Steve's Adventure with the Peace Corps

The Adventure Continues

2011-05-28T07:44:00.012+13:00

It has been 18 months since I left Tonga and I doubt there has been a single day when I haven’t thought about my 27 months in Peace Corps and all of the wonderful people I met.

When I left Tonga, I wrote “Steve’s Adventure Ends Today.”   I could not have been more wrong. Returning to the United States I now realize that the adventure never ends. Peace Corps is a part of me.   Since returning, I’ve been able to meet up with more than a dozen of my former Tonga volunteers and I’ve been in contact with many more.   I’m also still in contact with some of my Tongan friends. I even occasionally get a question from some of my former clients and I’m of course happy to still help.

I’ve even collaborated on a travel guide about Tonga with three of my former volunteers, Kate Ashelon, Jason Schneider and Shawn Quast.

That book is published by Other Places Publishing, a company founded by Returned Peace Corps Volunteers and is now available in bookstores and online.

But the real surprise since returning to the USA has been to meet so many other returned Peace Corps volunteers (RPCV’s).   And I’ve learned that no matter where they have served and when they served, we have a lot of similar stories and shared experiences. It’s also refreshing to see how many of these returned volunteers are still active in helping others.

I now work for Peace Corps as the South Florida based recruiter.   I spend most of my time talking with people who are thinking about applying to Peace Corps. It gives me a chance to help continue the 50 year legacy of Peace Corps, but also allows me to talk about my own experiences in Tonga.

It’s also inspired me to compile all of my own experiences into a book.   Many of the entries in the book are taken from the blog I kept during my service, but I’ve also included some private journal entries that were never published on this site.

In putting together the book, it was fascinating for me to read many of the early entries about my frustration with the application process. As a recruiter, I now have a little more insight into that process and I know that some of the assumptions I made when I was an applicant were not always correct.   However, I hope that is makes me a better recruiter because I do remember what it is like to hear nothing for such a long period of time.

I also like to tell people that I have “a one country perspective.”   As I have learned since returning, that while there are many similarities in all the Peace Corps experiences worldwide, they are also all different. These are my stories and my experiences.

The book is available in both printed and electronic form from Amazon.com.

The electronic version can be read on Kindle, Nook, PC's, Mac's, IPhones, IPads, Androids, Blackberries, Sony Reader and Palm devices.

Get the Printed or Kindle book from Amazon

($16.99 Print, $4.99 Kindle)

Get the Printed or Nook e-book from Barnes and Noble
($16.99 Print, $4.99 Nook)

Get the e-book for Sony and Palm Devices
($4.99)

Get the Printed Book from Create Space
($13.99 when you enter coupon code BCSUHUM4 at checkout.)

The e-book is also available in the IBooks store on ITunes (Apple)

My book is dedicated to Peace Corps volunteers, past, present and future and 100% of any profit from the book will be donated to support the work of current and returned volunteers.

Steve’s Adventure Ends Today

2009-11-23T06:43:00.004+13:00

It’s been more than three years since I first applied to join the Peace Corps and what an adventure it has been. I filled out my application on September 26, 2006, I arrived in Tonga on October 4, 2007 and today, November 23, 2009, I am leaving Tonga, no longer a Peace Corps volunteer.

Officially, I’m now called an RPCV, or a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer, but since I haven’t actually returned yet, it seems a bit strange to use that acronym just yet.

A Video Journal

As of today, I’ve written 160 blog entries about my Peace Corps experience with the vast majority written during my two years of service and my 10 weeks of training. But written words and still photos only allow me to share a portion of my journey. Therefore, I decided for my last entry from Tonga, I would share with you a video journal about some of the things I’ve found most interesting and some of the things I’ve done. The video is little long…almost 16 minutes but I just couldn’t cut anything else out. I have more than 20 hours of footage, so it was quite an accomplishment to get this down to 16 minutes. I hope you enjoy it.

Steve's Adventure with the Peace Corps

I shot almost all of the footage in the video except for the interviews. Those were shot by my friend Chad and I sincerely appreciate his help.

My Future Plans

When I left my job more than two years ago, I knew that once my Peace Corps service was over, I would be coming back to the USA with no job. That day has now arrived and I can happily say that I am now searching for my next opportunity. I don’t know what that will be and I don’t have anything lined up. The good news is that I’m very open to just about anything. My hope is to find something that I will enjoy as much as I have enjoyed my time in Tonga. I’m open to all suggestions and would love to hear from you. All of my contact information and my resume are posted on my personal website at http://www.stephenhunsicker.com/.

I’m also asked regularly if I intend to keep writing this blog. The answer is no. As much as I have enjoyed writing about my experiences, this is my final post. I plan to keep the site active for a while to assist any future Peace Corps volunteers who have questions about the application process or about serving in Tonga, but at some point, I’ll stop paying for the domain name and everything I’ve written will go away.

Saying Good-bye

Much of what I've been doing for the past two weeks has involved saying good-bye to all the people I have met in the past two years. My last three Sundays were spent at different Tongan homes eating umu, which is the traditional Sunday feast. I have been humbled by the many thanks and gifts that I have received...too many to even begin to mention here. And I was honored to have not one, not two, but three going away events....two in Vava'u and one at the head office of the Tonga Development Bank.

The folks at the Vava'u branch of the Bank went "all out" to say good-bye last Thursday, my last day working there. We had a a lavish morning tea ceremony and some really wonderful gifts. After everyone said their good-byes, we invited customers to come and join us and they helped us eat all the food the staff had prepared.

At our head office on the main island of Tongatapu, the bank put on another tea for me Friday with the managers and staff saying goodbye. In this photo, the Managing Director presents me with a whale carving made of sandalwood.

