 when I photographed her moments after a rocket wiped out her family at a refugee camp in Monrovia. Today she lives in Pennsylvania, USA under conditions that might once have seemed a fantasy to her after being adopted in 2006 by an American woman. Although she suffers from post-traumatic stress syndrome, which inhibits her ability to catch up emotionally and intellectually to her peers, she is close to finishing high school and will graduate in June 2013.