From Under the Coconut Tree: January 2011

Thursday, January 6, 2011

Home Is Where the Heart Is

As most of you know I was extremely lucky to spend Christmas back home in the states with my family and friends! For those who came to visit me, I thank you so much! I really appreciate your efforts to stay in contact with me and for your understanding in knowing that it is not always easy for me to do so in return. However I love writing to you all and I very much enjoy reading your comments! So, one of my resolutions for 2011, is to blog atleast once a month. I know it's nothing big but it will be an improvement :)

I had a wonderful holiday break which consisted of a lot of family Yahtzee games near the Christmas tree, fun 'sistes-only' outings to the Boston aquarium and the local YMCA (for mainly hot-tub and sauna uses...haha), long nights sitting with friends- catching up on all that has happened over the past year; and family parties at my grandparents, which always consisted of delicious holiday food and fun :)

I very much enjoyed going to resturants again and going to the movie theater. I had a blast going shopping with all the gift cards I got for Christmas :) Thank you again for those fantastic presents! I was able to get so many toys and books to bring back to Tonga with me for the use of my school library and to share with my community.

My favorite times were when I was just chatting with my family and watching tv together in our warm home beside the Christmas tree. Brit and I even spent many nights sleeping on the sofas in the living room just admiring the lit Christmas tree :)

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and I thank you for letting me be apart of it once more this season. It was so wonderful to spend time with each of you and I feel so blessed to have such AMAZING, and loving people in my life.

God bless each of you as you move forward into the new year!

Hope you enjoy some of these pics from my time at home :)

'Ofa atu!

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Goal # 3

Peace Corps Volunteers work hard to complete three very important goals: share our American culture, values, and knowledge to our host community and country; learn from the host country's culture, values, and knowledge, and lastly, return home to America and share your experience with your fellow friends and family. This cycle helps promote peace and acceptance through the sharing of the experiences and lifestyles of Peace Corps Volunteers during their service. It helps to break down the ignorance and prejudice in our world while at the same time encouraging people to embrace those differences and be reminded of just how unique we all are.

Today I hope to expand on Goal #3 as I visit a local elementary school in Weymouth, MA to give a presentation on my Peace Corps experience thus far in the Kingdom of Tonga.

Almost one year ago, my mother, a second grade teacher at Ralph Talbot Elementary School, proposed an idea that would forever change the way this small Weymouth public school would communicate with the world.

She suggested that before I left for Tonga, I speak to the students on the mission of Peace Corps and describe my upcoming journey to the South Pacific country, Tonga. While I had but only Google images of the islands, and Wikipedia facts on Tonga's culture, housing, and fashion, I spoke to the students and left them with a Tongan dictionary in hopes that perhaps my mother's classroom could stay in touch by writing to myself and my Tongan community.

That short presentation was a wonderful opportunity to share why I wanted to become a PCV and where I was going and now, after almost a year and a half, I plan to visit Ralph Talbot again to share pictures and stories from the islands of Tonga!

I do hope to continue contact with the students for the remainder of my time out there. It has been a lot of fun sending pictures, letters and fun postcards to the kids and I know it really widens their perspecitve of the world and encourages them to learn about other peoples and walks of life.

Wish me luck! I hope I get through the school doors in my full Tongan dress!

'Ofa atu ka kimoutolu!
Ashley

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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Thursday, January 6, 2011

Home Is Where the Heart Is

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Goal # 3

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