The first Sunday of May is“Faka-Mē” the Children’s Sunday in the Wesleyan church. Some of you may remember my participation last year in the event, culminating in the embarrassed reading of a church hymn with a 5-year old…dark times for my self-esteem in the village. This year, I graciously declined an offer to read a ‘lesson’, and instead volunteered my talents as official photographer of the children, dressed to the nines in any and everything white, lacy, and preferably with feathers, much to the delight of the mothers as many families don’t have cameras or cell phones with cameras.
Sarah, another volunteer from the next island up, joined me for the first half of the day-long program, and it was nice to have a feast companion to play “guess that mystery meat” with (even if two palangais meant there was no way to avoid sitting at the head table) and share observations about the adorable kids with. Lupe, along with her mother, sister, and other extended family members, pulled out all the stops for their table at the feast, and the two of us have gotten quite efficient at baking dozens of cakes at a time. They also completely outdid themselves, weaving two new mats for each of the children to wear, and creating an entire woven traditional Tongan outfit for Fotu, complete with woven slippers (sandals). Fotu looked good, and he knew it, and strutted around most of the morning telling everyone how handsome he looked in his Tongan slippers!
In the morning church service, some of the children read hymns and sang songs, and then everyone went to the church hall for the feast. After a quick wash and costume change, the kids and proud family members came back to the church for the real “lessons”. There were recitations, hymns, action songs, and dramatic re-tellings of biblical and biblical-based stories. My favorite, by far, was the drama about Roman-era persecution of Christians in a time that fluctuated between ancient and modern. Lines such as “I heard on the radio that the Romans are persecuting Christians” were married with ‘finger-gun’ carrying soldiers wonderfully. The plot centered around a family that decided not to renounce their religion, despite radio warnings, and were all killed. What made it interesting was how funny the audience found it every time someone was ‘shot’ by a solider (complete with “bang” sound effects) and that after each death, a hymn had to be sung for the deceased as they were covered in white cloths. The hymn singing did mean that it took the better part of a half hour to kill an entire family of four.
It’s been interesting revisiting these annual events, and thinking about how much my experiences have varied from year to year. The biggest change, by far, is that I can understand a lot more because my language has improved, so this year, for example, I understood why people were being shot during a church play!
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Monday, May 10, 2010
Camp GLOW!
Dear Family and Friends,
Despite, the recent lack of blog posts and email updates, I’ve been pretty busy. My last year in Tonga is flying by (as my 5 year old neighbor constantly reminds me: “Alisi, this is your last EVER [insert event here, be it important or mundane] in Tonga!” [cue me tearing up]) and I’m working hard to pull off some incredible projects before my service is over. The project I’m most excited about is the amazing, and slightly ambitious, program I am organizing for girls here in Ha’apai, and in order for it to happen, I need your help!
Us Peace Corps Volunteers and the Tongan Ministry of Youth, Employment, Sports and Training (quite the title) are working together to hold the first nation-wide Camp G.L.O.W. (Girls Leading Our World). This program, designed to empower Tongan girls and young women, will be run as a week-long sleep away camp and will advocate, among other things, a healthy lifestyle; teaching leadership and team-building skills; fostering self-confidence and creative expression; and building a strong network of motivated girls and women. Camp GLOW will be run in each of the four main island groups of Tonga, and will serve more than 200 hundred girls and young women throughout the country, 35 in Ha’apai alone.
Our Camp GLOW will be comprised of two camps. One will focus on girls in 9th grade who have displayed academic excellence and leadership potential. This camp is designed to motivate the girls to continue their education as far as possible and to become leaders among their peers. The second camp will benefit unmarried, unemployed young women between the ages of 18-21. This camp will focus on building skills for employment and financial independence. Both camps will emphasize personal achievement and active, responsible citizenship.
Throughout the week, campers will participate in sessions on goal setting, critical thinking and decision making, organization and effective study skills, time and money management, computer literacy, public speaking, conflict resolution, sexual health, the rights of women and children, sexual harassment and domestic abuse, nutrition, food sanitation, and first aid. In addition to these sessions, the camps will be filled with games, sports, songs, and arts and crafts, which will incorporate leadership training and team building. The women’s camp will also include technical skills training, field trips to local businesses, and sessions on resume writing and interviewing. The girl’s camp will include a day of shadowing a professional woman in the community who will share her story with the girls while allowing them a look into the life of a career woman.
Every session at Camp GLOW will be run by a Tongan woman – either a member of the community or a guest speaker from another island. The campers will be guided, supervised, and encouraged by camp counselors chosen from among the most motivated female youth leaders in the community, and will be chaperoned by a prominent community member who will serve as a camp mother.
