Somewhere in the middle

To All My Family and Friends,

My apologies for dropping off the face of the earth for the past six months since i arrived in Liberia.
I have been silent for so long- trying small to figure out this place called Liberia.

I am somewhere in the middle tonight- on my way back to Liberia via Montreal and Brussels. But, I am indeed on a course for Liberia and I do have so many stories to tell, but both fortunately and unfortunately (depending on who you are), my life has become a lot busier as of late. Over 20,000 Ivory Coast refugees have crossed into Nimba County (where I live and work) following the post-election violence that began in early December 2010.
In case you were wondering, the violence continues to escalate and refugees are rushing across the border everyday. The majority of refugees are women and children who were threatened by rebels from the opposition party in Ivory Coast following the election (the first Democractic election in Ivory coast in 50 years!). Before Christmas I spent long days on the border assessing the health needs of the refugees with my Liberian staff. When I left on December 17th, there were 5,000 refugees. Today, January 4th there are 20,000+. The numbers will continue for sure.

As I said before, I apologize for the silence. I am trying small to stay connected.