Orphans of War
Doretha Rubben, 6, center, sucks on snail shells found in a nearby swamp. Children must scavenge for food because of a chronic shortage. Rubben’s adoption has been postponed because of the ongoing civil war. Her prospective adoptive parent is a woman in Phoenix, Arizona. (Carolyn Cole / LAT)
Orphans at the Hannah B. Williams Royal Institute look for kernels of rice left over from grinding the grain. Some eat the rice raw, while others collect enough to cook one spoonful. (Carolyn Cole / LAT)
Administrators can no longer afford to feed the 150 children at the orphanage. Because of the war, food that was once obtained from charity groups no longer arrives. On this day the children receive a bowl of donated rice. (Carolyn Cole / LAT)
War orphan Francis Blama, 6, feeds her brother a grain of uncooked rice she found on the dirt floor. Their mother and father were killed a month ago in a mortar attack. (Carolyn Cole / LAT)
Patience Williams, 2, who has dysentery, waits at the Hannah B. Williams orphanage in Monrovia, Liberia. She has been adopted by a U.S. family, but war is holding up her departure. (Carolyn Cole / LAT)
Boys at the Hannah B. Williams orphanage gather near a pot of water for warmth. (Carolyn Cole / LAT)
Morris Fofana, 3, naps on a wooden bench at the orphanage. Scabies has eaten away patches of Fofana’s scalp. His hands are covered with scabs. (Carolyn Cole / LAT)
Ester Burges, 6, Sarrah Barbar, 7, and Sabay Ndebe, 5, bathe themselves using a pail of cold water at the Hannah B. Williams center. The number of orphans in war-devastated Liberia now tops 10,000, officials say. (Carolyn Cole / LAT)
LIke most of the children at the orphanage, Godgiff Cooper, 4, suffers from scabies. There is no money left to buy medicine for the children. (Carolyn Cole / LAT)
Two children from the orphanage take out the garbage. There is little refuse left after the children pick it clean of food. (Carolyn Cole / LAT)
Hannah Bs orphanage, one of scores in Liberia, has space for 155 children, ages 1 to 18. Most of them are unlikely to be adopted. The war has stopped everything, says its owner, Hannah B. Williams. (Carolyn Cole / LAT)
Liberian orphan Amadou Washington, 7. His face is covered with ash to relieve the itching of a rash. (Carolyn Cole / LAT)
Winnefred Ndebe, 13, lies down with her baby brother, Alfred, 3, to help him fall asleep. (Carolyn Cole / LAT)
War orphan Francis Blama, right, waits her turn for a cold bucket bath. Her mother and father were killed a month ago by a mortar. (Carolyn Cole / LAT)
Faith Sumo, 13, picks greens from the swamp behind the orphanage. She comes every day to find “chicken greens.” With little else to eat, the greens have become a staple at the orphanage. (Carolyn Cole / LAT)
Janet Tuwleh, 10, arrived at the orphanage with just the dress she wears and a skirt she uses to cover the dirt where she sleeps. Many of the orphanages in Liberia have been forced to close due to the war. (Carolyn Cole / LAT)