And on Thursday night, I spent my last few hours in Vava'u hanging out with my fellow volunteers and other friends at the Aquarium Cafe..

A Final Thought

Many years ago, I heard President Ronald Reagan give a speech and in it, he said something like this: “We are not here to congratulate ourselves on what we have accomplished, but instead to challenge ourselves to accomplish more tomorrow”. I’ve probably butchered the quote but the sentiment is sound. As I think about my service in Peace Corps, I hope that this has just been the beginning. I hope to challenge myself and others to accomplish more in the future.

‘Ofa lahi atu! (With much love to you)

Steve

UPDATE: February 17,2010

I worked at WTVC, NewsChannel 9 in Chattanooga for 11 years. After returning back to the USA, I stopped by the station to say hello. They interviewed me about my Peace Corps experience in Tonga. The station aired the interview over three days on its public affairs program: "This and That with Don Welch".

You can watch all three segments below.

NewsChannel 9 interviews Steve Hunsicker about the Peace Corps .

Have a comment about this post or about Steve’s Peace Corps Adventure? Click to share your thoughts with Steve.

Wrapping Things Up

2009-11-11T16:14:00.000+13:00

With just over a week remaining for me in Vava’u there isn’t much left for me to do at work. Today was my final business development workshop, the 20th workshop we’ve done since I’ve been a Peace Corps volunteer in Tonga.

The workshops are designed to help Tongans better understand how to run a business and how to keep records. I estimate that more than 500 Tongans have participated in those 20 workshops. Some of them, like the woman featured in a video I produced for the bank, have made big improvements because of what they have learned at the workshops. Hopefully some of them will continue to improve in the coming years. Wouldn’t it be great to come back to Tonga one day and see that one of the past participants has done great things?

Meet my Co-Workers

For the past two years, I’ve worked with the same group of people at the Vava’u office of the Tonga Development Bank. All of them have been great to me and many of them already know about my family and friends, but very few of you know much about them except perhaps for the photo I shared in my last post. I asked my friend Chad to videotape me so that I could introduce you to the people with whom I have shared an office. It’s about five minutes long.

TDB Vava'u Office Tour from Steve Hunsicker on Vimeo.

Direct Link to Video

The Week Ahead

My final day at the Vava'u bank is next Thursday. I fly to the main island of Tongatapu on Friday to say good-bye to the folks at our head office and to do my exit interviews with Peace Corps.
I leave Tonga for good on Monday the 23rd when I’ll fly to New Zealand for about 30 hours before heading to Australia for a couple of weeks. I’ve got a lot planned for Australia including a five day dive trip on the Great Barrier Reef. On Thanksgiving Day,I’ve arranged to have a traditional American dinner with Turkey and all the trimmings. While in Australia I will also be going to a place called Cape Tribulation before wrapping up the trip with five days in Sydney. It’s my 3rd trip to Australia. I went to Brisbane in September, 2008 and to Melbourne and Adelaide/Kangaroo Island in September of this year.
I fly back into West Palm Beach late on December 8th.

My Friends in Tonga

2009-11-04T16:35:00.001+13:00

I believe we are all influenced by the people with whom we associate. If you hang around negative people, it tends to make you more negative. If you find yourself around someone who is cynical, eventually, you may start to question everything.

I’m very fortunate that for the past two years I’ve been surrounded by a lot of friendly and positive folks. And I hope that their influence on me continues long after I leave Tonga.

Just like in the USA, I have several groups of friends here ranging from my work friends to my personal friends to my fellow volunteers.

These are the folks who I work with at the Tonga Development Bank in Vava’u. I’ve seen each of these people almost every working day since I moved here.

They are a great group of folks and they love to laugh at me almost as much as I like to laugh with them. (Okay, sometimes I laugh at them too!)

The man in the middle on the first row is my great friend Fuka, who is the manager of the branch. He’s been such a great help to me during my service that I can’t imagine being a volunteer in Tonga without him around. We are the same age, have a lot in common and we shared a memorable fishing trip last year.

My fellow volunteers have also been an important part of my life, especially those who arrived at the same time as I did. Our training group, Tonga Group 73, initially started with 33 volunteers. There are now just 18 of us left and next week the remaining group members will start to leave for good. (November 12th is the first day we are allowed to leave and we have until December 12th to depart unless we request an extension).

However, the volunteers to whom I’ve been the closest are the ones with whom I’ve shared an island. Group 71 and Group 72 were both here in Vava’u when I arrived. They are now gone, replaced for the past year by the members of Group 74.

Two weekends ago we had a final camping trip with the the eight Vava’u volunteers (and some other friends.)

It was a last chance for us to hang out together for an extended period of time. We spent two nights camping on an uninhabited island.

There were originally eight people from my group in Vava’u. James, Shannon and I are the only three who remain. (Shannon is in the white top and that’s James in the red shirt.)

The members of Group 75, who are all now in training, will arrive after we have all departed. Six of them have been assigned to Vava’u but none will be replacing James, Shannon or myself.

Some Random Notes

I obtained by Advanced Open Water SCUBA certification last week. This follows my basic Open Water certification in March. My final dive was a night dive and it is such a difference experience than diving in the day. We also encountered a three foot shark who seemed a lot less interested in us than we were in him.
My last day at work is November 19th. I fly to the main island on November 20th and then I leave Tonga for good on November 23rd. I will be traveling to New Zealand and Australia before arriving home to West Palm Beach on December 8th.
I’ve been sick for the past six days and have rarely left the house. It’s frustrating because there are so many things I want to do before I leave Vava’u and losing six days when you only have three weeks left sucks. However, I’ve been pretty healthy during my service so I guess it was my time.

