Our contractors were so good to us. They would drive us to and from the school.
This large spade like tool we called a spoon. They are flat and sharp. In Tonga, the soil is so rich it is like clay. So, we would spear it, push up the soil then, shovel it away.
Building a bench for a classroom
Desk for a classroom
Our first day of work. We started to dig the trench for the foundation of the library. Not much work was done because the community wanted to do a ground breaking.
Tuesday June 15th. The minister of water came (I think), the minister of education, the wife of the chief of Haveluu, and the King of Tonga drove by too. The Tongan television came and interviewed a few of the kids. So as if we weren't already known to be visiting. From then on everywhere we went the people knew we here to serve them. Many went to great lengths to express their gratitude and appreciation even if they were not directly impacted.
Cute kids at the government primary school!
More cute kids at the government primary school.
Sundays in Tonga are very sacred, therefore it is very peaceful. Everything closes, there is no music on in cars or many cars on the road for that matter. Also, starting as early as 4 am bells start ringing. Many people do not have watches or clocks and so the bells ring to wake people up and call them to worship. I think Sundays were one of my favorite days while there.
After attending the 3 hour block of church we returned home for lunch. About an hour later we attend more church meetings, a baptism and sacrament. The baptism we attend was of a family. The families' father is a Noble on the island of Vava'u, it's about a 2 hour plane ride away. A Noble means at some point in time the ruling sovereirgn of Tonga appointed a male member of his family to be in charge of the land on Vava'u. Nobles are members of parliament. In the history of the LDS church in the Kingdom of Tonga no Noble has been baptized. We later found out the following Sunday in a meeting with the Noble and his family that his great grandfather was paramount in bringing the first LDS missionaries to the Kingdom of Tonga.
The Tongan people love parties. They look for any excuse to gather friends and family to roast a pig; weddings, birthdays, funerals, births, and graduations. So after the baptism there was a big feast, in the picture above you can see the roast pig.
At the feast the was a cute Tongan grandmother that demanded that I have many coconuts, she kept handing me them. She took one and cut it with a huge knife and handed it back to me and told me to drink. This coconut was young so the juice was bitter but, good.
Back in the Kingdom of Tonga! The first thing we did was attend a feast and floor show. The girls serving the food in the picture are dressed in traditional clothing.
He is not making the face for show that stuff on the plate really is gross, in my opinion.
Yes, I know I got a little sun!
We flew in the night before to Nadi, Fiji. Everyone arrived at about 6 am Saturday, June 12th. We met them at the airport then drove to a beach resort, Natadola Bay. One hour bumpy bus ride and lost of pop music later we arrived at the beach. Isn't it beautiful!
We stopped my the church building in the village, Havaluu, to use the wireless internet about budget stuff. I know, who knew they had wireless in Tonga, I didn't. It wasn't very fast and many times didn't work. While I waited for Jaynie I had some fun with the kids. They each took a turn taking a picture. We had so much fun! In the background the entire time we were there a choir was practicing. If you have never heard Tongans sing you absolutely must. They have the most heavenly voices.
Jaynie and I had some free time before the kids came to so we visited the LDS temple in Nukalofa, Tonga.
