February 2, 2014

February 2, 2014

It’s amazing to me to look back in my files and realize that it has been almost 2 weeks since my last post and I am wondering again, what has happened to time.  Many things continue to transpire that just keep us in the fast lane in Tonga.  It’s a dichotomy of  phrases since Tonga has its own Tonga time, which is slow paced, its Ok we have tomorrow, don’t worry it will all work out.  We have found this last few weeks that that is exactly what happens. However, we have found we have to do some Palangi pushing and planning to make it happen.  Several months ago we were given the assignment to implement a program for the TVET program what required a major change in what is being taught in the high schools of the South Pacific.  We had teaching module curriculum materials that needed to be given to the teachers, to be used at the beginning of the school year the end of January.  We waited for them until after the students and faculty were gone for the summer, receiving the information the last week in December.  We were given the instructions to take the “modules”, give them to the teachers so the teachers could print what they needed for school year.  When Steve started looking through the curriculums, there were not only mistakes in the texts, but also total repetition of the 1^st four modules.  Plus there were about 100,000 pages of material that needed to be printed.   There was no way all of this material could simple be “copied”. When Steve brought this to the attention of our immediate supervisor, we felt like our concerns had been taken lightly and dismissed.  After we met with the administrators, we then had a super major concern develop because of the lack of facilities to print on the island, plus the registration for classes had not even begun.  We had no way of knowing how many students would be registering for classes at Liahona nor any way of knowing what the class schedules would be.  Add to that the fact that all information gotten from the registration, then had to be inputted on the computer and then sent to Salt Lake via internet for class schedules.  All I can say at that point is that it is very difficult to get decisions made when the server that really runs the school is in Salt Lake.  Plus we still had to get teaching materials printed and ready for school to start.  Unfortunately, not all of the timetables have matched and we are still waiting for the printing to be completed.  There are many stories that go along with this process that need to be told.  However, time won’t allow it right now.  It seems like it has been nonstop running for several weeks.

I do want to mention the teachers meetings that we were involved in 2 weeks ago.  Because we don’t live in the US right now and because we are involved with a church school, we had a very inspirational week of training.  We were able to open and close meetings with a song and prayers, so we could invite the spirit in to attend our meetings also.  I came out each day with an immense feeling of gratitude to Heavenly Father, for the teachers and administrators at Liahona high school.  The teachers, presenters were well prepared and very thoughtful in their presentations.  Technology is alive and well used in Tonga when it works.  I was totally blown away by the feelings I had during our meetings.  Steve and  E/S Aland also had a presention to be made, while I took pictures.  They all did a super job explaining what the purpose of ITEP and TVET was.  Sister Aland who is super organized had also mapped out what classes the teachers needed to take to complete their teaching certificates this year.  This probably wouldn’t have happened if Steve hadn’t gone in to find out what the TVET teachers needed to complete their TC’s. Nothing had been updated for almost a year.  Elder and Sister Aland jumped right on that and went through all of the records of the school and were able to get a list of what was needed to complete the teachers certificate courses.  That has taken a lot of work too. Since the Alands had access to those records it was fairly simple to get the information needed to compile a list of needed courses completed and  the maps to the teachers.   

A funny thing happened though with the presentation that Elder Aland presented.  He had used a You Tube video clip that had a bunch of cowboys herding cats on horses that we thought was hilarious, and compared it to trying to make all the changes at the school and fitting programs together to make the school year work.  The only problem with it is that we don’t think the teachers understood that herding cats is a spoof and cowboys really herd cattle.  So we got a laugh out of it but the teachers did not understand the interviews with the cowboys and the cats.  I guess the last laugh was on us.  

It started raining on Thursday and poured for 2 days.  That means poured like pouring buckets of water.  My umbrella finally died.

Saturday, the senior missionaries were scheduled to go to the island of Fa Fa` which is about 30 minutes away by boat.  It is a resort that has wonderful beaches that are secluded and have really good snorkeling.  The day turned out beautiful, but warm, as in hot!!  I forgot to take sun screen and got fried.  I had forgotten when you get in the water you not only get the suns rays, you also get the reflection from the water.  Steve snorkeled, I am still chicken. I didn’t really have any good snorkeling gear for my defense.  He really enjoyed his swim, I went as far out in the water as I could and still stand up in the water.  We had a nice lunch at the resort and spent about 4-5 hours there, then took the boat back to Nuku`alofa.  As missionaries, we thought it would be fun to go and stay a couple of nights.  Seniors can do that.  The resort had some very quaint rooms.  The shower was outside, but totally blocked off from the rest of the world by the tropical plants planted strategically around the bathroom area.