Good-bye Shannon

I have another video to add to my Peace Corps Tonga videos. This is a good-bye video I put together for my friend Shannon. Shannon has lived in the village of Tefisi in Vava’u for the past two years. I am in this video as is my dog, Solitia.

Shannon Gentry's Life in Peace Corps Tonga from Steve Hunsicker on Vimeo.

I am now working to complete my own video about my service. I hope I can get it done before I leave Tonga.

Peace Corps Tonga Videos

2009-10-29T02:08:00.000+13:00

Here are some videos about Peace Corps volunteers in Tonga. I hope you enjoy watching them.

Tonga Development Bank Video

For the past several months, I’ve been working on a video for the Tonga Development Bank. This video will air on television throughout the Kingdom and will also be shown at future bank workshops. It is designed to promote the bank’s “Business Advisory Service”, which is the area where I work. On Wednesday of this week, it was shown publicly for the first time at a bank workshop in Neiafu.

The project turned out to be a lot harder than I expected. I produced the entire 10 minute video in Tongan. In order to make the video work, I wrote down the questions in English and those were translated to Tongan. Once the interviews were finished, I had someone translate the transcript of the interviews into English and from that I wrote the script. The bank approved the final script in English, then it was translated for me back into Tongan.

Even though I worked in TV News for 23 years, video editing was never one of the things I did. Since I’ve been in Tonga, I’ve taught myself the basics of editing on a computer. But this project was even more complicated because I had to make sure the video matched the Tongan script. Thankfully, I had a Tongan-English dictionary to help.

Once the video was finished, I then cut an English version of the video so that I could share it here online. In every case, the Tongan script was longer than the English translation so the English version is not as tight as the Tongan version. The English version will only be seen here so a lot more effort when into the Tongan version. (The Tongan version can be seen at http://vimeo.com/7289389 for those of you who are curious or for the very few of you reading this who might actually understand it.)

Here’s the English version.

Tonga Development Bank from Steve Hunsicker on Vimeo.

Direct Link: http://vimeo.com/7304192

Farewell Janis

This video I produced for my friend Janis, who has completed her Peace Corps service. She took the video back to the USA to show her family and friends what she has been doing for the last two years. Hopefully it will also provide an insight into our lives as volunteers here in Vava’u.

Janis Martin's Life in Peace Corps Tonga from Steve Hunsicker on Vimeo.

Direct Link: http://vimeo.com/6771940

Team Teaching

My friend Saskia put together this video for Peace Corps. It will be used to show the concept of team teaching to the future volunteers in Tonga who are currently in training. (I shot some of the video, but not all of it).

Direct Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1X3kOBwHh0o

Science Fair

At the end of September, I shot and edited a science fair competition that was held between the five high schools here in Vava’u. This program aired on the local Vava’u TV station. I didn’t do much except cut it down to 30 minutes, but it might give you an idea of students and their studies here in Tonga. It is all in English but the audio can be hard to understand at times.

Vava'u Tonga Science Fair from Steve Hunsicker on Vimeo.

Direct Link: http://vimeo.com/6986806

I’m also working on a video about my own service and one for my friend Shannon. I will post those when they are finished.

And in case you are a newer reader of this blog, you might be interested in a video my friend Scot and I put together last year for Peace Corps. That video was sent by Peace Corps Washington to the people who are now training to become future volunteers in Tonga.

A Tongan Drag Show

2009-10-22T21:00:00.001+13:00

The Kingdom of Tonga is often described as a conservative and Christian country, rich in tradition and culture. That’s very true. But some people who consider themselves conservative, Christian and traditional in the USA might be very surprised at one of the traditions in this island nation.

Traditionally in old Tongan culture, when a family did not have any young girls to do “women’s work”, they would raise a young boy to do that work. This boy is called a “fakaleiti”, which literally translates as “Like a Lady”. While this probably still happens, the fakaleiti of today are more often than not gay men who dress like women and often perform jobs that are traditionally done by women.

I should make it clear that not all fakaleiti are gay. And not all gay Tongans are fakaleiti. Some fakaleiti are married to women and have children of their own. If you go to a restaurant or store in Tonga, it is not uncommon to be helped by a man who is wearing women’s attire. You will also see these men walking around town just like anyone else except for the way they dress. It is an accepted part of the culture here .

Every Wednesday night during the winter tourist season, some of the fakaleiti ham it up for the tourists at a local Vava’u bar called Tonga Bob’s. The “Fakaleiti Show” is a must see for many visitors to Vava’u and while the show is not a traditional Tongan event, it still brings out plenty of locals to watch.

The way the men dress during the show is NOT the same way they dress in town. This show is for the audience and the guys go out of their way to entertain.

The tourist season is winding down and this week marked the final fakaleiti show of the year. It was my second time to attend. I went to the first show of the season last year and the last show this year. It was a fun night and because many of the tourists are gone, a lot of Tongans squeezed into the bar to watch.

Tongans love to laugh and yes, they laugh at the fakaleiti. But that’s the point to have a good time and not take it too seriously.

Also in the audience for the final show of the year were some members of the French navy who have a small boat docked here this week. You will see some of them in this selection of video clips from the show.

Vava'u, Tonga Drag Show (Fakaleiti's) from Steve Hunsicker on Vimeo.

Direct Link: http://vimeo.com/7197049

One other note. Every year there is a fakaleiti festival on the main island of Tonga called the Miss Galaxy Festival. It’s a huge mainstream event that features fakaleiti from all over Tonga and attracts major International sponsors like Air New Zealand and WestPac Bank.

Swimming with Whales – Absolutely Amazing!

2009-10-16T19:11:00.001+13:00

How do you describe the experience of being just feet away from one of the largest mammals on the planet?