Camp GLOW Ha’apai will be the first camp, and will run from June 21-26. Now that Peace Corps has approved our project, we can begin preparing for the camp. We will be organizing fundraising events within the community, and yes, I will be taking a bullet for a great causing and toa-ing (serving kava to men for hours and hours) and probably dancing as well- I know you all wish you could see this. Still, this project will not be able to happen without your help. Camp GLOW will be free of charge to all girls who attend so as not to limit the number of girls who apply, many who would not have the financial ability to do so otherwise. This means that we need as much assistance as possible from all of you.
To find out more information about Camp GLOW Tonga, please join our facebook group (and invite all your friends!): Camp GLOW Tonga, and/or email myself or campglowtonga@gmail.com. If you are interested and able to support this incredible project, please go to https://www.peacecorps.gov, click on “Donate Now” and search for A. Green to make a tax-deductible donation!(Here's the direct link: https://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=resources.donors.contribute.projDetail&projdesc=421-123)
Thank you for all of your support throughout my time in Peace Corps and in Tonga. I appreciate all of your help so much, and I know I never would have been able to accomplish as much here without you. If you could please pass this email along to your family and friends who might be interested, I would appreciate it greatly.
ʽOfa lahi atu (Lots of love),
Alicia
Despite, the recent lack of blog posts and email updates, I’ve been pretty busy. My last year in Tonga is flying by (as my 5 year old neighbor constantly reminds me: “Alisi, this is your last EVER [insert event here, be it important or mundane] in Tonga!” [cue me tearing up]) and I’m working hard to pull off some incredible projects before my service is over. The project I’m most excited about is the amazing, and slightly ambitious, program I am organizing for girls here in Ha’apai, and in order for it to happen, I need your help!
Us Peace Corps Volunteers and the Tongan Ministry of Youth, Employment, Sports and Training (quite the title) are working together to hold the first nation-wide Camp G.L.O.W. (Girls Leading Our World). This program, designed to empower Tongan girls and young women, will be run as a week-long sleep away camp and will advocate, among other things, a healthy lifestyle; teaching leadership and team-building skills; fostering self-confidence and creative expression; and building a strong network of motivated girls and women. Camp GLOW will be run in each of the four main island groups of Tonga, and will serve more than 200 hundred girls and young women throughout the country, 35 in Ha’apai alone.
Our Camp GLOW will be comprised of two camps. One will focus on girls in 9th grade who have displayed academic excellence and leadership potential. This camp is designed to motivate the girls to continue their education as far as possible and to become leaders among their peers. The second camp will benefit unmarried, unemployed young women between the ages of 18-21. This camp will focus on building skills for employment and financial independence. Both camps will emphasize personal achievement and active, responsible citizenship.
Throughout the week, campers will participate in sessions on goal setting, critical thinking and decision making, organization and effective study skills, time and money management, computer literacy, public speaking, conflict resolution, sexual health, the rights of women and children, sexual harassment and domestic abuse, nutrition, food sanitation, and first aid. In addition to these sessions, the camps will be filled with games, sports, songs, and arts and crafts, which will incorporate leadership training and team building. The women’s camp will also include technical skills training, field trips to local businesses, and sessions on resume writing and interviewing. The girl’s camp will include a day of shadowing a professional woman in the community who will share her story with the girls while allowing them a look into the life of a career woman.
Every session at Camp GLOW will be run by a Tongan woman – either a member of the community or a guest speaker from another island. The campers will be guided, supervised, and encouraged by camp counselors chosen from among the most motivated female youth leaders in the community, and will be chaperoned by a prominent community member who will serve as a camp mother.
Camp GLOW Ha’apai will be the first camp, and will run from June 21-26. Now that Peace Corps has approved our project, we can begin preparing for the camp. We will be organizing fundraising events within the community, and yes, I will be taking a bullet for a great causing and toa-ing (serving kava to men for hours and hours) and probably dancing as well- I know you all wish you could see this. Still, this project will not be able to happen without your help. Camp GLOW will be free of charge to all girls who attend so as not to limit the number of girls who apply, many who would not have the financial ability to do so otherwise. This means that we need as much assistance as possible from all of you.
To find out more information about Camp GLOW Tonga, please join our facebook group (and invite all your friends!): Camp GLOW Tonga, and/or email myself or campglowtonga@gmail.com. If you are interested and able to support this incredible project, please go to https://www.peacecorps.gov, click on “Donate Now” and search for A. Green to make a tax-deductible donation!(Here's the direct link: https://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=resources.donors.contribute.projDetail&projdesc=421-123)
Thank you for all of your support throughout my time in Peace Corps and in Tonga. I appreciate all of your help so much, and I know I never would have been able to accomplish as much here without you. If you could please pass this email along to your family and friends who might be interested, I would appreciate it greatly.
ʽOfa lahi atu (Lots of love),
Alicia
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