From Under the Coconut Tree: June 2011

Saturday, June 25, 2011

Tonga Peace Corps Volunteers celebrate Peace Corps' 50th Anniversary!

Peace Corps Volunteers in Vava'u, Tonga held a clean-up at the market in Neiafu, Vava'u to celebrate 50 years of volunteering through Peace Corps :) We donated two large trash cans after the clean-up and had a cermonial dinner to acknowledge the works of Peace Corps Volunteers in Tonga over the years. Above you'll see a group photo of all current Vava'u PCVs, our country director, staff manager and members of the community who all came together to help participate with the clean-up! I had the honor of saying the opening prayer at the ceremony- very exciting and a little nerve-wracking. I chickened out and said the prayer in English hahaha

A Hike to Holonga Point!

Here are some pictures of our adventure out to Holonga Point. Myself and a few other close PCVs decided to ride our bikes out to the far Northern village, Holonga. Once there, we carried on riding through the bush to the fa

r ledge of Holonga. It was a great ride! VERY, VERY muddy!!!! We had lots of laughs, and were very tired, but the view from the top of the cliff was just beautiful! We enjoyed a nice picnic lunch there and then hiked down to the beach below for a refreshing dip! :)

Delievering International News to Tonga!

This past Friday I had the opportunity to help read international news reports on the Tongan radio station, 88.6 FM. My friend and fellow PCV, Sephora, started a radio program on 88.6 FM delievering international news to Vava'u every Friday evening from

5-6pm. She and her co-host (soon to be solo host), Ma'asi, welcomed myself, and fellow PCVs, Farfum and Carolyn, to be guest speakers on last Friday's show. It was a lot of fun!

Library Fun Day!

Sunday, June 19, 2011

Library Fun Day in Vava'u

Library Fun Day is an annual celebration of our island's public library. This year, Peace Corps Volunteer, Carolyn Winik, had once again gotten all the PCVs to pitch in in whatever way they could to help the event- baking goods for the bake sale table, giving away old clothes and gadgets for the 'free table,' setting-up the event and cleaning up, and, most importantly, helping out with the games! Peace Corps Volunteers, members of the Vava'u Public Library Committee, and local business endorsors, had a great time running face painting, the pinata, the miniture golf and lots of other great games. The event was held on a Saturday outside of the library, located in downtown Neiafu. Saturdays are 'market days' here on the main island and there were plenty of people wandering around who participated in our Library Fun Day celebration. Here are some pictures of the event and thanks again to all those who participated! We had a great time! I hope it will continue to be a fun and educational event for the families of Vava'u.

Sunday, June 5, 2011

Thank you Ralph Talbot Elementary School and FTCC in Scituate!

Malo 'aupito Ralph Talbot Elementary School and FTCC Scituate!!!

Thank you so much for your generous donation of books to the students of Mailefihi Siu'ilikutapu College in Neiafu, Vava'u, Tonga. I cannot express to you how grateful the students and teaching staff are and how excited everyone is over the new reading material.

Last year, when I arrived to Mailefihi Siu'ilikutapu College as a Peace Corps Volunteer, I opened up a language lab to teach the students English through reading and language games. Unfortuantely, I was disheartened when I was shown the school's reading selection. The books available were so out-dated, dusty, and too sophisticated for my students. I knew that if my language lab was going to be successful, then I needed new books and this is where you came into the picture :)

Your hard work, generosity and dedication to collecting books for our school has made all the difference to my classroom and to the students' learning. They are so excited to read now! The students are constantly checking out books on Dora the Explorer, Hannah Montana, and oh, how they love looking through the pop-up books and sticker books you have sent!

Please know that your donation has made such an impact on my students' motivation to learn. They never had books to enjoy at school like this before and it is very rare to find a reading book, aside from the bible, in a Tongan home.
Your book donations have helped to make my work as a Peace Corps Volunteer successful at my school! Thank you for all your help and for your love to the Tongan students at Mailefihi Siu'ilikutapu College.

Below are some pictures of the students with the books :)

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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