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I entered Dundee Ranch Academy of Costa Rica in the month of April of 2002. My name is [withheld by ISAC]. My mother sent me to Dundee Ranch Academy for drug abuse and to rebuild a relationship with my family. It didn't take very long for me to realize how harsh and strict the program was. I couldn't understand the concept of rules like not being aloud to speak to one another. How am I suppose to deal emotional issues if I'm not allowed to talk? Wheres the sense in that? Even in prisons the residents are allowed to speak with one another. What had I done that deserved to have my privilege to speak taken? At Dundee Ranch they had different punishments for these unnecessary rules. One was "worksheets."It was extremely easy to receive a day in worksheets. In worksheets you eat a plate of beans and rice for your meals. You sit in a chair facing the wall in a little hot room forced to write three thousand words or more depending on the violation. I myself once spent four days in worksheets having to write 54,000 words. On top of that I spent a week in Observational Placement. "O.P." This punishment could be days to weeks to months. Ive seen kids waste a full month in this place. It is a concrete room where you sit in three different positions for 12 hours a day and once again you eat nothing but beans and rice for every meal.
The positions were sitting Indianstyle, standing, or laying on your stomach. Always having your hands behind your back and facing the wall. If in "OP" you violated these positions you were most likely open to be restrained. I saw kids in "OP" go threw exercise where the Jamaicans would make them do jump n' jacks until they fell to the ground and cried. I often heard kids screaming and begging for who ever to stop hurting them. Even though I wasn't in "OP" to see the abuse a lot of the times, hearing it can also go a long way. The emotional abuse to me is indescribable. I once stopped Mr. Kenny the Director at the time, and told him I wanted to talk to someone and needed help. He responded by saying " There is no more help boy, your ass is mine." He then turned and walked away. All these things were emotionally hard on me. Physically, concerns for my condition were thrown out the window. For four months I was put in a storage space which was called the "Bat Cave." It was about the size of a large closet. Twelve kids could be put in this small space. Literally kids were on top of each other. Living conditions were grossly over crowded. One time a kid got pink eye. After a week a third of the kids had it. I was fed hardly anything mostly beans and rice. I entered the program at 143 pounds. When I left I weighed in at about 120 pounds. In only four months. Talk about eating light. For those looking to lose weight try eating only three small meals of rice a day , and if you get hungry throughout the rest of the day drink from your bottle of water. I once got a ear infection in my right ear. It got so bad that it hurt when I swallowed. I told the staff but they never did anything for me. Some didn't even understand because they didn't speak English. The administration acted to important to talk to me. After a month I saw the doctor. He gave me ear drops and it took weeks for the ear to stop hurting. I now can notice that in my right ear I've lost some hearing. I only notice it though when wearing head phones. I also once got very sick at night and started vomiting and having diarea which was followed by a full body rash. I staggered out to the night staff who saw my condition and called the nurse. She hooked me up to an IV and gave me a shot, then sent me back to bed. I was told I had the Costa Rican flu. When I wrote my mother emails about the situation they were for some reason mysteriously never sent. She eventually received a written letter about it from me a month later, and when she asked why she wasn't told about it they said it was only a small allergic reaction to eating a tomato. WHAT Tomato? This was blatant lying and manipulation to a parent. I no longer cared about what I said to my mother because they would always be there to disprove me. I became institutionalized and had no concept of local and world news, or time. Every day was the same. Nothing ever changed. Events could take place and a week later you couldn't remember when it happened. I had only spent four months in this place and my mind was traumatized by these things. I feel great sadness and sorrow for kids who've spent a year in this place. For my friends and other kids who were still in there when I left, I just want to say I never stopped praying for you.
Academy at Dundee Ranch Statement C: From a Student Present During the Riot
During my two and a half month stay in Costa Rica at Dundee ranch academy I have seen many cases of mistreatment and abuse placed towards the students that attend the academy, many of which could have been very easily avoided if the government was doing their jobs and stopping all of this nonsense the moment it was brought to their attention but that didn?t happen instead they decided kids are in programs for lying and even when the evidence is in front of they?re faces, they chose to claim they were blind. If people were doing the right thing and actually doing their own jobs, none, and I mean none of this would have happened. I am and will get my point and opinion across to you - I am absolutely furious that this had happened, it is not just NARVIN LICHFIELD?s fault this is the people who let this pass, any one who has seen some one hit, yelled at in a violent way, harm a student in any way shape or form, and not say a word about it ,should have to pay the price even if its as high as Narvin?s. The reason why this makes me so angry is because the U.S. embassy has known for as long as this so called academy has been opened that there has been cases of abuse, tempted suicides, food poisoning and other serious mistreatments and I doubt any thing has been reported.
