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near miss tragedy incident. During one
battle, the Sullivans shepherded their
students to the ACS building which was
deemed safer. About 25 young board-
ers were huddled in one room. After a
while, Samia felt unsettled and moved
the youngsters out. “Something told me
that we have to get those children out of
there,” she said. Ten minutes later, the
room took a direct hit.
Another time, the staff joined the board-
ers as they huddled together for days on
end. Mattresses were laid all around the
Sullivan’s home (today’s business office
and bookshop), Samia found herself
cooking for 40 people on one small hot
plate while James provided potable water
by filtering it through paper towels.
Other times, during battles, James and a
supervisor would run up between battles
to the cafeteria (today’s preschool), grab
food and run back to the boarders. Dur-
ing one such run, a shell fell near them.
Jumping in panic, the supervisor some-
how managed a somersault and landed on
firm ground with the tray of food intact.
“You see Mr Sullivan,” he cried out. “I
didn’t spill any!”
Humour kept them going. In one inci-
dence, the Sullivans received a package.
Someone decided that it must be a bomb
and the police were summoned.The of-
ficers promptly put the package near the
elementary school building (with students
inside) and before the Sullivans could
stop them, shot at the package.There was
no explosion.
“It’s definitely not a bomb,” declared the
police. As it turned out, it was a crystal
bowl now permanently chipped.
In 1986, James as a US citizen – on
holiday abroad – was forbidden by US
officials to return to Lebanon. Samia
remained at IC as the elementary school
director. In 1991, she retired and joined
her husband in North Carolina.
Since then, the couple visit Lebanon
every year.
And as always, their first stop remains IC.
“So infamous was the pipe that during the civil war
James received a St Patrick’s Day card from a former
student simply addressed to “Abou Ghalioun”, Beirut.”
WINTER
2010
11