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Sunday, March 31, 2019

Tonga High School Furniture and Launch of Turbo Touch


Tonga High School is the premier government high school; however, they still are in need of school furnitures. Callum Blair (Furniture for Schools) and “Andy” presented netballs to the netball association 2 months ago at Tonga High School. While there, Callum discovered the need of desks and chairs and promised them 200 desks and chairs. This week was delivery time.

Dave Smith, Rangitoto College in Nea Zealand

Dave Smith of Rangitoto College in New Zealand, the donor, came to Tonga for the handover. The gift was handed over to Tonga High School principal Oketi ‘Akau’ola. Through tears, she expressed much appreciation for the desks and chairs.
 
The second purpose of the visit by the New Zealand team was to launch Turbo Touch, a game incorporating rugby, netball, and soccer. It is hoped Turbo Touch will take off in Tonga as it has in New Zealand, and with the kids excited about Turbo Touch the youth will engage more in physical activity and thus aid in their fight against diabetes. Turbo Touch is an exciting, fast-moving, yet easy to learn game. Tonga High School was selected to launch the game. It is hoped they will love the game and teach it to students of other high schools across the Kingdom.

Never let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game. — Babe Ruth

Friday, March 22, 2019

Piano for Queen Salote College

LDS Charities was given a piano from Rangitoto College in New Zealand through Furniture for Schools, our partner. The music instructor at Rangitoto mentioned his idea to dispose of the old piano to Paul Batchelor, a facilities maintenance worker. Batchelor suggested there may be a better alternative to taking the old piano to the landfill, as he had assisted Rangitoto College in donating many old desks, tables, chairs and books to this charity in the past. Batchelor was not aware of a piano being donated before, so he contacted Callum Blair of Furniture for Schools. Callum was thrilled at the prospect of sending a piano to a school in Tonga. He had not delivered a piano before. Callum checked with his contacts in Tonga, LDS Charities, who readily accepted the gift.


We (LDS Charities) searched for the perfect match and selected Queen Salote College. Queen Salote is an all-girls high school in Nuku'alofa. 

The bandmaster, Linikoni (Koni) Taufa plays piano. Koni says "the kids are really excited. Some of the girls can play. Others already ask for lessons." Koni is able to teach the students up to form 4, but the older students need a more qualified teacher. The school is looking for someone now.


“Every morning the kids come to play and sing before assembly. I tell them they have to ask first.” I also tell them “play like you want to play, play to get better.”
Koni plays and the students sing. “We are making memories. They will remember the fun times at Queen Salote singing with the piano. It is a beautiful thing … nothing ever happened like it before.” He loves to have fun with music and loves to see the students having fun too.



At the handover ceremony, Koni played piano while 3 students sang. The band played 2 numbers and the student body sang a song.

Principal Asinate Samate and Koni, as well as the students and teachers, were all smiles at the handover. What a blessing for this school to have a grand piano!

We feel we found a good home for the piano.
Thomsons, Principal Asinate Samate, 3 students, Stake President Ien Tu'ihalanginie, Linikoni Taufa at piano
Let us sing unto the Lord: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation.
Psalms 95:1  

Saturday, March 16, 2019

First Government Preschool Opens in Kolonga

The first-ever government preschool opened this week in Kolonga. In 2013, the Education Act was amended to mandate compulsory school beginning at age 4. The Ministry of Education has not been in compliance; therefore, they needed to begin providing education free for these young children.
Establishment of these preschools is a milestone for the Ministry. Government preschools will be a realization of dreams and visions made by previous Ministers. It will create access to children who cannot afford to be at preschool due to remoteness or financial constraints. 
  

LDS Charities was asked to provide furniture and books The tables we had were plain normal blond in color. We wanted something more exciting to match the theme of the classroom. So we got busy and painted the tables ... red, blue, yellow, and green.
Sila Pangai,Tevita Asi, PTA parent, and Tevita Makihele building garden
We also partnered with Health Promotions and Ministry of Health in redirecting health promotion approaches toward young children to improve health knowledge, attitude, and behavior in children by promoting healthy eating and physical activity at early childhood education centers (ECEC) and also to increase access to healthy food and water.  As such, we are building vegetable gardens. Liahona Farm is helping with building the keyhole gardens. 




We also are providing countertop gas cook stove, pots and pans to cook and eat the food grown in the gardens to encourage healthy eating at school. 

We provide a water tank to enable drinking water rather than sugary drinks – preschool is to be a no sugar zone. 

We have supplied equipment to promote physical activity - jumping balls, trampolines, slide, teeter-totter/walkboard. The government built a sand area with shade sail, swings, and tire mountain.
 




