I have seen Conrad hit throw and choke students. I witnessed Conrad hit [a female student] and then she had fallen to her knees crying. The nurses give us many shots and pills for unknown reasons. After the riot I was given two small white pills. Our food there is not worth eating; there were bugs, bone, plastic, and rocks in our daily meals. The showers I would have to say are the vilest; there was always dirty cloths, mud, garbage in the shower stalls, I have even opened my shower to find human feces inside. The showers are rather cold and it doesn?t help out much when my skin is filled with oil from smelly gold soap (soap that?s not anti-bacterial). I was sent to o.p. a lot, I had to stand for hours with two minute brakes in between each half hour. When you?re in o.p. or worksheets you get less food in your meals than everybody else receives. I?ve never been restrained but I have seen others be restrained. At least every other day, you hear screams from [name withheld], a fourteen year old boy, who was always being restrained. Everybody calls him [name withheld]. He has marks and bruises up and down his arms and legs from being "restrained." These people take advantage of calling it restraints it?s more like beating the kids, people who work there try to cover everything up with lies and bribes. Most of the time after being restrained kids get thrown in the pool, its kid of a sick game they watch the kid try to swim - you see after being restrain all of the muscles in the arms and legs has been stretched so the muscles are very stiff. They didn?t take care of any of the animals there either they had dogs with ticks running around and cats with some disease with blotches missing from their necks and backs. The smallest dog that was always running around was picked on by the boys, they have thrown him in the pool and swings him in circles by his legs and drops him on his back. Staff has given other kids permission to restrain other kids who were in the lower levels. On the last days I was there they had upper levels trying to keep the kids in order and they were beating kids with sticks and hitting them in their faces. I hated Dundee. During the riot the staff allowed other students to take my belongings.
Academy at Dundee Ranch Statement D: From a Student who Left the Facility Shortly Before it was Closed by Costa Rican Authorities
I entered Dundee Ranch Academy in Costa Rica in May 2002. I was sent to the program for abusing drugs and having a poor relationship with my family. I noticed the program was very strict but was determined to work it to try to better myself as a person but I gave up on myself when I was dropped from a high Level 2 with 1500 points to Level 1 0 points because I was wearing 2 shirts when I had permission because the fabric was bothering my skin. I was given a Category 4 "Layering". They don't let kids layer because they think that they will try to run away. When I was given the Cat 4 "Layering" I was sent to Observation Placement for 3 days. While I was in Observation placement I was restrained for my first time. I turned my head while I was laying face down with my chin on the ground and one of the staff named Mr. Kenny came in and put his knee in my back and put my arm behind me and started pushing it up until it touched the back of my head .I had so much pressure on my back that I couldn't breathe. From that day on I really found what the program was about. A week later I was in the Family Representative office and I saw a list saying ten rules for family reps. Rule # 1 said to always talk on the offensive side with your family. Rule #2 said to always keep parents away from the facility. Rule # 3 said to always encourage parents to have their kids graduate. I was in the program 11 months and only saw one kid graduate the program. I don't feel that a kid has to graduate the program in order to change his/her life. I left the program on Level 1 while in Observation Placement and feel that I have changed my life a lot. While in Observation Placement the food is Rice and Beans for every meal. That is the same thing with a place called worksheets. They send you to worksheets for talking or breaking little rules. They have categories from 1-5. Cat 4's and 5's and you have to do time in Observation Placement. I've walked around the pool at Dundee Ranch Academy for 2 weeks straight before because I didn't want to stay on silence and cooperate with the program. We would have exercises/punishments where they would make us squat with our arms out and I would start shaking. I would sometimes give up but then I would get restrained by the Jamaicans until I agreed to continue on with the punishments. I would get so much sun on my back that I would have blisters and couldn't sleep. I slept in a "Batcave" with no A/C for 11 months. It was very hard to sleep at night because of the heat. The heat was from the other bodies around us because we would sleep in a very small room with a lot of kids piled on top of each other. We once took a facility picture and Mr. Narvin Litchfeld told us to say "Money" while he took the picture. Once I was in Observation Placement and a kid named [withheld by ISAC] was put into the same room as me because he was stabbing his wrists with a big thorn that he found off a tree. I was talking to him and got in trouble from the staff. I told the staff that a kid like this doesn't need to be in here and he didn't respond. The US Embassy from San Jose did come into Observation Placement while I was in there and questioned me. I told them how things were being ran around here and they told me they were going to call my Dad but never did. I was really hoping that they would call him. One of my good friends [withheld by ISAC] was beat on April 1, 2003 so bad that he threw up on himself and urinated on himself. Later that day the President of WWASP Ken Kay came to visit and [the child] showed him what happened and Ken Kay took pictures of his bruises on his back. [The child?s] face was swollen for the next few days. Some of us went through a lot of abuse while at Dundee Ranch Academy, but I do have to say that my stay at Dundee Ranch helped me. I don't agree with the way they treated us at all. I feel that they could have done things differently and not try to intimidate he kids so much. It was scary for me at times being there. I left the program on April 16, 2003, on Level 1 Like I said, but I feel that I've came farther then a lot of other people who've made it farther in the program then me.
Academy at Dundee Ranch Statement E: From a Former Student
I was sent to Dundee Ranch "Academy" late 2001 and spent 9 months there. I was almost 16 years old. At home, I was not doing anything with my life, but most importantly, I was refusing to go to school. My parents came to the conclusion that DRA was the best choice of a school, as the way that they advertised it, it was ideal for me. They thought that I was going to a school where I would learn Spanish, be in an accelerated academic situation, and have an opportunity to become immersed in a different culture that I had never experienced. Little did they know that DRA was not what they expected.
