CaptionThe chief of a lepers' community in eastern Liberia. Liberia's long-running civil war and subsequent political turmoil finally gave way to elections and relative stability in 2005. In the aftermath of the conflict, disabled people comprised some 16 percent of the population. There are an estimated 77,000 blind people, many of whom have lost their sight as a consequence of malnutrition, or through conditions that might easily not have led to blindness if tackled in time. Local attitudes are changing from the traditional perception of blindness being seen as the result of sorcery.