Kids love climbing to the top and also crawling through tires
























We had so much fun visiting the preschool this week. The children were out at playtime.

We showed them how the teeter-totter works and showed the teacher how it can be changed to a walker board. The children then walked up the board and jumped off the end. I think they really liked that.







Next we went indoors where a few students were at the tables. We found an unopened box -- It was the missing trampoline! so Elder Thomson had much help putting it together.
We will be returning for another more structured playday. We plan to make an obstacle course and use the balls and hula hoops to jump/throw balls through, use the slide, and just have fun! We will probably cook a soup as well.    







We are the Lord’s hands upon the earth with the mandate to lift and serve His children.                         
                                                                    Thomas S Monson

Wednesday, March 13, 2019

Folaha Water

Folaha Village has solar water system, which does not provide enough water for the peak times of the day. Water is not available between 6-9 in the morning or 5-8 in the evening, the prime times for cooking and getting ready for the day or clean up after working in the fields. The water committee chair requested LDS Charities to provide a submersible electric pump. The village paid for the electric power to be brought to the water pump house, across the street from the solar panels. The village also paid for the solar power system.

Our contractor TEMA Tonga installed the submersible pump and hooked up the electric power to the controller. Folaha now has water 24 hours per day. They can cook and bathe without worry of running out of water.

We are so happy to have been able to help Folaha to obtain 24-hour water supply.
Makisi shows Elder Thomson the controller
Celebrating the flow of water from the new pump


















Good clean water is essential to life. We in North America do not understand having to boil water every day for drinking and cooking. For many in Tonga, this is the norm. Another norm is cold showers. Most in Tonga do not have hot water, in fact shower houses are almost always outside as well as outhouses.


I woke up. I have clothes to wear. I have running water. I have food to eat. Life is good. I am thankful.           

Sunday, March 10, 2019

Lost at Sea - Meke Tukuafu

Paea (Meke) Tukuafu 1977
Our friend Meke came to family home evening with the senior missionary couples to tell his remarkable story of being lost at sea for 16 days! Details were also taken from the book Taratai II written by James Siers, captain of the ship. This adventure took place on a journey from Tonga to Rarotonga, 700 miles east. Meke (whose real name is Paea) was age 20. He was a professional fisherman on a Tongan long-line ship and had been sailing for 2 years; he was a confident sailor.
 






Aug 8, 1977, 6 weeks into the voyage, Taratai II was hit by a very big wave. The float fell into the trough. As it was righting, another big wave caught it. The canoe flipped on its side, the outrigger float broken off, the mast smashed, and the big waves kept coming.

Paea went below to find Conrad, 10-year-old boy. If he had not been able to get Conrad, the boy would have perished. The life raft had broken free of the boat when the beams had broken underneath. Within seconds it would be out of reach. Paea and Rob dove into the sea, swam to the life raft and drug it back to the canoe. The rescue beacon was found and placed in the life raft. The radio responded at first, then went dead. They made the life raft ready…pulled the inflation cord, loaded 36 liters of water, biscuits, a dozen cans of corned beef, 18 cans of mackerel, and essential navigation gear. They agreed they should sleep in the raft and decide in the morning what to do. In the morning, the crew decided to abandon Taratai II and go on with the life raft. They felt they would drift more quickly back to Niue, about 200 miles, on the life raft than they would on the stricken hull. They thought they would reach Niue in a couple days.

There were 7 in a rubber life raft. Waves roared and crashed around them. Strong wind whipped, seas roared in the black night; the sea was confused. Squalls tore at the canopy. Huge waves towered above them.

Food and water were rationed, 115 mL water per day, 2 cabin biscuits per person, 1 can of corned beef or mackerel and 1 milk biscuit each. There was barely room for the 6 men and one boy. They slept with legs bent, no room to stretch. There was always water on the floor. They sat in water to their waist. Skin split on lower back and buttocks…salt water burns. 

Each morning started with prayer and a devotional and the evening closed with the same. “The lotu, or prayer, has become one of the most cherished parts of the day as it fills us with hope and faith. It makes us feel that we will be blessed with appropriate winds to speed our deliverance.”

Aug 15 about 8 pm, we realized water was rushing in. “A hole!” yelled Paea. He stemmed the flow with his hand. They knew the hole had ripped without cause. “We are on borrowed time.” They used bandages from the first-aid kit to plug the hole. They found a new hole, then another. They kept plugging them with bandages.  “We can last a long time if we have a floor. Without it, we are at the mercy of the big fish below. If they don’t get us, exposure to the cold will.”