When I first got there, I was kind of in shock with what just happened. Imagine your whole life becoming flipped around, and becoming thrown into a situation where the only thing to keep you going was your own mind. Luckily I have always had a strong state of mind, and isolation had little effect on me, as I grew up in a rural area. I was the 9th boy to go there, and the place was not even close to being up and running. Within my first day, I was told that I had to work on the dorms. Keep in mind that the dorms at that time were a few hotel rooms, with a "hallway" running to the outside. There was no door to it, and was open to everything. In other words, we had a room in the middle of a construction site, in the middle of the jungle. During school time, every other day, 5 boys would go to the dorms and work on taking out these blocks of concrete with a pick and mallet. It took about three weeks of daily work to finish this. The thing that bothered me the most about this is the fact that kids were sent there, and for the most part had to build their own dorms during school time while the workers swept the floor and gave you little pointers on how to take chunks of concrete out. To give you a good idea of the kind of work we were doing, I got 3 decent sized scars on my hands from the concrete chucks flying off. Luckily our eyes didn't get hurt; no goggles were ever given to us to wear. We also worked on other buildings. It isn?t the point that I didn?t want to do the work, it is the fact that I was taken out of school for this, and that was one of the main reasons I was there, or so my parents thought. But anyway, on to the rest of my stay.
First I need to say how the chronological order of everything in your life gets quite twisted around, and there was no difference from one day to another. Its funny how when the weather relatively stays the same day in and day out, combined with a rigorous schedule, it can make you loose track of the order things happened when trying to look back. Everything in my mind is events, and not the typical story that the mind usually remembers things in. Due to this, it is sometimes hard to recall intricate details about things, but the general event is still there.
School when I got there for the most part was nonexistent. They had no clue what I was supposed to do, so they asked if I had taken health, and since I hadn't they gave me a book and some requirements. There were no teachers around, just the "family father," the person in charge of the group of kids. Luckily he used to teach English in the states somewhere, but when it came to other subjects you were pretty much on your own. The way the system worked, was that if you didn't understand something one of the other kids could tutor you, but what if you didn't know that you didn't get something? There wasn't a teacher there to ask you questions on things and make sure that you understood the material. Luckily again, I had always been a fan of independent study, and I love to read. The school was perfect for me, yet other kids struggled. I could understand how hard for them it could be just having a book thrown at you and then being told that you have to learn this and pass all the tests. There were many kids there with learning disabilities. The one thing that got to me the most while trying to do school work, was the fact that if I looked up from my book into the swamp, where the school was located, I would get in trouble. School was two hours long with no breaks, and try concentrating on a school book for that long without being able to stretch or look around. All of these concerns were addressed at a later time, and things were set up to help you, yet they never worked out.
One of the biggest things that DRA stressed was the need for consistency in ones life. Wow, what a bunch of hypocrites. I don't think that the "setup" of that place stayed the same for a maximum of two months, IF THAT. A rule book was set up, but a few weeks later things were twisted around like crazy. On the rule book topic, here's what I found quite amusing: This book has all the rules on what you can and can not do, and what staff can and can not do. Sounds good. Somewhat like a constitution for the place, right? WRONG. One key sentence was placed at the end of every rulebook we got: ALL RULES ARE AT STAFF DISCRETION. Well, so much for the constitution idea? For example, kids must be present at school, no exceptions. Well, apparently there is a lack of manpower in Costa Rica, or money from the owner to pay them because kids were pulled out of school all the time to do work projects, myself included. That is just one instance. If I took every example of what was twisted around, you probably wouldn't be reading this letter right now, as I?d still is writing it.