How do you describe the experience of watching a baby whale calf play under the watchful eye of its mother?

And how do you describe the feeling of being pushed by gentle turbulence as a giant humpback softly swings its tale creating a mini wave?

Words can’t describe it. Swimming with whales is one of those rare things in life that must be experienced first hand to fully understand it, to appreciate it.

After a day swimming with whales, something that very few people ever get a chance to do, I feel truly humbled by these gentle giants and at a loss to find the appropriate adjectives to describe the experience.

The Humpback Whale Experience

I spent the day with Dolphin Pacific Diving. The day started a bit slow and I started to wonder if we would actual encounter any whales. It’s late in the season and many of the whales who have been here all winter have left.

I have been close to whales before but this was the first time that I had planned to dive with them.

We stopped for an early lunch break when one of the guys on the boat asked “is that a whale”? I didn’t see it at first but it was. We quickly made our way toward the whale and as we approached we saw a baby calf jump completely out of the water, spinning as it landed back in the water. It was a terrific start to a great experience.

When we got in the water, we swam out. The water was dark and then I noticed what at first I thought was a reef on the ocean bottom. But as we got closer, I realized I was looking down at a giant humpback whale, directly below me. This was NOT the baby we had seen jump out of the water, it was the mother, taking a rest. And she wasn’t on the ocean floor, she was floating.

The first stop was short as the whales swam away, but on the next stop, the whales were in a playful mood especially the baby who seems to almost be chasing us. At one point I felt like the calf was putting on a show just for the five of us who were in the water.

“Mama” had her eye on us and on her baby. I looked her straight in the eye and wandered what I must look like to her.

On the last stop of the day, we probably spent 45 minutes in the water just watching the whales play. I had been taking a lot of photos, but finally just shut off the camera and floated there, watching these two go about their lives. It was peaceful, tranquil and they seemed to exert a calm in us like nothing I’ve experienced before.

Whale Photos and Whale Videos

I’ve uploaded 11 still images to the online gallery and with the exception of some cropping, none of the photos have been retouched or altered in anyway.

I also have two videos. This first video was taken with my Canon A710 still camera in video mode. That camera doesn’t have the resolution as my other camera, but it is much easier to use underwater.

Swimming with Whales in Tonga from Steve Hunsicker on Vimeo.

Direct Link:http://vimeo.com/7079352

This second video was shot on my Sony SR-11 video camera. The camera quality is much better but it is almost impossible to see anything through the viewfinder underwater so I just point the camera in the general direction and hope it comes out.

Swimming with Whales from Steve Hunsicker on Vimeo.

Direct Link:http://vimeo.com/7092922

More Information about Swimming with Whales

If you want to read more about Vava’u and swimming with whales, the Fiji Island Business Magazine just published an article about the experience. You can also contact Dolphin Pacific Diving. I highly recommend them.

A Scary Welcome to Tonga

2009-10-10T13:53:00.001+13:00

The future Peace Corps volunteers who will replace the members of my group in Tonga are now here. Tonga Group 75 arrived Thursday morning on the main island of Tongatapu to begin three months of training.

Within hours of landing at the airport, a tsunami warning was issued and all volunteers and the trainees were told by Peace Corps to stay away from coastal areas and to remain at their sites. In the case of the trainees, they were all secured in a guest house until the warning passed. What a welcome to Tonga.

As you might imagine, the warning on Thursday was taken a lot more seriously after a tsunami devastated Niuatoputapu 10 days ago.

In Vava’u, the schools immediately closed, most businesses closed and the streets were eerily empty. The response from Peace Corps was also much swifter this time. When the tsunami warning was issued 10 days ago, I never received a phone call from anyone at Peace Corps. This time, I had multiple phone calls from both Peace Corps staff and fellow volunteers.

Of course, last time, I also felt the earthquake, something we didn’t feel in Vava’u this time.

Job Training

My friend Emily, who is a volunteer in Tongatapu has been visiting us here in Vava’u this week. Emily works for the Ministry of Training, Employment, Youth and Sports. (Yes, one ministry does all of those four things.) Emily is here to teach Tongan youth how to apply for jobs and how to interview. On Wednesday, she conducted a workshop for those interested in getting a job.

Emily also went around to many of the businesses here interviewing them to find out what opportunities they have for Tongan Youth.

Fun Friday in Vava’u

Friday, my friend Scott and I went diving around a small island called Lotuma, which is located near the entrance to the main harbor in Vava’u. Lotuma is the same island where we had a very fun July 4th celebration two years ago.

This dive, while not spectacular, was still pretty interesting because there are many giant clams along the reef. I started playing a game to see how close I could get to the clams before they would close. I was never able to get close enough to touch one before it closed.

After the dive, I joined my fellow volunteers for our monthly meeting and then we went out to a new restaurant that just opened here. This place, called Laredo's, had just started advertising an “all you can eat ribs” dinner for TOP$30.00. That’s more than we get in an entire day for food but is only about US$15.00. However, we couldn’t pass up the chance to splurge. When we got there, we found that after just two days of offering the special, they had increased the price to TOP$35.00. We still decided to “pig out” and we did…joking that after the Peace Corps volunteers left, the restaurant would have to increase the price to TOP$40.00. Three times the waitress came to take away my plate and each time I stopped her and told her I wanted more ribs. They were really good and were grilled right in front of us on an open fire.

After that we headed out to a couple of nightspots before calling it a night.

It was a fun Friday and a nice break to have some time with my fellow Americans here in Vava’u. I have just 40 days left here.

First Hand Account of the Tongan Tsunami

2009-10-03T09:55:00.001+13:00

As I mentioned in my last post, the only person I know in the part of Tonga hit by the tsunami is Mafi, the manager of the Tonga Development Bank office in Niuatoputapu.

