Poverty and war have driven more than half of Liberia's 1,628,726 children, between the ages of 3-18, out of school, according to records at the ministry of education. Liberia, with its vast resources of diamond, timber, iron ore and gold, could be one of Africa's richest nations, with the best system of education. But the brutal 1989-1997 war and the current insurgency, which erupted three years ago, have obliterated all hopes.