Observational Placement. OP. By far one of the most heated topics in the whole WWASP fiasco. First off on this topic, I must say that I have never been placed in there, so I have no grudge against what goes on in there because I never got the brunt of it. On the other hand, I have seen what has come of things in there. I have never seen the famous "boot-in-the-face" incidents that I constantly here of on the anti-WWASP websites, but I have seen what has come of the events in there. To put it into an analogy, take the present conflict in Iraq. I'm sure you've seen the pictures of the bombed out buildings, and watched the live footage of Baghdad being bombed. Sometimes you couldn't see the explosions, but you could surely hear them. In other words, not being able to see the event doesn't mean that it never happened. The same thing applies to OP. If we heard something that was going on, we were not allowed to look. Turning your head would get yourself in trouble. The after effects for the most part point to what happened. I have never seen any slams, punches, etc.? but I have heard it and seen things from it. Things such as people's arms in slings, after having their arm jacked up behind their back to their ear. In the rulebook, it states that physical restraint (butt-kicking in other terms) will only be used if the subject is in a position where he will harm himself or others. Limited physical contact is supposed to be used. Yet as I said before, ALL RULES ARE AT STAFF DISCRETION. People would be "restrained" in OP if they wouldn't shut up, moved their position when they were not supposed to or for the most part wouldn't listen to what the staff member was telling them to do. There are only two incidents where I have seen a kid in a position where he can hurt himself or someone else. One of them ended in a kid falling two or so stories while attempting to commit suicide, and the other with a kid smashing his head into a wall because of the extreme depression he was in. This is something that hurts to see. A kid with problems, not getting help, REAL help. I can understand the frustration that the staff members go through with a refusing kid, but shouldn't they be secure enough with their emotions before being in charge of troubled teens with no control of their emotions? As an ?upper level? kid, I was often asked to watch kids in O.P.. I would use my kind of leadership, reasoning and logic. I was often put down for this. I was held back from advancement by this. I was expected to scream and yell at the lower levels. This was against my beliefs. I was in the Civil Air Patrol before I went to Dundee. This is a youth branch of the Air Force and I learned many different ways to lead. I was criticized with my way of leadership and told that it was not how you are to lead. This later bit me when I could not move up the levels because I didn?t conform to what they wanted. I have learned in my not so many years, that you can get more accomplished if you lead in a civil and fair way, as opposed to screaming, threats and intimidation
Another heated topic that I hear a lot about is the whole mental abuse thing. I'm not sure what the actual definition of it is, but in my opinion, it happens quite a bit down there. We were offered no current events. I went to Dundee right after 911. History is a passion, and I was not allowed any contact with the outside world. This was abuse to me. In jail, you are at least allowed to read a paper. The only things I would learn, are from my parents on our calls. My parents complained, and we eventually got 2 year old reader digests that were donated. Some schooling!
We were not allowed to talk except during very restricting times. I understand the whole concept of it, and how it is supposed to keep the conspiring of lower level kids down (running away and other assorted "don't do's"), but have they ever wondered what a kid on a lower lever for a year or so goes through? I'm sure it sounded good on paper to them, but I bet Hitler thought his plans looked good too. In general, teenagers should not be placed in a situation where they are surrounded by 20 other kids, and they can't talk to them, let alone even use hand signals. I've seen many kids break down because this rule combined with many other rules is too much for them. Like me, not all of these kids were in that much trouble back home. Why were we in something that was worse than prison? Because they lied to our parents as to what was going on. If I said something to my Mom or Dad, they would question the staff. The answer they got was that I was manipulating them to come home. Wow, was that frustrating. Luckily, my parents did not go to all the adult seminars and get manipulated into thinking that the program was the best thing in the world for their child, and that it was not OK to question. They were told that there was a music department at the school. They had to fight for me to even be able to get a guitar and be able to have the time to play it. I could play at night for a little while, while everyone was trying to fall asleep. It was hard leaving when my parents came to get me, knowing that the rest of the kids there would not have something so simple in their lives as listening to something that they loved while trying to stay sane. There is nothing normal down there. Your teenage years are non existent, lost.
Other strict rules include keeping your feet together no matter how or where you are sitting. In school, as I said before, you can?t take your eyes off of the book, and the feet "on task" (as they liked to call it) didn't help your school much. Their reasoning behind this is discipline, and little things like this lead to great things. BS! Little things like this lead to ankle cramps, low concentration and overall irritability in school! Tell me how having your feet together takes you out of your life of drugs, sex, crime or whatever you're there for. I do believe that this rule was taken away, but this has been a few times, and they always bring it back.
Seminars. Oh my god, what a bunch of bureaucratic mumbo-jumbo. All the seminars are just a popularity contest. They review all the work you've done in the past month (or two months in DRA's case) and that pretty much determines if you get through. Well, who are staffing the seminars you ask? Kids just like myself. Upper levels. Yes, there is a facilitator that's flown in and runs the seminar, but the upper levels pretty much tell him how you've done. Hmm, quite a sound system I must say. No checks and balances. So, if you are not on the upper levels good side there's a big chance you're not getting through. For the most part, people can fake their way through, with a combination of sucking up in-between the seminars. I could not advance because they said that I was hiding something. I admitted right off that I was lazy, smoking to much pot and not going to school. There were not any underlying, heavy mental problems that needed to come out. I was not abused, or in depression like some of the kids there. I needed a wake-up call and got one. I was very honest in the previous seminars but couldn?t pass one because I would have had to lie and make something up to get through it. I told my parents that I will not make it any further in the program because I would go against all our beliefs, and lie to get ahead. Great lesson! Many of the kids do this, and the parents think that their kids are ?getting the program? and are doing great.
I think back and realize that we were put in situations that were really not safe for us. When someone ran away, as an upper level, we were given flashlights and asked to go into the jungle at night to look for them. Not to smart when you know what is out there and what could happen to you. You did not question when someone asked you to do something. An incident like this occurred one night when a boy was missing. We searched everywhere and couldn?t find him. We were in the cafeteria when we heard a loud thump. He apparently jumped off the roof to commit suicide. It was explained later that he fell from a tree while trying to escape and that is why he had a sling on. You learned not to ask questions, even with your peers. You didn?t want to know anything because if it was wrong, you were in just as much trouble for knowing as they were for doing. I believe in positive peer pressure, this was actually negative peer pressure.
