Workshop or Sleep - What’s more important?

Yes I voted.
I sent in my absentee ballot a few weeks ago. Apparently it didn’t get to Ohio in time to save the day. I guess I’ll be staying in Tonga for the next four years.

I’ve been keeping busy for the last few weeks. I’ve been working really hard to get my youth out of the village and involved in workshops. Most of the women spend their days weaving. The men often work in the bush. There is little opportunity for employment after school so my hope is to expose the youth to different environments and perspectives. I kind of view my role as someone who creates opportunities for the youth – not someone to force them into things they don’t enjoy. Last week I got two girls to attend a workshop on reproductive health. I had to drag them to the workshop, but they left with nothing but positive things to say. One of them even gave a little speech on the radio about her experience. This week one youth and myself are participating in “how to run an efficient computer lab” workshop. My goal is to open a lab in the next three months and I want one of my youth to help me run things. He never touched a computer before this four day workshop and I think he is doing great. Every morning he has been ready and waiting right on time (For a Tongan this is a huge accomplishment). In two weeks I am helping to teach a workshop on Small Businesses. The Vava’u Youth Center has a small loan program and we are trying to encourage youth to take advantage and expand their own options for employment. I will be teaching the section on customer service. This is a concept that does not appear to exist here in Tonga and I’m hoping that my years of service to Fed/Ex will come in handy. I’m also hoping to get at least a few of my youth to come. The past two weeks I invited some guest speakers to present a program called Life Skills to my entire youth group. It addresses topics such as self esteem, decision making, and problem solving. I have an average of about 35 youth come to every class and they stay from 7 to 10 at night.

I feel like things are active now, but in a couple of weeks I’m going to run out of stuff to do. I guess during Christmas everyone will want a break anyway. Oh – I forgot to say that I had a movie night in my village last Friday. We used another volunteer’s laptop and connected it to the youth center projector. There are two white sheets the volunteers sewed together and Bam – a private movie theatre. My village crowded into the town hall and everyone set up camp with mats and pillows. We watched Finding Nemo and Rush Hour with Jackie Chan. The smile on the kids’ faces said it all. It was awesome.

It’s been raining here and the mud is driving me crazy. I can’t seem to stay clear of it. Back in the States I used to never walk around barefoot. I was anal about always having on socks or slippers even when walking around my house. Now I have Tongan feet. They are cracked and dirty all the time. I’ve been soaking them in a bucket and scrubbing them with a brush before bed every night. It doesn’t seem to do much good. This environment wants me to toughen up.

I got to talk to Jason, Cathy, Kirstin , and Vince in the past two weeks and it was just the energy boost that I needed. Some moments I just crave contact with family and friends. Thanks for making my day.

Love,
Adrianne