She and the rest of the bank staff up there are all fine.

Below is her account of what happened when the tsunami struck Tonga. Part of this was originally written in Tongan and I’ve translated it as best I could.

Here is her story:

Some one called out that fateful morning the ocean is coming ashore.

So the first thing I thought of was to get to the Bank which is 2 minutes from my house in order to check on our things. I got my elderly mother-in-law and daughter into the van and we drove towards the Bank.

Half way down I saw the big wave coming towards us,
It was moving across the bank and I saw it being destroyed. All I could do was to go into reverse gear flooring the gas.

I picked up all the people running on the road and headed towards the high ground. The wave was about 10 meters (30 feet) behind us. I just kept praying and asked God to live and I am thinking I just have to to keep the van in control.

I left the people in a safe high place and came down again to see if I could help some people in the lower ground, but the wave had gone back and all I could see was ruin.

We kept the people on the mountain all night in case another wave will come back. People were so frightened and scared and we tried to calm them.

We picked up all the food and staff from the store and that's what the people ate that day and night.

Hika (woman’s name) was able to survive because she managed to swim with the wave without hitting anything.

All the Bank's building are all gone including the strong room with everything in it. 'There is no equipment remaining from the Bank. Everything is destroyed.

The Bank has an emergency plan and they have already sent supplies and people up to Niuatoputapu to assist with the recovery.

We have had several more earthquakes since this one, but none have been major. I thought I felt one yesterday, but it wasn't very strong and I thought perhaps I was imagining it. But when I checked the USGS Earthquake website, it turns out, it really was another one. They also list some other Tonga earthquakes that I didn't feel.

It will take a long time for Niuatoputapu to recover, but for the rest of the country it is pretty much business as normal. There is no impact at all here in Vava’u (or the other parts of Tonga) and everything is open and running.

Photos from the Tsunami in Tonga

2009-10-01T17:18:00.001+13:00

The islands of Niuatoputapu and Niuafo’oa in Tonga have been devastated by a tsunami that hit the region Wednesday morning just before 8am local time following an earthquake.

This is the same tsunami that did so much damage in Samoa and American Samoa. (Samoa is on the other side of the dateline so it hit there on Tuesday.)

Unlike Samoa, these Tongan islands, which are commonly known as the “Niua’s” are pretty remote. A boat takes supplies to those islands just once a month and there is not regular plane service.

The Tongan Development Bank, where I work, has an office on each of the islands. Its office in Niuatoputapu was one of many buildings destroyed.

This is a photo of the damage. You will have to click on it to read the captions. You will see where Mafi’s house was located. Mafi is the branch manager in the Niua’s and the only person I know up there.

This is a wider view of Hihifo showing the damage.

This map shows the epicenter of the quake. You can see how close Hihifo is to the epicenter and you can also see Apia, Samoa, where most of the damage occurred. (I’m in Neiafu, which is in the lower left corner.)

And this is a photo of the staff and office in Niuatoputapu, taken on September 21st, just 10 days ago. Mafi, who I mentioned above, is the woman in the middle.

Earthquakes are not uncommon in Tonga. There are active volcanoes throughout the South Pacific including here in the Island Kingdom. However, they are rare enough that you still notice when they happen. That was the case Wednesday morning, just before 7am. I was awake, but still in bed when the shaking started. It lasted a long time and I knew immediately it was the strongest earthquake I had felt since moving to Tonga two years ago. I also didn’t think the quake was strong enough to do any damage here.

At no point was anyone in Neiafu really worried. Vava’u is very hilly and the harbor is one of the most protected harbors in the South Pacific. Yacht owners will often leave their boats here during cyclone season because it is so well protected and after the warning was issued many of the boats that were out on the water returned to dock.

My friend Scott, who is a Peace Corps volunteer on Ovaka, one of the outer islands of Vava’u is the only person I know in the Vava’u region who actually saw any impact from the Tsunami. I spoke with him on the phone and he says the water went over the wharf on his island, something he had never seen before, and then went down to sea level. He said this lasted for about 30 minutes. He described it to me as “More interesting than scary.”

This is the second major disaster to hit Tonga in the past 60 days. The ferry Ashika sank in August killing more than 70 people.

Another Australian Adventure.

2009-09-29T12:51:00.000+13:00

For the second September in a row, I ventured south from Tonga to Australia. Last year it was Brisbane. This year, I explored the southern coast of the only country that is also a continent visiting Melbourne, Adelaide and Kangaroo Island.

Kangaroo Island

Without a doubt, the highlight of my trip was a two day tour to the very appropriately named Kangaroo Island. Kangaroo island is located east of Adelaide and is actually quite large. At 4400 square kilometers, It is five times larger than the total land mass of every island in Tonga combined.

And yes, there are Kangaroos everywhere.

It was so amazing to see animals in the wild that I had either never seen before or had only seen in a zoo. This Koala bear was high in a tree and almost looks like a stuffed animal, but he was very real, munching away on Eucalyptus trees.

This is an Australian Seal. It is one of two types of seals on the island. The other is the New Zealand fur sea which we also saw. The fur seals actually swim from New Zealand to Australia and can live in the water for months at a time. I spent two days on the island as part of a tour with a company called Surf and Sun. I was very impressed with this company and would highly recommend them to anyone planning a trip to Kangaroo Island.