The food was O.K., but the water was dangerous. We all got sick often. They cut off the water, and we drank well water. We carried around water bottles that were sometimes months old. We just refilled them. Can?t imagine the bacteria in these containers after all that time in the hot jungle weather. They were gross. The sleeping conditions were not safe. We had up to 12 grown boys in a very small room. The bunks were three high and so small that you couldn?t even turn over. The doctor even admitted that the way they were set up, if one kid got sick, we all did. Scabies, rashes, not the best medical treatment there.
I did not leave the school grounds for 6 months, except to go get my passport. It would have been longer, but my parents came down and insisted that I be able to go out with them. They were lied to about this rule, and would not stand for it. I had been obeying the rules, and it probably would have been over 9 months before I would have been able to go off and actually have an activity. Maybe longer, because I wouldn?t lie and pass certain seminars that I needed to advance. There are some kids in these schools that have not been out in the world in over a year, often two. This is not healthy for a teenager. It is cruel.
Overall, DRA does some good, but in my opinion it does more bad then good. One of the main things they teach at Dundee is accountability. They need to practice what they preach. They lie to parents to make money. That is not accountable. I believe a spontaneous investigation is needed, without any notice to Dundee. The spontaneity is needed because when the staff would find out there is an investigation coming, the entire facility would stop whatever they are doing and clean everything up, and act like everything is all right. This happened often. I am actually an ?actor? in the tape that they have out there to market WWASP. We cleaned up the place, put on blazers that we never wore again and acted. We were in the cafeteria pretending we were in class, being tutored by teachers. They were family fathers not teachers. You can also see us walking in and out of the dorms. They didn?t show the crammed quarters inside. And best of all, you see us sitting around on couches talking and having a normal life. Funny, that was the first time that I had sat around on those couches. We actually looked like this was normal and that this was a pleasant time we were having. When the taping was over they took back the blazers and it was back to normal, which included never sitting around on those couches talking, that was not allowed.
You also have to interview kids that are at lower levels. The upper level kids won?t say anything, because they have resigned themselves into the mindset that they will do whatever they have to to get out. They will be in serious trouble if the staff or owner knows that they complained to anyone that may have a chance to cut off the money going into these schools. Their parents are usually so manipulated by WWASP, that the only thing that they can do is go along with it and get home. This does not necessarily mean that they have changed their whole life and way of thinking; it means that they have learned how to survive and play the game to go home. I am also concerned that they will be opening a new high impact at Dundee. How could it get any worse than these schools? I can?t imagine what will go on behind those walls. I would be scared for my child if they were to be sent there. They have absolutely no one to cry to.
I hope that this letter has been helpful for whatever it is needed for, and if anyone has any questions, I am open to answering all of them.
Academy at Dundee Ranch Statement F: From a Former Student
I arrived at Dundee on January 14th, 2002. I knew I was coming, but what I had expected was something totally different from what I got. I watched a sappy video of teary-eyed parents expressing their devotion to the program, and how it has changed their life so much and they would recommend anyone to the program. It looked nice, like there were a ot of things to do and see. I chose Costa Rica because I like the culture, and I wanted to visit the country. Well, I didn?t get to see much of anything but the facility while I was there. I didn?t leave for the first 7 months I was there. Not one foot stepped out of those gates. The first 5 months were the hardest. I quickly fell into a deep depression in which I felt absolutely no hope for anything. The staff and students seemed cold, and unwelcoming, and I had no one to talk to about my feelings and what I was going through. I distinctly remember several occasions in which I felt so lonely, hopeless and sad that I would search through my things, looking for something I might try to kill myself with. I was denied contact with my parents other than one letter a week. Many times my letters were lost, or would take 2 to 3 weeks to get to my parents. My parents were told that anything I said that was negative about the program was manipulation and I was just trying to get them to take me home. They lied to my parents. They taught us themselves that not telling the whole truth is considered