Liberia/Côte d’Ivoire: Where conflict separates, the Red Cross reunites

03-07-2013 Photo gallery

All too often, armed conflict separates families, leaving children alone and far away from home. The case of Lucien (not his real name) is not unusual. During and after a conflict, the ICRC reunites families, restoring hope to those who have suffered the trauma of war.

- Grand Gedeh County, Liberia.
  "There was no school for us older children in the refugee camp. I helped the family that was looking after me with household tasks."
  © ICRC / P. Yazdi
- Grand Gedeh County, Liberia.
  Departure day. Lucien with his luggage. "I packed my few clothes quickly. The day I left, I ran to the Red Cross vehicle that came to collect me. I had waited for so long."
  © ICRC / P. Yazdi
- Refugee camp, Grand Gedeh County, Liberia.
  Lucien just about to leave his host family and the Liberian refugee camp to rejoin his family in Côte d'Ivoire. "My friends, my host family and the neighbours all came to say goodbye. There was a kind of sadness in their smiles, their looks and their hugs."
  © ICRC / P. Yazdi
- Grand Gedeh County, Liberia.
  Lucien in the ICRC vehicle that has collected him from the refugee camp in Liberia and will bring him closer to his family in Côte d'Ivoire.
  © ICRC / P. Yazdi / v-p-lr-e-00570
- Grand Gedeh County, Liberia.
  A smiling and confident Lucien in the ICRC's Zwedru office, happy to be on his way home at last.
  © ICRC / P. Yazdi
- Grand Gedeh County, Liberia.
  Before leaving Liberia, Lucien asked to see the Liberian minister who had looked after him when he first arrived in the country. He still remembered the bench he used to sit on when he played the drum for the church choir.
  © ICRC / P. Yazdi
- Grand Gedeh County, Liberia.
  Before leaving Liberia, Lucien asked to see the Liberian minister who had looked after him when he first arrived in the country. Time for fond farewells. The minister and his family bring out photos of Lucien, taken when he was living with them and playing the drum for the church choir.
  © ICRC / P. Yazdi / v-p-lr-e-00571
- Grand Gedeh County, Liberia.
  Lucien with ICRC delegates and other unaccompanied children on the bridge that separates Liberia and Côte d'Ivoire. ICRC staff based in Côte d'Ivoire await the children in the middle of the bridge, ready to take them back to their families.
  © ICRC / P. Yazdi / v-p-lr-e-00572
- Grand Gedeh County, Liberia.
  On the bridge separating Liberia and Côte d'Ivoire, Lucien waves goodbye to the Liberian team that has worked so hard to reunite him with his family. Now a team of ICRC staff operating in Côte d'Ivoire will look after him for the rest of his journey home.
  © ICRC / P. Yazdi / v-p-lr-e-00573
- Liberia.
  A copy of the letter that Lucien sent to his mother. The Liberian Red Cross/ICRC team located Lucien's mother and visited her to tell her that her son wanted to rejoin her in Côte d'Ivoire.
  © ICRC
- Liberia.
  After Lucien was reunited with his mother, ICRC staff in Côte d'Ivoire passed on a photo from him to their colleagues in Liberia, as thanks to his host families, his friends and the Red Cross teams.
  © ICRC