Christmas Food Box Delivery in Longoteme

Sione and Latu's family

The family gathered to talk about themselves and the food we brought

The second family we visited and brought food to was Sione and Latu in Longoteme, although Sione is working in New Zealand for about 6 months. He plans to build a real house when he returns to Tonga. Latu's mother was visiting from the Niuas, which is about 650 kg (400 miles north), closer to Samoa than Tonga.

Latu's first husband left her with 5 boys. Sione and Latu married a few years ago and have a 2-year-old boy.




The home is one room built of scrap wood they could gather and corrugated steel. A sheet divides the room for sleeping quarters. The cooking and preparing of food is done outdoors. Washing dishes is outdoors in a tin bowl. There is a spigot to the property but not to the house. The water has to be brought to the kitchen area with a bucket.


The outhouse is across the yard. No shower; they use a bucket, lather up, wash their hair, and dump the water over themselves to get the suds off. Alternatively, they bathe in the ocean.

 

The family posed before we left. The food box and watermelon are on the lawn. With this large family, it won't go far. But they will share. They truly care about each other