lying. Maybe they should practice what they preach. Hey, what has happened now is just the universe holding them accountable for their actions. It will always come back on you. Anyways, while trudging through my depression there was so much going on around me, I didn?t know how to respond to it all. Rules were changed daily, disgruntled staff would take out their frustration on students by giving them unnecessary corrections, which docked points and set them back. We were not allowed to speak to each other unless it was during a very strict and limited time, usually never more than a half an hour at the most a day. The rest of the time we had to be absolutely silent, making no gestures or visual communication whatsoever. Sanitary conditions were terrible. We were made to sleep in rooms of 6-9 girls in one small room. If there was one person who got sick in a room, then everyone would get sick. We would have triple bunk beds with so little room you could not sit up, move around, or even get on or off easily. Many times there would not be water, so we could not shower, brush our teeth, was our faces etc. We also lacked necessary hygiene supplies like toilet paper, shampoo, conditioner, and toothpaste. I remember times when there was no toilet paper for days, and we would have to use notebook paper, or when we would not get items from the storage so we had very little shampoo left. We also had no laundry soap on several occasions. We had to wash our own clothes by hand, but several times, we would use shampoo to wash our clothes with because there was no laundry soap. Then, when everyone was running out of shampoo, and the scrubbing brushes had lost all of their bristles, I remember having to wash my clothes with conditioner and an old toothbrush. Then there was OP and Worksheets. OP was a place you went when you broke a category 4 or 5 rule. You could do this by simply having a map of something, by speaking in English to someone, or wearing too many articles of clothing etc. In OP you usually had to lie down on your stomach with your hands behind your back and your chin on the floor. I was in OP a few times. You cannot move, talk, look, itch?nothing. Sometimes you had to do hours and hours of exercises. Once I had to run with only my flip-flops. I asked several times to get my tennis shoes but they kept saying, no, keep running, you can get them later. We would also not be allowed to fill up our water bottles when we needed it. Maybe once we were allowed to go and refill our bottles. Kids could spend days weeks or months in OP. In worksheets you had to write a certain number of words. The number of works you had to write depended on what category rule violation you got. I believe I wrote somewhere around 130,000 to 150,000 words while I was there. I remember at least 2 occasions when I had around 50,000-60,000 words to write, which took me from 1 ½ to 2 weeks to do. Other times I would have anywhere from 16,000 to 30,000 words to write. I have around 30,000 words that I kept and brought home. We would not have tables to write on, and the rooms were dark to I would have to bend down and write on my lap which would give me terrible back and neck pains for up to 3 days. School was something that was out of control. When I got there, there were NO teachers NO school administrators, and there were students correcting work and giving credit. They lost my transcripts when I first got there, and I didn?t know what to do, so for several months I did nothing in school. Another concern was the Family Representative turnover. I had 9 family reps. In 11 months of being there. Family reps. were our only connection to our parents, and it was hard when they kept leaving about every month because I would just get to know them and then they would leave, and we?d have to deal with the new one and have to get to know them all over again. It was a never-ending cycle. My overall time at Dundee Ranch Academy was negative experience. I have since done much better at home though, and I have been working hard at school, so maybe just the experience scared me straight. I wouldn?t wish Dundee Ranch on my worst enemy.
Post Made to the WWASP Parents Message Board by a Student who was Present when Costa Rican Officials Entered Academy at Dundee Ranch, and his Mother who Went to Costa Rica to Bring Him Home:
I HAVE JUST RETURNED FROM DUNDEE RANCH ACADEMY FOR ALL PARENTS PANI IS TRYING TO HELP YOUR KIDS ARE RESEIVING NO RIGHTS AS CITIZENS THE PROGRAM MADE A BIG CHANGE IN MY LIFE AND THE PROGRAM I MEAN IS SEMINARS THE FACILITY IS SUCKING YOU DRY JUST THE LAST TWO DAYS I WAS THERE PANI HAD TO GET WARRENTS TO COME ON THE GROUNDS BUT STILL WERE NOT ALLOWED POLICE CAME IN THERE AND RAIDED IT AND FORCIBLY REMOVED THE STAFF AWAY FROM THE STUDENTS WHEN PANI TOLD SOME KIDS THEY HAD THE RIGHT TO SPEAK TO THERE PARENTS AND THE RIGHT TO PRIVATE MAIL OR EVEN NOT TO BE HELD IN THAT COUNTRY, KIDS RAN FOR FREEDOM IN SANDLES AND SHORTS DUNDEE CAME UP WITH A WAY TO MAKE THE POLICE LEAVE AND WHEN THAT HAPPENDED DUNDEE MADE CONTRACTS FOR THE KIDS TO SIGN STATING THAT WE AGREE WITH HOW WERE TREATED,FEED,LIVING CONDITIONS,AND NOT HAVING RIGHTS