Monday 8th of
September: In Tonga, 21 years later
Only mother, my sister and I woke up early. The kids were still in bed. We
talked for a while and mother said our morning prayer; I got ready and at 5.30
my sister and I left to the airport. My bag was 30 kg, the airline is quite
strict about the wait and I had to repack putting some of my stuff in the hand
bag in order to have only 23 kg checked in luggage...
At check in, I was told to buy a refundable returned ticket because I
had only a Finnish passport... I should have a returned ticket from Tonga
within a month and not after 3 months as it was in my ticket. I started to get
worried but a Tongan worker came and talked to the officer, after that I was
allowed to enter the plane without the necessary papers but very thankful.
I arrived at 10.00 am in Fu’amotu airport, 21 years since I left Tonga in June 1993. It was warm and sunny.
There was a feeling of relief, surreal, euphoria… Tonga is not home any more, I
am a visitor but I know this place. I have been here before and I looked
forward to explore it again…
Two workers from Queen Salote College (QSC) were waiting for me at the airport. On the way the driver, ‘Ikani pointed out the villages. I knew little about Tongatapu, I grew up in Vava’u.
Actually I entered high school in
Taufa’ahau/Pilolevu College in Ha’apai when my parents worked in Ha’ano. In
1979 they moved to Vava’u and I finished my high school in
Mailefihi/Siu’ilikutapu College in Vava’u. I became a teacher there after high
school before I went to the University of the South Pacific (USP) in Suva;
Fiji. After studies, I went back and taught at Tonga College in Tongatapu from
1992-1993 before moving to Finland.
My hut with a garden; full of colours.
We dropped my stuff to my hut then went to see the principal, Asinate.
After a short briefing we went to the center to have lunch and got some stuff
from the shop. I had to buy few “tupenu(s)” as working clothes, jeans and
trousers are not appropriate working clothes...
My nephew Toni, his wife and two kids came to visit in the afternoon. I
could not recognise him at first, I was so happy to see him after all these
years. Toni is the oldest son of my older sister, Vika. He and 4 of his
siblings were taken by my parents since they were kids, Tongan adoption…
Tuesday 9th September.
We started the assembly at 8:30 at the school hall. The morning devotion
was let by a group of students. The whole morning was the preparation of our
choir singing competition on Thursday.
The Queen Salote College (QSC) is an all-girls high school of the FreeWesleyan Church (Methodist) of Tonga. It is located in Nuku’alofa, the capital
of Tonga. The school is named after the queen of King George Tupou I, Kuini
Salote. Queen Salote College was established as separate female school in 1926.
Her ex-students have been prominent members of the society in all these years.
Today, it has around 1000 students and about 250 of them are living at the
school ground as boarders. There are forms 1 to form 7 in Queen Salote (yläaste
ja lukio). There is a national school system in Tonga. Regardless whether you
are in a government or church running schools, they are all followed one school
syllable.
In the afternoon, I went to town to get few things. My brother in law
Nepote, children and their families came for a visit and of course with more food.
Jami! jami!
Wednesday 10th September
I already got used to the noises around the neighbourhood. Roosters
seemed to calling the time all night long. Before 4.30 am, I could hear the
girls who were on duties moving around preparing breakfast and food for the
day. I also listened to the neighbour’s radio all day... The funny thing was,
these noises seemed to be part of my normal routine and did not bother me... I
go native.
After the morning devotion I talked to Elenoa Amanaki, the student counsellor. I will work with Elenoa during my placement as counsellor. We discussed what I could do and will start after break next week.
The breadfruit tree outside my house, home for the roosters
Thursday 11th
September, the singing competitions
The President of the church department of education, Dr. Rev Mele’ana Puloka
was the guest of honour for the event. There were 5 groups singing 3 songs each;
two were compulsory, a hymn and an anthem plus one song of their choice. Prizes were given to the winners.
In the evening, it was Tupou College singing competition. The prefects from
Queen Salote and some of the tutors went to the event and I was tagged along.
Tupou College event was even bigger than ours. The Queen Halaevalu Mata’aho,
mother of King George Tupou VI was the guest of honour.
The Tonga College students at
Tupou College Choir Competition
I met few more people that I knew at the event. Rev. Longinusi
Tu’ipulotu, the head teacher of Tupou College was my former teacher and
colleague at Mailefihi/Siu’ilikutapu College in Vava’u. I met Dr. Rev. Tevita
Palefau and his wife Siosi also. They were both my former teachers. Tevita was
the former Minister of Education and he is now the Director of the Tupou
Tertiary Institute (TTI). I also talked to Dr. Rev. Mele’ana Puloka
who is the President of the Education Department of the Free Wesleyan Church of
Tonga and she helped organized my visit. I was introduced to some of the guests
like ‘Akilisi Pohiva (a parliamentarian and the leader of the Democracy Movement
in Tonga), Mr and Mrs Siupeli Taliai, one of the former principal of Tupou
College and some other guests. It was surreal to see these people after all
these years. I am sure will see more familiar faces in days to come.
The guests and officials from
Tupou College Choir Competition
Friday 12th September
It was the last day of the 3rd
term. Students were anxious to go home. After school there was clean up and few
other activities before the students were allowed to leave. I was tagged along
with the cleaners, taking the rubbish to the dump. The girls were working very
hard. There were no proper tools for the work but they
accomplished the task with what they had. It was really interesting to follow
them. They made jokes at each other, laughing, giggling and in no time the heap
was eliminated, on to the truck and to the dump. My kids could learn something
from these girls… J.
my working table!
On to the truck and to the rubbish dump
In the afternoon we had a kava party in one of the class rooms; the teachers plus friends.
Saturday 13th
September
Saturday I woke up early to go to the fair. I wanted to buy an used
bicycle. Nuku’alofa is so small and it easy to get around by bike. The guys
from Queen Salote suggested to check the fair. I did not find any therefore had
to buy a new one from Prema store. When I cycled home, I realised the bike was
not working properly.
Tupou Tertiary Institute
Graduation
The TTI graduation started at 11:00 at the main church in Nuku’alofa. I
took my camera and went to the event. I became an unofficial photographer of
the event :-). A nice looking camera hanging on my neck and everyone lined up
for a photo. Few people asked which paper the pictures for but most of the
people just invited me to take their pictures. Sometimes, I wondered why do people
wanted to be photographed but they never ask how to get the pictures. The
camera has given me easy access to the front line. Some of the people stood at
the front were my classmates, friends, and former teachers. Of course, I can’t
just walk up to them and shake their hands but they recognized me when they
looked at the camera. The Tongans seemed to have an easy relationship with cameras.
They started to line up and post for a picture as soon as you look at their
direction. They even called you to take their photos. It was not only me of
course who was taking pictures; phones, cameras and tablets were all visible.
The only problem with my camera is the quality of my pictures. I like to take
so many pictures; perhaps few of them would be good enough for sharing…
Sunday 14th September
Kapeta church:
I went to the nearest church which was Kapeta, few hundred meters from Queen Salote. It was a very small church with small number of people until they started to sing. Again the singing was phenomenal. The women were preparing for the “Faka-Sepitema” so they led the choir. I attended both services in the morning at 10 and in the afternoon at 4:00 pm. I enjoyed the services because of the singing. Everyone was singing in harmony from the children to the elders and you could easily be in Haven listening to the angels in a Tongan church.
The angels of Kapeta
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