Losing Buchanan?

Back when it all started - meaning my life - my mother moved us from Germany back to a coastal town called Buchanan in Liberia. This is where I spent the first chunk of my life and even though my memories are dim, thinking about this place still bringing back warm, fuzzy feelings about my youth and Liberia in general.

So you can only imagine how shocked and sadden I was when I read an article about coastal erosion that is destroying homes and displacing people. In the article, in IRIN news, a government authority states 'the situation is clearly posing a threat to the entire city. Since 2006 the sea has been gradually encroaching on Buchanan leaving more than one hundred homes destroyed and displacing hundreds of people, and it is still getting worse.'

The problem stems from people looting metal barriers and even rocks from the breakwaters to construct their homes. Ironic how those same homes are being destroyed by very ocean that was providing them a livelihood (fishing is a big local industry)!!

Photos from: www.acwwoodcuts.com/Site/Photography/Africa.ashx