Fighting Hunger

We love taking food to the hungry. These families are truly in need. Their homes are meager, even by Tongan standards.
We were not able to go out the past couple of months because we used our money in other ways. This month we pledged each other that we would give food boxes out again.

We asked the Va'enukus to take us to some of the families they are teaching.


SOPU #1
We first visited 2 homes in Sopu which is a very poor area. The first home we visited is a widows's home.


The home is one room. Kitchen is outside. Outhouse can be seen in the photo to the right. Va'enukus recently baptized the mom and 5 of the children.

It had rained this week. Rain does not soak well into the ground in this area. Consequently, it often is wet. The water is all the way under the house, but at least it is not up to the floor boards now.




SOPU #2
When we stopped at the second home, only this young lady was home. Others had gone to 'Eua for a funeral.

The home was destroyed by Cylcone Gita, the remains are shown at the right. The family now lives in a "house" behind the original home (shown below).


This is where the family of 9 now live. They hope to rebuild the home at the original site as above.

In the meantime, the one room home has a dirt floor. It basically is used just for sleeping.

Of course, the kitchen is outdoors, and there is an outhouse.

The family is grateful they are all together and they have a shelter over their heads.




KOLOMOTU'A
At the third home, as is common we shouted out their names as we approached the house. There were 2 young men home. We left 2 boxes of food for this family of 8. Their home also was destroyed by Cyclone Gita.














We helped carry the food boxes into the small home, about 8x7 feet, dirt floor. The picture to the left is the entry into the home. The family is still using tarps on the roof which do leak when it rains. The kitchen is in the area in front of us. This also is a widow's home.
NUKU'ALOFA
The last family we visited is actually 2 families (widows) living together, 15 people. The boy at the right was cleaning fish they had caught that morning. When food is hard to come by, they survive by eating only manioke (root crop similar to potato).

In typical Tongan style, the family gave us fish for our dinner. A family member from Ha'apai had brought them fish and they wanted to share. We did not want to take it but per tradition we must. Sister Va'enuku cooked it up for our dinner.

We know our contributions of food boxes is but a drop in the sea. Each box will provide food for a few days to a week. We wish we could teach them skills so they could provide better for themselves. But we do what we can.
                                            If you can't feed a hundred people, then feed just one.

                                                                                                                                Mother Teresa