“Notes From Tha Cove” will be a multi-part series of short stories that tell episodes in my life during my time in Paradise Cove. They will be told informally and colloquially and will not assume any knowledge of Paradise Cove, WWASP practices, or WWASP in general. I will not always be the victim; I will also be telling stories in which I come off as the villain. The reader should understand that not only was the bullying of other students accepted in the WWASP worldview, it was often encouraged as a sign that a kid was “working the program”, furthermore, bullying was required once a student reached the upper levels and became junior staff. That isn’t to excuse my behavior. I had a choice. I made it. I did what I had to do to get out, and believe me, the things that were done to me aren’t the only things that haunt me about my WWASP experience. That being said, these stories are being told in the hope that, if not the average person, at least those in the program will derive a measure of humor while reading them. We WWASP kids are all at least a little sick, after all.
**Reading the episodes in numerical order is recommended**
1) Electrocuted
2) Birthday Beatdown
3) The Hurricane That Gave Me Tetanus
4) The Night of a Thousand Roaches
5) Party in Pago Pago, From P.C. to P/C
6) Welcome To The Cove, Kid
7) Curiosity Didn’t Kill This Cat
8.) Gladiators, We Salute You!
9) Snitches Get Stitches
I wasn’t there with you, I left before you got there, but I had some very similar experiences, it’s great to read stuff like this.
i wish you would jot some of it down.
I was there shortly after it was built as a level 1 and spent even more time there as a level 3…I was sick for months and they couldn’t figure it out so they thought it was best to keep me closer to town…I remember pulling up to the village for the first time; I was greeted by barbed wire fence and kids crying in the field during one of the famous “skills” sessions. I remember the first meal I had; they opened a cold can of spaghetti and just started slopping it out our trays. I remember using the bathroom in the middle of the night and watching the roaches scatter (Got to see a rat fall on a kid on my first night at the beach) and ignore the chew marks on our masi aro (think of giant stale saltine with no salt :p)? during breakfast. We went weeks without running water and the sewage drained right behind our fales’ where we dried our trays and cups (which fell in the runoff and were retrieved on more than one occasion). My first encounter with illness was shortly after my arrival. I went in and out of consciousness for 5 days; I shit myself; I woke up choking on my own vomit…5 days…I will never forget one of the most dreaded fathers (he was strict) crying to Duane and/or Brian that I needed to be taken to the hospital; they refused his request and one of them pulled me outside in the middle of the night and watched puke all over the place, gave me some water from a bottle and told me to go back to sleep….I played the game and eventually made it to the beach; it was somewhat short-lived…shortly after arriving my feat broke out in boils and swelled to about double their normal size; I battled this for months, they kept taking me to the island doctor for new creams every few weeks’ none of which worked…I started wrapping my feat in scarps of lava lavas as to keep the puss from coming into contact with anything they touched…This is just the tip of the iceberg of my experience…I will never forget that big native kid from Alaska who was having mental health issues and they threw him in isolation for months; he progressively got worse and never knew what happened to him; other than watching him go from healthy and strong to skinny with his ribs poking out at one point…I have much more to share in time I suppose.
Hi Erik,
I am so sorry for what you had 2 endure. It sounded absolutely atrocious; that is really a good thing that you shared your experience (very well written , by the way) both for you and the other boys enrolled there.
I looked up this school because I just watched a true story about a boy who attended the school for over two years. He definitely had behavior problems prior to enrollment, but after he returned home, he alledgedly had his mother killed, and his father shot several times to the point of blinding him. It sounded like a miracle the father lived.
His reason for having them shot was that they sent him to Paradise Cove for over two years. He received 2 life sentences without parole; I am not justifying his actions, but feel certain his abuse contrbuted to his actions.
Chris Sutton was his name. What the special probably didn’t tell you is that his father, an attorney, was involved in the forging of fake court orders to allow the parents to keep kids past their 18th birthday.
Erik i was at paridise cove in january 95. were you there then?
i was there in 95 but only for 4 months
what people really need to read about is le tiara, and i missed that by like a month or something. i heard the stories, though.
My son was in Le Tiera for many months! We never knew what he went through over there. He went to PC in Sept of 96, left nearly 2 yrs later for Spring Creek
Bill, I am constantly amazed at your strength, determination and your way with words! Keep it up, I love reading these, although they make my skin crawl, they are such an important part of WWASP history I am honored that you would share it with us. Thank YOU!
I was in the first group sent to Le Tiara – that place was insane. Long periods of time with no running water – we got to flush our toilet once a day. 12 dudes in a cabin flushing a toilet once a day.
Bill this amazing I’m looking forward to reading it.
Ty man.
From u know who 🙂
I remember Richard and Adrian.
Posted this on my Pinterest page:http://pinterest.com/pin/147141112795926233/
Keep up the good word.
hoping i could get in contact with you, i was at paradise cove from 96-98. my name is jeremy andrews, i helped build le tierra (family leader of the first family of level 1’s to be pushed up there when i was a level 3-4, i built those shiny white fales and all the banana leaf ones before them. get at me anytime day or night. how can i help?
Jeremy, then you were there with my son Richard, 1 leg
I was there and i remember your son Richard. I was there 2x in the years of 95, 96, and 97
I WAS IN PARADISE COVE FOR TWO YEARS IN THE BEGINING DO YOU GUYS KNOW OF A SITE WHERE I CAN LINK UP WITH OTHERS.
besides this one, check out our facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/wwaspsurvivors/
Hey thank you Bill I appreciate it.
Hey Everyone, I’m an Australian woman who lived in Western Samoa as a child with my parents who were aid workers there. I was there in 93/94/95. But my parents lived there for over a decade. I watched that crime show today about the guy who was at Paradise Cove and murdered his parents when he got out. I immediately called my parents and asked them if they knew about this “boarding school” while we lived there. They both said “no” and that they only found out about it years later. THIS IS EXTRAORDINARY. Western Samoa is so small! And everyone knows everyone! How is it possible that my family lived there – and we were very well connected – and we still never heard about this place?!? How could they keep it such a secret?!? That blows my mind! I’m so sorry to hear your stories.