Aug 16 , we revised provisions: one cabin bread biscuit, one large spoon of mackerel, 115 mL of water daily. Water plugs held but there was seepage. 

Aug 19, an airplane was heard. They got the beacon out. The plane was flying low. There were thick clouds. The plane did not see them and did not respond to the beacon signal.

Aug 20, the floor opened again. Water rushed into the raft. 3 new holes. They bailed continuously. Another plane flew overhead. It also did not pick up the beacon.

Aug 21, water missing in morning – 4L. They appointed 2 men to be keepers of the water. Water is most precious. "By taking a little, we can survive a long time. When it is gone, we are dead."

Aug 22, men were losing hope. Fia told them that if they were not rescued, he would be dead in 2 days. Others felt they would not be strong enough to fight through surf or drag themselves over coral reefs. Sharks and barracudas abound. One morning, they looked out the canopy to see a large shark! It continued to follow the raft. As they were settling to sleep at 8 pm, it happened. “Listen, I can hear a ship’s engine.”

They sent up a parachute flare which seemed to light the whole sky. A ship passed about 2 miles away, and now was about 4 miles away. Had they seen the flare? It seemed to turn and head toward them. The ship blew its horn. The ship was coming! The boat pulled aside, they grabbed the rope. One by one the men painfully scrambled onto the ship. All survived.

Paea (Meke) Tukuafu, 2019
The boat was Chilean. Liter upon liter of fruit juice was given the survivors. Fia called for prayer. "We must thank God for our deliverance." By 10 pm, they were at Alofi, Niue. Hearing by radio of the rescue, a huge crowd awaited them. Ambulance took them to the hospital. Upon clearance, crew members were taken into local homes.  Since the crew had lost all their clothes and only had what they wore, the Niue people took up a collection and provided clothing. One old man walked 16 km to bring a shirt. They too were fishermen and knew the anger of the sea. They were happy to help these who had survived so long at sea.                   
      Believe in Miracles ,  Hope is never Lost.
                            Jeffrey R Holland

Saturday, March 9, 2019

Tuiasoa Feeding Lunch to Ha'alalo GPS Students

Bishop Latu Timote Tuiasoa of Ha'alalo Tongatapu has for a long time thought about the
Government  Primary School of Ha.alalo where he went to school as a child and he now lives across the street from the school.

At lunch time, many children go home to no parents at home - father working in the plantation, mothers doing  tapa cloth and weaving mats to earn money for the family.

Bishop Tuiasoa is from a family of 12 children, 5 boys and 7 girls; he is the second to the oldest. All his brothers and sisters live in the US except the Bishop and his oldest sister. Bishop Tuiasoa and his wife have 8 children, 4 boys and 4 girls. They also have 47 grandchildren and 7 great-grandchildren.

Last year, the Tuiasoas had a Family Reunion in Tonga. Most of his brothers and sisters came as well as his children. He suggested to them the idea of feeding the primary school once a month. Some of them were willing to send donations to start the project.
   
                






Bishop called us and asked us to help. On the 21 Feb 2019 we came to help launch the project.

Lunch consisting of chicken, hot dogs, hard-boiled eggs, rice, and orange drink were served.

The Principal of the school appreciated the Bishop and his family and ward members for the helping  hands.


I have wept in the night for the shortness of sight
That to somebody’s need made me blind;
But I have never yet felt a twinge of regret
For being a little too kind.   

                  President Thomas S. Monson in General Conference Oct 2016

Nuku'alofa GPS Learning on the Floor

We received a request for school desks and chairs from GPS Nuku'alofa. We checked back at our records and saw we had taken 80 desks and chairs last year, so we were going to say no and move on to more needy school. Something told us to check this out.

We found enrollment has gone up significantly this year, and we also found our friendly principal who was at Maufunga GPS last year. How nice it was to see him again. There were many children sitting on the floor with NO desks and NO chairs. We earmarked this school to be helped again.





Some students had chairs that had been fixed (?).

A container arrived and we quickly organized the contents and picked out furniture for Nuku'alofa. Oh Happy Day!  When we arrived, SMILES were everywhere.

The teacher did not know we were coming, and was a bit confused and irritated with all the noise and laughter and inattention to the assignment they were supposed to be working on. Then she looked at the door and all work ceased. The oldest boys helped with unloading. We actually had enough tables for class 6 students as well whose desks were in very poor condition.







We came back a few days later for the handover. We love seeing dancing and listening to singing. These students are very appreciative of the desks and chairs.



Give your hands to serve and your hearts to love.  
                Mother Teresa

'Eua Houma Water

'Eua is the only island in Tonga that has a river which runs through Mountain Vaiangina.The village of Houma receives its water from thi...