Tuesday 16 July 2013

The American International School of Monrovia


(Paul) My old high school, ACS, has reopened after the war as an American elementary school - The American International School of Monrovia - reason being there are no international high school kids in Liberia!  For that matter we've been here for three weeks and besides our 6 we've only seen 3 expat children the whole time in the country.
Durectly behind me is the entrance to ACS that Palmer and I entered every morning, and further back is the gym where I played point for the Sun Devils. George Gervin (aka The Iceman) was my hero at the time, so as you can imagine there was a lot of funky dribbling and passing going on. Palmer and I were co-captains of the varsity team our Senior year -- not necessarily because of our great skills, but more because the pool of talent had shrunk significantly ater the 1980 coup d'ete (yes, that means 'off with their heads'), when a number of our Americo-Liberian high school friends Dads were executed on the beach by the People's Redemption Council ("In The Cause of the People the Struggle Continues!") - an extremely gorey ocean-front firing squad scene with drunk soldiers firing wildly at elderly statesmen tied to telephone poles buried in the sand - an event captured and made public by an award-winning Life Magizine photographer.
The gym.
Beautiful gym facilities.
Paul's old math class.
Sections of the school are still war-torn and abandoned, including the Library below.







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