From Under the Coconut Tree

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Malo e lelei!
Well, there you have it folks! I am, as of this morning, an official Peace Corps Volunteer!!! I took an oath in front of the Tongan Peace Corps Staff, the Minister of Education in Tonga, the Archdeacon of Tonga, the Japanese Ambassador, and the New Zealand High Commissionor. It was a real honor and I felt so proud to be sworn in as a Peace Corps Volunteer.
I have wanted this for so long and I want to thank all of you who were so supportive throughout the whole process of getting here. I could not have done it without all of your efforts and endless love and encouragement. Thank you so so so much!
I leave Tonga today (the main island of Tongatapu, that is...), and will catch a 6am flight to Vava'u tomorrow morning, where I will spend my next two years serving at Malafihi College as an English Teacher. I could not be more excited about my placement and, I am anxious to jump right in to my community! That said, this is my last day with my fellow volunteers and I am quite sad to leave everyone :( We have some celebratory festivities planned for the evening ;) to enjoy our last night together. I can't wait! Tonga is so incredible and I have really enjoyed it here.
I'm not too sure when is the next time I will be near a computer but please keep checking my blog as I hope to upload photos of my new site!
Thanks again to everyone who helped me get here!!! I love you all so much :)

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WHAT PROJECTS AM I UP TO THESE DAYS?

Camp G.L.O.W. Tonga
Camp GLOW (Girls Leading Our World) Tonga is a week-long sleep-away camp run by Peace Corps Volunteers and the Tongan Ministry of Training, Employment, Youth and Sports designed to empower its participants by:

1.) Advocating a healthy lifestyle;
2.) Providing vital information on sensitive topics;
3.) Teaching leadership and team-building skills;
4.) Encouraging critical thinking and logical decision-making;
5.) Building a network of motivated girls and women;
6.) And fostering self-confidence and creative expression through a fun, safe, judgment-free environment.

Myself and fellow PCVS will be running this camp in Vava'u and it will look a little something like this....

This nationwide project is comprised of six camps held in four island groups. There will be four Girls’ Camps that focus on ninth graders who have displayed academic excellence and leadership potential, and two Young Women’s Camps to benefit school-leavers between the ages of eighteen and twenty-one.
The Girls’ Camps will reach a total of 200 girls and will cover diverse topics including goal setting, computer literacy, public speaking, conflict resolution, sexual health, the rights of women and children, sexual harassment and domestic abuse, nutrition, food sanitation, first aid, and environmental responsibility.
The Young Women’s camps will target a total of thirty-five youth who are at the highest risk of unplanned pregnancy, early marriage, and financial dependency. They will cover the same topics as the Girls’ Camps, but with a special focus on gaining employment and managing an income while living a healthy lifestyle. Additional sessions for the Young Women’s Camp will include CV and resume writing, interviewing skills, time and money management, career planning, and microfinance.

If you're interested in helping out in this project, visit our facebook group! Camp GLOW Tonga. Thanks!

'Alapea Dance Studio
I have started a dance studio in downtown Neiafu, teaching aerobics and dance classes to Tongan woman and female youth. The class is every Thursday, 4:30-5:30pm. The first thirty minutes begins with five minute warm-up followed by an active aerobics session. The remainder of the class celebrates one subject of dance, and ends with a body cool down. Currently, this month, the youth is learning a hip-hop routine. Next month's genre of dance is yet to be decided.

Mailefihi Gardening and Learning Project
Beginning Term 2, I will be introducing a gardening project to the students at my school. The students will take part in the planning and laying out of the garden including picking the plot and building the garden fencing. The students will then experiment growing vegetables like lettuce, carrots, tomatoes, cucumbers, beans, and squash. The students will then run their own table at the Saturday market in downtown Neiafu to sell their produce to raise money for the annual school magazine.

Vava'u Rowing Games
This project I am especially excited for! Vava'u's harbor is one of the safest ports in the world, known as the 'Port of Refuge.' Many years ago, the Vava'u Island Group used to have rowing competitions between the islands' villages, which later spread to competitions between the islands within the kingdom, until it later spread to an international compeitition and Vava'u represented Tonga in crew games between Hawaii and Fiji!

Somewhere down the road, the infamous rowing games disappeared and it has been years since a crew boat was rowed in the Port of Refuge. Together, with the help of an Austrailan volunteer, we are going to bring these famous games back to Vava'u and to the people of Tonga.

As of now, we are contacting schools, alumni associations and rowing organizations for donations to the project- specifically, row boats!

We hope that this project will have many positive outcomes including raising health and fitness awareness, increasing tourist attraction to the Vava'u island group and most importantly, getting the Tongan people excited and thrilled in resurrecting an old favorite pastime.

Teaching English at MSC
Of course, my primary project in Tonga is teaching Form 1,2, and 3 (students at ages 10-16). I teach them English Reading within the brand new English Reading Lab program which I began this year. I am currently busy developing the curriculum for this new pilot program.
In addition to this, I also teach English to students ages 16-23, at the Free Wesleyan Vocational School in Neiafu, Vava'u.

Resource Donations for Tongan Children
Currently, my school's library and the reading room- from which I run the MSC English Reading Program, has a very scarce book selection. A lot of the books are either out of date, unrelative, or too experienced. I have about thirty students per class and I have barely have enough books for three people to share a copy. I also random books that are either way above their reading level or are too easy.

I am currently applying for a few grants and book donations so as to improve the book selection at my school and to encourage students to read.

If you have any old books, and would like to donate them to my school, please send them to the following address:

Ashley Holmes
Peace Corps Volunteer
P.O. Box 147
Nuku'alofa, Tongatapu
Tonga, South Pacific

Thanks!

MSC English Days
I have started with the help of the MSC English Department, 'English Day,' which is implemented every Friday. On this day, our morning school assembly is help in English including all its announcements, hymns and featured skits and action songs. All messages are shared in English and following the assembly, all courses are to be taught in English. If you are on the school grounds, you must speak in English and if students are caught speaking in Tongan, they owe 50 cents; teachers, 1 dollar. The money collected goes towards the students' annual school magazine.

That's it for now! Keep reading for new projects and let me know if you'd like to help with any of them in any way!
ashley.holmes1@gmail.com

'Ofa atu!
Asili

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Tuesday, December 15, 2009

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