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Juah Town Monrovia Capital: Monrovia Area: 111,370 km² Population: 2.9 million (December 2000 est.) Ethnic groups: Kpelle (25%), Bassa, Gio, Kru, and Vai Official language(s): English Religion(s): traditional indigenous beliefs (70%), Muslim (20%), and Christian (10%) Currency: 1 Liberian dollar = 100 cents Our Facilities The social problems in Liberia and the growing number of orphaned children, in particular, prompted the First Lady of Liberia, Mrs Victoria Tolbert, to contact Mr , the founder of the SOS Children's Villages in 1976 and to convince him of the necessity of building an SOS Children's Village in that country. Thus, the first SOS Children's Village in Liberia was constructed on a site in Matadi, a district of Monrovia next to the International Airport in 1977. In 1981, the construction works were finished and the first orphans moved into the new SOS facility. Owing to the growing demand for facilities taking care of abandoned and orphaned children, the board of directors of SOS Children's Village International decided to build a second SOS Children's Village in Juwa Town in the up-country of Liberia. Precisely at the moment when the first children were ready to move into the newly built SOS Children's Village the civil war broke out. At its beginning, fighting was particularly fierce in the surrounding area of the SOS Children's Village. Therefore, it was not possible to open this SOS facility before the year 2000. During Liberia's civil war, which lasted about 6 years, the SOS facilities had to be closed time and again in order to guarantee the security of children and staff. Marauding soldiers dwelled in the buildings of the SOS Children's Village Juwa Town which is why they had to be completely renovated after the war. In April 1996, heavy fighting broke out in Monrovia in the course of which the capital of Liberia was also devastated. About 7.000 refugees who tried to escape from the pillaging killer gangs roaming the streets of Monrovia sought refuge in the safe SOS Children's Village Matadi/Monrovia. They were provided with food and received medical treatment until they could return to their houses after three months. By the end of the year, the situation had become less tense and all SOS facilities started to operate normally. (available in English)