Ground Report

ceasefireliberia: During the 14-year civil war that tore apart Liberia, families were separated as they fled the brutality of warring rebel groups. When the fighting ended in 2003, Liberians began to pick up the pieces of their lives and their country. Some returned to their communities in Liberia. Others remained scattered across the Diaspora. Many ended up living in Park Hill, Staten Island — home to one of the largest Liberian populations outside of the country. Ceasefire Liberia is a multimedia project, which aims to document the Liberian experience on both sides of the ocean. It includes a book, documentary film work, and now a blog. The goal of the blog is to connect the Liberian community in Liberia with the rest of the Diaspora in order to create a dialogue between those who fled during the war and those who remained. To read more about the origins of this project please visit the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, which funded Scars and Stripes, a project about Liberian youth after the war. Ruthie Ackerman is a reporter based in New York City. Over the last several years, she has lived and worked around the world, including Africa, Argentina and Russia. Her most recent work was in Liberia reporting on Liberian youth. She is in the process of writing a book on Liberian refugees living in Park Hill, Staten Island. Her work has been featured in many outlets, including The Nation, World Policy Journal, The Christian Science Monitor, Salon, Forbes, The New York Times, and many more.