I REFUSED TO SIGN I WAS FORCED INTO A HIGH INPACT FACILITY WHICH NARVEN WAS OPENING WITH OUT THE COSTA RICAN GOVERMENT NOWING INSIDE WE COULD NOT BE LOCKED IN BUT THEY PLACED WORKERS AT THE DOOR WITH STICKS I TRIED TO LEAVE FOR FOOD AND CLOTHS AND RESEIVED A WOUND TO THE LEG FROM ONE OF THOSE STICKS I WAS ONLY GIVEN A PHONE CALL BECASUE THE POLICE FORCED DUNDEE TO I ASKED MY MOTHER TO COME HOME WHICH WHEN MY FAMILY REP GOT BACK ON THE PHONE TOLD MY MOTHER LOTS SAYING I WASN'T SAPPOSED TO SAY YOUR KIDS ARE SCARED NOT ALL BUT THEY CAN'T SAY ALL THEY WOULD LIKE ,THERE MAIL GETS EDITED AND IF THEY TRY TO SAY THAT THINGS ARE NOT RIGHT THEY LOOSE THERE LEVEL AND GET RESTRAINED ON THE ISSUE WITH RESRAINMENT THE CONTRACT STATES THAT I CAN ONLY BE RESTRAINDED IF I AM A HARM TO MYSELF OR TO OTHERS WELL THE STAFF SAYS ITS THERE INTERPRETATION WE GET RESTRAINDED FOR SPEAKING TO THE PARENTS OF THIRTEEN YEAR OLD KIDS YOUR KIDS DO NOT DESERVE THAT I DID BUT THEY ARE JUST SPOILED AND GETTING MORE OF THE PHYSICAL AND MENTAL ABUSE BECASUE THEY ARE MORE RESEPTIVE AND EASIER TO PICK ON I HAVE CHANGED BUT I WAS SCARED THINGS GO ON YOU DON'T KNOW ABOUT YOUR KIDS ARE NOT FEED RIGHT (MY MOTHER)-[My son] IS 17 AND WAS AT DUNDEE 10 MONTHS,,,WHEN HE LEFT HE WAS A SIZE 44 WAIST, I SEE IN FRONT OF ME TODAY, A KID THAT GOT SICK ON 1 SANDWICH AND A GLASS OF MILK LAST NIGHT!!! HE IS IN A SIZE 34,,, YES, WE BOTH AGREE THE SCHOOL DID WORK IN ALOT OF WAYS, BUT 10 MONTHS 10INCHES, HE LOOKS LIKE A (P O W) AND I SEE AND PLAN TO TAKE PICTURES OF HIS LEGS WHERE HE WAS BEAT WITH BOARDS!!! I TALKED TO FR AND HE ACTED LIKE IT WAS ALL A SIMPLE MISUNDERSTANDING, THAT [my son] WAS STILL NOT READY TO COME HOME, BUT YOU TELL ME,THESE PEOPLE WOULD NOT GIVE MY SON HIS MEDS, CLOTHES ETC. BUT HAD THE TIME TO INCLUDE A NEW MEDICAL BILL FOR $300 THAT THEY ACTUALLY PUT A SMILEY STICKER ON!!! THEY HAD TIME FOR THAT!!! I'M NOT SORRY, I SEE & FEEL THAT I HAVE DONE THE RIGHT THING IN GETTING MY SON HOME, THEY ACUALLY TOLD ME NOT TO WORRY, AND 3 HOURS LATER THE GOV. FORCED THEM TO ALLOW [my son] TO CALL, PARENTS REALIZE THAT IF YOUR KIDS DON'T SIGN, AND/ OR LEAVE THERE IMMEDIATLY THAT PANI, CAN HAVE YOU TIED UP IN COURT, IN BOTH COUNTRY FOR UP TO 1 1/2, TO GET YOUR KIDS BACK!!!BRING THEM HOME AND TALK TO THEM,YOU CAN MAKE A BETTER CHOICE, BUT I WOULD DEMAND TO TALK TO YOUR CHILD, AND THEY FORCED FR OUT OF ROOM TO LET ME TALK TO [my son] AND HE WAS STILL AFRAID.....I'LL PROBABLY BE TOOK OF THIS BOARD.
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Post URL:
http://fornits.com/wwf/viewtopic.php?to ... t=10#34931 Anonymous
Unregistered User Dundee letter
Posted: 2004-02-07 09:05:00
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The Following is my account of my family's WWASP experience.
To whom it may concern,
I'm writing in regard to TeenHelp/World Wide Association of Specialty Programs and Schools/ WWASP. Their Program in Costa Rica is the Academy at Dundee Ranch.
I would like to tell you about my and my sons experience with WWASP. I'll attempt to be brief.
My son began using drugs and drinking at about age 15. By 16 he had lost control of the situation, was expelled from his school, robbing us blind, running away, coming home stoned - lots of worrisome stuff.
None of the less restrictive measures where able to make any difference - so I went looking for a residential situation that might.
I found WWASP/teenhelp on Lon Woodburry's web sight - strugglingteens.com.
I spent several months calling and asking questions. I did speak with other unrelated residential programs, but cost was a hindrance. WWASP had programs out of the States, which I was told made them more affordable, as the dollar was so strong in these countries. We are not a wealthy family, and I was paying for this with what I had just inherited from my father's estate - so funds where limited.
The program sounded great. I was sent a list of parents to contact, and they all said it was great. I could find nothing negative anywhere. I ended up having my son escorted to Academy at Dundee ranch, in April of 2002.
I'd like to try at this point and give you an idea of the ways in which I was mislead and manipulated by WWASP.
I was told a student with a profile and history like my son's could expect to graduate within 6 months. Graduating the program is the all important goal. Once he was at Dundee, and I was able to access the WWASP parent's bulletin board, the BBS, I soon realized this 6 month time frame was a farce. Even a year would be conservative, and two years appeared to be the average, although, I also noticed, younger students seemed to take much longer. Three or Four years wasn't unusual. I have come to feel there are many ways to slow down and sabotage a student's progress, and the motivation to do so is a powerful one - money.
I was also mislead about the basic nature of the program. I was lead to believe it was a school. I asked about this specifically. Repeatedly. I didn't want a hospital like placement, or a placement where many of the students had emotional or mental health issues. I needed and wanted a residential drug rehab with a good educational program.