I was joined on the trip by a couple from Germany, five woman from Europe and a woman from Korea. They were all in their 20’s except for the German guy who was 30. At dinner the first night, I found myself surrounded by six single woman. One of them said: “So Steve, I guess you are not used to having dinner with so many girls”. I responded by saying, “Well actually I am used to that. Where I live I’m surrounded by woman all the time”. And another said: “But I’m sure they are much older”. To which I said, “Actually not, I spend a lot of of my time with single women in their 20’s”. I then went on to explain that I was one of just three male Peace Corps volunteers on my island and that the rest are all woman. (They thought that was interesting, but when I told my female friends in Vava’u that story, they all laughed).

I suspect that when I first got on tour bus, this group wasn’t sure what to make of me, this older guy who was on their trip. But that quickly changed and I know the exact moment that it happened.

As part of the tour, we went to a place called “Little Sahara”. It’s a huge sand dune that is not on the water, but inland. We came there to sand board, something I had never done before. I was the second one down the hill and it was fascinating to see how the attitudes of my group changed once they saw me get on that board.

One other comment about the stay on Kangaroo Island. We ate really well. The Surf and Sun tour provided all the food and we took turns cooking and cleaning.

Wine Tasting

I’ve never been to a vineyard before. When I went to New Zealand in April, I had planned to go, but never made it. This time, I was determined not to let that happen and signed up for a tour of the Barossa Valley, outside Adelaide.

We visited five wineries and I sampled 30 different wines all in one day. South Australia, where the region I visited is located, is the top producer of Australian wines.

We didn’t get to taste it, but I did get to smell a 100 year old port wine. A taste of that would have cost me something like $50.00 Australian dollars (About $40.00 US). And that wasn’t for a glass, that was just for a taste.

In addition to the wines, I ate kangaroo for lunch along with other assorted meats and salad. I thought the kangaroo was delicious. It had obviously been marinated and was quite tender, with a consistency closer to beef. (I had expected it to taste more like deer.)

One stop that was pretty interesting was at what is called the Whispering Wall. It’s actually not a wall, but a dam for a reservoir. However, the acoustics are amazing. I stood on one side of this dam and in a very low whisper was able to carry on a conversation with someone on the other side, who was also whispering. It was pretty cool to see that sound could travel that far.

I enjoyed the wine tasting and the visit to the Whispering Wall, but I can’t recommend the tour company that I used. The firm, called Groovy Grape was an hour late picking us up. At two of our stops, we were told that because we were so late, they had to cut short our time there. And then the kicker was that we ended up getting back 20 minutes early.

Melbourne

I spent five days and four nights in Melbourne. It’s a really cool and culturally diverse city. But what is really fascinating about the place is the location of some of its coolest spots.

If you’ve ever worked in any business that depends on customers coming to your location, then you know how important it is to have the right location. If customers can’t find you, you won’t survive very long.

Apparently someone forgot to tell the folks in Melbourne that. Because there are tons of bars and restaurants that are located in places where most Americans wouldn’t venture….mainly down dead-end alleys. This is a photo of one alley in Melbourne during the day. However, the scene changes dramatically at night when it turns into an alley of thriving nightspots. These alleys are all over Melbourne and the city is known for having successful businesses in spots that are not so easy to find. The door on the left is the main entrance to a bar. But there is not even a sign to tell you the name of the place.

At first glance, you might wander why I would post a photo of a crane next to a building under construction. But this is one of my favorite photos from the trip. If you look a little closer, you’ll see the name on the crane is “Tonga Excavations”.

So even 1500 miles away from Tonga, I had a reminder of where I had come from and where I would soon be returning.

Cumulatively, I’ve now spent almost a month in Australia and I’m not done yet. Once I complete my Peace Corps service, I’m heading to Cairns, to go diving on the Great Barrier Reef and then down to Sydney before heading back to the USA.

Together for the Last Time!

2009-09-23T09:28:00.000+13:00

Almost two years ago, on October 2, 2007, I first met the people who would become known as “Peace Corps Tonga Group 73”. These 33 strangers would soon become friends sharing the experience of serving as a Peace Corps volunteer in Tonga.

We spent a grueling three months together during training before becoming volunteers and heading out to our job assignments. We reunited twice for Peace Corps conferences and along the way, many of our friends left Tonga, each having his or her own reason for leaving early.

Last week, for the last time, the members of my group got together on the main island for what in Peace Corps speak is called our “Close of Service Conference”. Unlike past conferences which focused on our service, this one was really all about the volunteers and was designed to prepare us for our life after Peace Corps. For the 19 of us who have remained in Tonga, it was also our last time together. While we all arrived in Tonga on the same date, (See our arrival photo) most of us will be leaving on different dates. I’m officially leaving Tonga on November 23rd, exactly two months from today. Many of our group will leave before then. For those of us who don’t live on the main island, that means we will not see the volunteers who leave before us.

We spent our last few days together as a group reminiscing about our service, talking about those who had left early and discussing our plans for the future. There was also talk about a reunion once we all get back to the USA.

On our last night, Peace Corps provided us with a delicious feast and Tongan entertainment.

Direct link to video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bI5WAUuNC0w

It was a fun night. At the end of the evening, we did a group dance, everyone coming up on the stage for one last dance together.

And then one last group hug.

It’s certainly not the end of my Peace Corps experience, but a major milestone in my Peace Corps service. I’m now back home in Vava’u and realize how many things I still want to do in my remaining two months.

A Tongan Tradition I Don’t Like

2009-09-17T06:26:00.000+13:00

I like most Tongan traditions. One of the really cool things about Tonga is how well its culture and traditions have been preserved. But there is one tradition I don’t like and that’s the way Tongans say their final goodbyes. It’s not that I don’t appreciate the importance of a funeral, either in Tonga or in the USA. I know how important it is for the friends and family to say good-bye to those they love but I also think it isn’t necessary for a family to spend one’s life savings to pay its final respects.

