What is I.C.A.?

I.C.A. stands for International Christian Academy. Thanks for all the efforts in guessing what it stood for. It was a boarding school for missionary kids and was started by Russ and Ruth Ragsdale back in the 60s. It’s located in a small valley, east of the town of Bouake (bwa-kay), Cote d’Ivoire, West Africa.

The campus is a little over a kilometer around. The front part of the campus consisted of staff housing, the classrooms, library and offices. In the middle were several dormitories, the dining hall, clinic, and park/recreation area. South of the campus held the chapel, more dorms and more recreational areas. There were eight dorms, four elementary-junior high dorms, 2 high school girl’s and 2 high school boy’s dorms. We had two soccer fields, one at the north end and one on the south, three basketball courts, a racquetball court, a petite-porteau court (outdoor soccer on a court), one play ground with swings, merry-go-round, sandbox, see-saws, etc. and a commissary (campus store).

The south end of campus is closed in by a marigo or swamp. Because of the swamp, we had plenty of snakes, bugs and frogs on campus. Cote d’Ivoire is a very lush country. It is very tropical, even inland. Many types of plantations fuel its economy: bananas, cocoa, and coffee just to name a few. Our campus had plenty of mango, orange, tangerine and guava trees. There were several palm trees plentiful with coconuts and even a tree that produced prickly pears.

We had electricity and running water. Our buildings were built out of cement. We did not have air conditioning, but each classroom and dorm room was equipped with a ceiling fan.

So, this was part of my life, twelve years, in fact. I started going to I.C.A. when I was six years old. It holds a lot of fond memories, along with some hard ones. I made some wonderful friends, met with some incredible mentors and learned so much. What makes my heart grieve is that it will never look the same. I doubt that I will get to go back because it is not functioning as a school anymore, but rather a barracks for the French army. The French have been there since the country’s civil war began in 2002. My parents were working on the campus at the time and they had to evacuate with a whole school of children and staff. They left everything there, but a carry-on suitcase. They had to leave a lot of memories behind. Years later my dad was able to go back and get what was left of their stuff. It’s helping me to write about it, so thank you to those who read because you are getting to know a piece of me that is grieving the loss of this place that means so much to me.