I was told in answer to my questions, the program was a boarding school type of environment, with a therapeutic eliminate, which was daily group sessions, and emotional growth seminars. I thought I understood what this meant, but I was mistaken. The group sessions where not related to drug rehab in any meaningful way. Nor where the seminars what I had believed them to be. This I came to slowly understand from my activity on the BBS.
The 'school' consist of computer classes, with no actual instruction from an actual teacher. I had been told all the Program schools where fully accredited, but this wasn't true. Dundee didn't attain accreditation until sometime after my son arrived, and much of his early work was wasted. He found it impossible to take anything that needed explaining, such as algebra. He mostly spent his time doing minor electives he could manage from a store of basic common knowledge. It turns out "working the Program" is the first and foremost with education being of far less importance.
It also turned out that there where in fact a large number of students with emotional and mental health issues. It is apparently believed this particular program is a one size fits all cure.
As I mentioned, there was no actual drug rehab component, and the education wasn't of the high quality I had been lead to believe; also, the true nature of the seminars wasn't something I wanted to be part of, as the beliefs and practices they promote, conflict with many of our family's beliefs as evangelical Christians. And so I began looking for a different placement, and transferred my son out of the WWASP program at Dundee, in August of 2002.
At this point, I began to learn of things I had been mislead about, that are of a very serious nature.
I was told the program was points and levels based. Points where gained or lost, depending on how a student did in several areas of behavior, and levels gained or lost depending on the number of points. Gaining levels being desired, as it not only leads to graduating the program, but also more privileges; Such as field trips and activities, like maybe a dance or a movie.
Even calls home to Mom and Dad are considered a privilege that must be earned. I was mislead about this as well. I had been told my son couldn't call home until attaining level three. I was lead to believe this might take a couple or three weeks. This wasn't really alarming. I soon learned it could and would take much longer, three or four Months being a more appropriate estiment. Some go for much longer than that - many, many months, with no calls home allowed.
The Points and levels where the only form of 'consequence' ever mentioned prior to enrollment.
I was never told, in any way shape or form, that Food is part of the reward system. I don't mean just the use of condiments. I mean food. My son felt he was being starved. He was always hungry. Hunger became a real issue for him and was always present. I think I understand now, why the new and lower level kids are kept hungry, but I'll just ask you to believe me when I say he was in fact kept hungry, for whatever reason.
I was also not told the program has a method of punishment that mirrors a practice that was inflicted on prisoners of Devils Island, Observation Place. The History channel has a show they do on prisons - and when they did Devil's Island, they gave a good description of Observation Place -
In Observation Place, the hapless student must remain silent, on their knees, face to the wall, hands behind their back, for up to twelve hours a day, for days at a time. Some of the 'schools' make them lay on their stomachs - Sometimes they did this at Dundee as well; but a forced body position and silence are always a part of it. My son spent three days in O. P for trading his medicine for candy.
On this occasion, when I asked - "what is O. P?" as I hadn't prior to this, ever herd of it; All I was told was, it was a place where the students had to remain quite and think about their non working choices. Maybe so. But there was an awful lot left unsaid. I didn't have a clue, until reading a description of O.P. in a New Orleans news paper article.
Its my understanding, some students spend the majority of their time in O. P., as they have a harder time conforming to the strict regimented demands of the program.
Another misleading was how restraint is used in the program. I was told restraint was sometimes used. This wasn't alarming, as I could easily imagine there where occasions when restraint would be needed, for the safety of the students. I was told it happens but was a rare occurrence, and as this made sense, I didn't question it.
What I have learned since my son has been transferred out of WWASP, is that restraint is very common and brutal. Its a common consequence to many minor infractions.
Lower level students are restrained for talking, as they are not allowed to talk - something else that was never disclosed to me upfront. Students are restrained for looking out of windows or smiling when they shouldn't be.
The restraint is painful. It isn't the sort of restraint that is to prevent ones harming themselves or others - but intended to hurt. My son told me, the students where told, the staff could break one bone with no reprisals, as all the parents had signed documents to that effect. I never signed anything giving my permission to break my son's bones.
He also told me it is a common thing for students to be beat up. He said it happened every day. At Dundee, he said it was the Jamaicans, who are transplants from WWASPs' Tranquillity Bay, that tended to beat up on the kids, and where so quick to restrain the students for minor things.
One last issue for my family is a matter of Faith. I had been assured that even though the WWASP/TeenHelp programs are Mormon owned and operated, no one particular Faith was encouraged or taught. However, it seems they do in fact consider the students a captive mission field. My son has told me, he was glad I sent him books to read, as oftentimes, if a student lacked a book of their own, they where handed a book of Mormon and made to read it.
On another occasion, he was invited to a Bible study, where instead of the Holy Bible, they passed out the book of Mormon. Many of the students are Mormon, and other families have no strong feeling about this issue; but for us, it's a real serious problem. I was upset about this.
All these things are why I think this program needs to be shut down.
There are good people at Dundee. I have been grateful for the kindness of my son's family Rep, as well as another young Costa Rican, who allowed my son to visit his home and travel with him to meet me in Miami. There are good people, who deserve much heartfelt gratitude; But they have a despicable employer, In my opinion.