In Tonga, there is nothing modest or inexpensive about a funeral, which in Tongan is called a “putu”. A Tongan family feels enormous cultural pressure to throw a huge expensive funeral every time someone dies.

A Tongan funeral is not just a funeral ceremony. The family is expected to throw a big feast and feed everyone who shows up. While it is also customary for people to bring a gift to a funeral, the family responds by giving gifts to everyone who comes. The family of a loved one never comes out ahead. A typical putu can cost more than most Tongans make in a year.

At the bank where I work, we have people come in immediately after a loved one has died seeking to take out a loan to pay for the funeral. In some cases, a family will go in debt for years just to pay for the funeral. Many turn to their relatives overseas to cough up the money so they can have a “great” funeral for their loved one.

Some families even hire bands to play at the funeral and to march with the body from the house to the cemetery.

This funeral procession passed in front of my house on a Saturday at 9am and then returned five hours later. (Video Clip)

I was out visiting bank clients one day when we happened to drive by a funeral. One of the bank’s employees asked me if I was hungry. I knew he meant that he wanted to stop and eat at the funeral. I asked him if he knew the person who died or the family. He said no, but it was okay, because at a funeral, you feed everyone who shows up. I told him I wasn’t hungry and suggested we go back to the bank. I didn’t feel right about sitting down and taking free food from someone who just had a relative die.

It seems to me the money spent on a funeral would be much better spent paying for the education of a family member than on a lavish feast and gifts.

A Tongan putu is not a quick event and can last for more than 24 hours. People will take an entire day off of from work to attend the putu. This means you might go to the grocery store and find it closed because the staff is attending a funeral that day.

There are many other ways that the family responds when someone dies. Depending on how close you are to the deceased it will determine how long you will wear black and the huge funeral mats you see everyone wearing.

It’s also traditional for a woman’s hair to be cut in memory of their loved one. A higher ranking woman in the house will tell a less ranking woman to cut her hair. The hair is usually woven into a belt that can be worn to hold up one of the large funeral mats.

Now in all fairness, putting on a putu is a work of art. There are no funeral homes here so all of the work from preparing and dressing the body to the digging of the grave is done by friends and family. The preparations are lavish with many people helping to cook the food and set up tables so everyone has a place to eat. During the day, the men sit and drink kava while the women will sing. The kava drinking and singing will often last for days from the time the person dies until they are finally put into a grave decorated with quilts, flowers and plants.

When you attend a funeral it all goes like clockwork and it’s truly amazing to see the end result of so much work.

One more interesting topic about death in Tonga. If you ask a Tongan why someone died, they will usually say they were sick or they were old. There are no autopsies and the cause of death is rarely known.

Will You Buy This for Me?

2009-09-10T09:42:00.000+13:00

It’s no secret that Tonga survives on the generosity of others. The country’s main source of income is from overseas remittances and foreign aid. But times are tough and people aren’t as generous. For the first six months of this year, the amount of money sent by Tongans overseas to their relatives in Tonga dropped by 14% and tourism is down 6%.

Foreign aid is also drying up. One of my fellow Peace Corps volunteers was just turned down by New Zealand Aid for a project because New Zealand has put all of its aid to Tonga on hold for the rest of the year. Other countries are doing the same.

This is a big adjustment for Tongans, many of who are very used to asking “Will you buy this for me? You can go almost anywhere in Tonga and you’ll see signs like this one that on a rainwater collection tank saying who provided the money for the project.

For years, the money has flowed freely and all kinds of projects have been funded. For example, early last year I heard about a school that had a shortage of textbooks and no computers, but instead of asking for money to get books, school supplies or computers to help the kids, they instead got the European Union to buy them a very expensive riding lawn mower. And the school doesn’t have a very big yard.

The island of Hunga just finished building a very expensive road from the waterfront up to their village. There is just one vehicle on the entire island, a truck that was also paid for with grant money. The road was built so that the truck could go down this road to pick up supplies from boats. The road is all poured concrete with a sidewalk on each side, but if you look closely, you’ll notice some obvious problems. There is no drainage, so all the water pours down the road into the harbor below. You can see where the mud has already started to collect. It’s also not straight and it is much more difficult to walk up the hill to the village than if they had build a set of stairs. I was initially told the project was funded by New Zealand, than was told it was paid for by India. You have to wonder if the money wouldn’t have been better spent installing electricity or running water on the island, of which it has neither.

And then there are the grants which go for great projects but they end up being a waste of time.

The village of Falevai has a beautiful medical center. It’s the only place outside of the main island where people in Vava’u can go for medical issues.The center was paid for with grant money. There is just one problem. There is no money to pay doctors and nurses to work there. So the building, which is actually nicer than the Vava’u hospital, sits empty. Villagers now use the fence around it as a clothes line to dry their laundry.

On the surface, all three of these projects probably sounded good on paper: a lawn mower to help a poor school, a road to improve the infrastructure of a village and who could argue with a modern medical center to help people who live on small outer islands. It just didn’t work out that way.

And in fairness to the countries that provided the grant money, they did so out of a desire to help the people of Tonga. It can be hard to say “no” when a friendly Tongan with a a big smile on his or her face comes up and says “Will you buy this for me?”.

10 Questions (and Answers) about Peace Corps

2009-09-03T02:53:00.000+13:00

I was recently asked by the Peace Corps Press office to answer 10 questions about my Peace Corps service. This is the information they will use to put together a news release to different news organizations about my service.

A couple of the questions prompted me to talk about some things that I’ve not mentioned on this blog before, while a couple of other answers may sound familiar to regular readers.

Here are the 10 questions and then the answers.

1) What one particular experience/moment highlights your Peace Corps service?

2) How have your values shifted, if at all?

3) What have you accomplished for the Tongan people?

