Horror and despair in Monrovia mental home

A NEARLY naked woman with blank eyes swayed to an internal rhythm unheard by roommates lying on filthy pallets and shackled by chains — among those remaining after fighting sent residents of the home for the mentally ill fleeing.

About 30 ragged patients are still crowded inside Monrovia's Holy Ghost Mental Home, a two-room complex of stone floors and shot-out windows. Ninety-two residents were there on July 21 when insurgents entered the home after overwhelming government fighters holding a nearby bridge. An August 18 peace deal, backed by West African peacekeepers and US forces, has brought a tense peace to the city. But it hasn't brought back the home's 60 missing patients, who are thought to be wandering Monrovia's war-shattered streets.

"The war has just ended and I'm trying to bring them back. I take a taxi and go look for them every day," said Rev Mother Philomena Onuchi, the 51-year old Nigerian nun who has run the institute since its inception eight years ago.