After the boat ride back to Nuku`alofa we decided we weren’t ready to go home yet. We stayed in town and had dinner at one of the restaurants in town and actually had a good hamburger.  Steve asked for mustard for his hamburger which they actually had, most restaurants don’t carry it.  We still dream about a 5 Guys hamburger, even Burger King would do.  The restaurant that we went to has good food, we have been there several times.  It felt good to have a day out with friends and forget the work.  Sandy and Garth Hamblin have a car, so because ours is out of commission since the wreck, it was nice to just go for a ride.  It’s funny how even the little things like distance, take on a new meaning when you have to walk everywhere.

The students are back now, so that also brings a different kind of challenge.  WE have marveled at how the teachers have handled the constant change.  The government of Tonga just released the results of the external exams which meant that the students who did not pass the external government exam in English have to have their form levels readjusted.  The school is required by the government to start school at a certain time, and have required days for school.  However, the students took their external exams the middle of November for 2 weeks, during which time, they do not attend classes at Liahona.  The tests are marked by teachers at Liahona and I think some of the other schools on the island.  But the results are not given out until school is in session.  That means reregistering the students who failed to put them into different classes.  All of the registration is done by the old fashioned hand written method.  Again, the problem with Salt Lake having the internet server for the island, information can’t be handled here, it has to go to Salt Lake and then back to Tonga.  It can be difficult trying to manage the school that way.

Today in Sacrament meeting, the 2^nd counselor in the Bishopric reported on his trip to Ha`apai.  He is in construction and was asked to go to help analyze the housing needs of the people on Ha`apai.  He said that after he and others had taken a tour of the island and were waiting for the boat to come get them.  He and a group of men,  two leaders from the Church of Tonga and Wesleyan church  were talking about what they had seen.  One of the men, who was a police officer, asked how come the other churches had been destroyed by the cyclone, but the Mormon buildings hadn’t been.  A leader of one of the other churches said they had been built with newer building methods, but the policeman who was not a member, reported that the buildings had been built in the 1950’s so it wasn’t new building methods.  He told the group that the Mormon churches were blessed because Christ was the head of their church.  The policeman then told the group that maybe they all ought to join the Mormon Church if that’s what it took to be safe during a cyclone.  Interesting huh?  We keep hearing stories about the cyclone and the opportunities the missionaries have had.  The young missionaries are wearing their helping hands vests and are helping all people on the island with their cleanup.  The government has sent a group to assess, who have come back and now will try to decide what to do and maybe have a plan in action by December, maybe!?!  The church has sent tractors to plow the ground and is supplying the starts of plants that are needed to sustain life, to get things growing. Coconut trees take a year to produce fruit, 3 months for any  other root crop. The water supply is strictly rain water and that brings its own problems.  The housing still consists of tents that get too hot, there are few trees left standing for shade. I’m not sure what other projects are going on right now because we have had our noses to the grind stone with the printing process of our books. The coconut express is not always very reliable either at times.  I’ll report more when I have a reliable source.  Donating to the humanitarian fund is a very good option, if you are wondering what you can do to help.

Another funny thing happened this week.  It started to rain again this Thursday, but by Friday it was the cats and dogs kind of rain.  We had to go to town to check on the printing so we got to experience the weather first hand.  It was raining pretty hard when we went into Nuku`alofa, but when we were finished with our meeting and just ready to start down the stairs, the wind and the rain picked up speed and volume.  When we were trying to decide what we were going to do, as we looked out over the horizon, the rain was coming down so hard with the wind driving it, we thought maybe we were watching an Idaho blizzard.  The rain was so heavy and hard, that it was raining in a  horizontal line. A lady across the street had all kinds of buckets, anything she could use to collect water outside on her lawn, they filled up faster than she could empty them.  The rain gutter was pouring out a river of water.  We got drowned trying to get to our car.  We then had to get to a store in the middle of town, the gutters were full, cars were driving in the middle of the roads.  People were standing under gutter spouts washing themselves off with soap, I guess having their shower for the day, or maybe week.  I don’t know, but nobody was afraid to get wet, including me.  When I got out of the car, the water was up to the door.  When I stepped out of the car, I got drenched top down from the rain and bottom up from my feet to my skirt.  By the time I got into the store, I was soaked.  One of the stores had water running down the isles.  When we were ready to go home, I stepped off the side walk to get to the car, only to find that the water was mid calf on me and about 2 inches up on the hem of the skirt I was wearing.  It didn’t do any good to try to hold it up because the rain coming down as fast and hard as the water was running in the street. I dripped on the floor of the car all the way home.  The only solution was to change entirely and hang my clothes out to dry in our covered clothes line. Steve forgot to take his camera so no pictures.  We saw some very interesting sites that day.  I’m sure we’ll see more. I guess this is what they call the rainy season.