Nofo 'i Kolo - Staying in Town
My stay in town at the guesthouse has been its own mini-adventure. I’ve experienced a different side of Tonga especially during this busy tourist season. I’ve met travelers from all corners of the world that have come to Vava’u to swim with the whales (an exploit that I want to try for my birthday next week). Moving has been a good transition for wrapping up projects and cleaning house. I unloaded my whole kitchen and bedroom belongings to neighbors and friends. I now have one box and a few bags of clothes that I continue to rifle through to bestow things upon others as a way to minimize my load for traveling home.
The disability group that I run here has been growing in terms of recognition. We received a local donation of $1,200 and also were awarded a grant to help pay for materials and resources. I even got my picture in the ‘Taimi Tonga’ Newspaper! It’s a good feeling to know that the program has funding to carry on after I leave. I was also surprised by a local business owner who invited the group to attend the opening of his restaurant. He asked that they be the guests of honor and a little article was written in the paper. Awareness is growing here in Vava’u…but there is still so much more to learn.
Not much to report on the perpetrator for my house burglary. The investigator said he is swamped with work so he is progressing slowly. I’ve let go of being angry because it is only material things that were taken, but I am still disappointed in the kids that did it. No, officially I don’t know who it is, but this is a small island where people enjoy talking.
Wedding plans are progressing nicely and wrapping up all my loose ends here is filling my days. I’m starting to become more and more eager to see everyone back home.
Love,
Adrianne
5 Comments:
Adrianne.... you look like a real dignitary in that picture. Congrats on the work you are doing and seeing some results. As a father of a disabled person I can tell you that reconition and acceptance from the community at large is the KEY step for these folks to lead a full life.
Thank you
It is typical in Tonga (as you probably know) for people to get excited about new 'insights', but for the novelty to wear off, and the status quo of famili, kainga, siasi & lautohi/kolisi to take over in terms of social interests. You've done some good for the disabled, but don't kid yourself: Pisikoa come & go with great regularity & rapidity: very few of the Peace Corps-introduced projects persist after the volunteer leaves, unless local people feel like there are advantages to them for that kind of energy expenditure. So, I hope you feel lata with what you've done while you are there, congratulations on the awareness you raised, and don't pin your sense of success on whether the program continues for very long after you foki ki Amelika.
'Ofa atu,
PS: I told you to offer a reward.... Don't forget that inflation has increased, pushing the cost of food, fertilizer, fuel & electricity up. Many people were going without pay for 6 weeks during the strike last year, and many live on miniscule amounts of money at the best of times. There is *hardship* in Tonga, and some of the worst affected are teens and the elderly. Also, don't take the theft personhally: it's nothing more than proof of their sense of your personal wealth.
best wishes as you try to re-orient to Amelika!
Adrianne & Tevita: Welcome home. I sure hope you continue to keep a blog of your adventures in Cincinnati. Your perceptions on the world around you are so well recorded it would be missed.
Thanks
i think you're just the person i've been looking for! just this morning i accepted my invitation to go to tonga in october. it seems that everywhere i've been looking has volunteers from everywhere else BUT tonga!
i've been reading some of your entries and you're actually helping calm some of my nervousness that's clouding how excited i know i really am! if it's not too much trouble, i'd love to ask you a few questions about your time there and maybe get a few hints about life (a lot i'm learning from you already and from my dad who served in the philippines back in the early 80s). feel free to email me: pi_princess911@hotmail.com
thank you SOOOOO much!
- alicia
Malo e lelei! It's been greating reading about your adventures in Tonga. My husband grew up on Vava'u and also graduated from Saineha, so he and Tevita probably know each other. His name is Sione Tau'a'alo Fifita--everybody called him Tau'alo. He graduated in '93 or '94, I think, so he's a couple years older than Tevita--but it's Tonga, so I'm sure they knew each other!
It was so fun hearing your perspective on different customs and traditions--I felt many of the same things even though I was experiencing them in the states (well, Hawaii, which is almost like another country) and not in Tonga. (I have yet to go, but hopefully it will be soon!) My blog is fifitafamily.blogspot.com.
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