'Aho Tamai

Finally, the third Sunday in May is for the dads. I found myself really missing my family on Father’s day. Of course I was missing my own pops, but I was really missing the memories of summer bbqs with my family on past Father’s Days.

Anyways, the fathers in Tufuvai led the church service and at the end of the service they were all presented with a lei and prayed over. Two PCVs from Tonga and Sami L came to church with me. It was fun to share the culture experience with them and it made my village very happy to see more palangis.

We also made Father’s Day presents for our dads. Though I failed with pictures. Only got one picture from Class 1 and 2. But I do have a funny story. In class three and four we were drawing pictures of our dads and describing them with adjectives. AS my students were working I was making one to as an example. After I was finished one of the kids said to me, “Bailey, ngalo ulu” you forgot the hair. I explained her that my dad doesn’t have hair ha I think your bald head is cute dad :)

Fakafamili

The week following Mother’s day is Family week, and people in my village exchange meals and have fellowship with each other in their homes. Meleongo’s family invited me to join them as a part of their family. On the last night of Fakafamili it was Ongo’s family’s turn to host. Another family from Tufuvai came to their home for fellowship and dinner. During meals in Tonga that are shared with a lot of people it is traditional to do fakamalos, thank you speeches. Mosese (Ongo’s dad) was giving a fakamalo and he started to speak about me. He was speaking in Tongan so I wasn’t picking up on everything he was saying, but I was understanding the majority of it. Anyways, he was saying that he looks at me like a daughter and you could tell he was starting to struggle to find the right words and finally he just says, “Bailey famili pe”, Bailey is family”. It brought tears to my eyes and made me feel so valued.

Later that evening after I got home I was thinking about what Mosese said and it really empowered me in my Peace Corps service. I had just finished a long week at school feeling like I was not helping my students at all. I swear my students looked at me like they had never heard a word of English before. And it was frustrating and discouraging, but then I remembered the Peace Corps’ motto, “Kau Nguae ‘Ofa”, we work for love. It isn’t “English Fluency”. It is love and I know without a doubt that I have given love and have received just as much if not more love back. My heart is so full of joy and love here in Tonga! 

'Aho Fa'e

The Sunday following Fakame is Mother’s Day, same as in America. There is a big church service during the morning celebrating the women and different women in the church lead the church service. Instead of going to church I went with Meleongo to her sister’s house and helped prepare a feast for the women. The feast was for all the women that go to the Free Wesleyan Church in the Village Angaha (located above Tufuvai). After church all the women came to Kato’s house and got to enjoy a large spread of food. It was a full house! It would have been neat for me to get to see the church service, but preparing the feast was fun. A woman that was also helping with preparation kept saying things to me like, “Good thing you came” and “We never could have done this without you”, which is funny. My work efficiency that day was probably equal to if they had had a five year old there instead of me.

I also made Mother’s Day gifts with all my students. It was so fun and so cute! 

Fakame

In Tonga May is the month of family. The first Sunday of May is called Fakame and it is to celebrate the children. The children spend the weeks leading up to Fakeme practicing hymns, action songs, skits, and bible verses. The children then led the church service (except for the actual sermon). Then in the afternoon the kids do their action songs and skits. It was such a fun thing to be a part of in my community!