4) Have you made local friends? Share a ‘friendship’ moment.

5) What local customs drive you crazy?

6) How does technology fit into your experience?

7) Why should more Americans apply for PC service?

8) Describe your village site….in detail: what is attractive/difficult about it?

9) When were you most frightened?

10) How will you move your service forward upon your return to the US?

1) What one particular experience/moment highlights your Peace Corps service?

I’ve helped more than 300 Tongans in both workshops and one-on-one learn new skills to help their business be more successful. In some cases, it was helping them learn how to start a business. In one case it was both. I worked with a Tongan business owner who had run up a TOP$20,000 (About $10,000 US) overdraft at a local bank and was on the verge of having to close his business. He kept no records and was giving away too much stuff from his store to friends and family and also for his own consumption. I went in, examined his records and made suggestions on ways to turn his business around. He immediately did everything I suggested including tracking what he was giving away. Once he realized how much he was giving, he was able to reduce that. He started paying down his overdraft and started keeping records for the first time.

He even started writing down all of the cigarettes that he was taking and smoking. He told me that once he saw on paper how many cigarettes he was smoking each day, it forced him to cut back on his smoking.

He has now paid his overdraft down, his business is doing much better and he has now started a new business…running a taxi cab service. His mother is sick and he has been able to afford to hire an employee to run the store so he can be with his sick mother. That employee continues to keep good business records for him.

When I think about success stories, this is the one that jumps out at me. All he needed was a little push and he did the rest on his own.

2) How have your values shifted, if at all?

I think that by putting yourself into a culture that is so completely different you can’t help but get a better understanding of the world. As a person, who spent most of his life in the news media and living in a multi-cultural place like South Florida, I always thought I had a pretty good “world view” of things, but coming to Tonga, I realize that I didn’t really have a clue. It’s not so much that I understand the world better, but I think I understand people better. Living in a foreign culture you really do learn that people are much more alike than they are different.

I’m not sure that any of my “core” values have changed, but hopefully I understand the world a little better now because of my Peace Corps experiences.

3) What have you accomplished for the Tongan people?

See answer #1 above…Hopefully some of the business people with whom I work now have the skills to do better and perhaps be successful.

4) Have you made local friends? Share a ‘friendship’ moment.

I went fishing one Saturday with two Tongan friends. Both have a lot more experience fishing than I have and I was keen to get out and enjoy the day. As it turns out, I caught the only fish of the day, a small grouper which I landed shortly after we threw our lines in the water.

However the trip was a great Tongan experience. My two friends, like most Tongans don't have rods and reels. They have fishing line, some fish hooks and some weights. My weight was a small piece of rebar with the hook tied about 12 inches above it. We used pieces of smaller fish as bait.

I felt a tug on my line, but didn't really think I had a fish, but when I pulled it up, there was a fish. Six hours later and it was still the only fish we had caught but we did do a great job of feeding the fish underneath us because they kept eating the bait.

The fish weren't the only ones eating. When we first got out on the water, my friends pulled out a big container of sandwiches, probably 20 sandwiches for the three of us. Then once we got to the spot where we dropped anchor, out came more food. A big can of fatty meat and a huge bowl of root crops. Tongans love to eat and even when fishing, we had more food than the three of us could eat.

As we headed back to shore, we ran out of gas. We were near the shore, but still a good distance from where the car was parked. We ended up spending more than an hour swimming the boat back.

5) What local customs drive you crazy?

Probably funerals. The Tongan word is putu. When someone dies, the family is expected to throw a big feast and feed everyone who shows up. While it is also customary for people to bring a gift to a funeral, the family responds by giving gifts to everyone who comes. The family of a loved one never comes out ahead. At the bank where I work, we have people come in immediately after a loved one has died seeking to take out a loan to pay for the funeral. In some cases, a family will go in debt for years just to pay for the funeral.

This all seems crazy to me. It is certainly important to pay your respects to your loved ones, but not to this extent.

It seems to me the money spent on a funeral would be much better spent paying for the school fees of a family member than on a lavish feast and gifts.

Because there is often free food, when someone dies, people will take an entire day off of from work to attend the putu. Certainly that is fine for family members but is it necessary for an entire village. This means you might go to the grocery store and find it closed because the staff is all attending a funeral that day.

6) How does technology fit into your experience?

On my second day as a volunteer in Vava’u, I introduced myself to the manager of ANZ bank here. As we were talking, she asked me if I knew how to program a cash register. I had never done that before, but I figured I would be able to do it, so I told her that I could. Within a week, I was programming a cash register for that business and training the staff how to use it. Next I did the same for a bar. A month later, another business called and wanted me to help with their cash register and train their staff and then a month later, a restaurant that was under new ownership called asking for the same assistance. In all four cases, these were businesses that had a cash register, but didn't know how to use it. Not only are the businesses now using the cash register, but it is helping them improve their record keeping.

The same thing has happened with computers. Once I was able to help one person with their computer, then another would call. Then I helped a computer lab, and then I built a website and then another website. Once the word got around that I could help, I started getting lots of calls. When possible I try to show people how they can do some of the things themselves, but often the people I help barely know how to use a computer so it’s hard to teach them how to repair one.

In the case of the websites I’ve built, I’ve tried to design them so that the Tongan staff can easily update them without the help of a web person. All of the sites are for tourism related businesses. Hopefully that will help them attract more customers from overseas.

The funny part of technology has been helping Tongans with their digital cameras. Many now have either cell phones that take photos or digital camera but they have no idea how to use them. It’s amazing to see their faces when they take a picture for the first time and then get to see it right away.

7) Why should more Americans apply for PC service?

I think all Americans should have a chance to live in a foreign culture. Whether it is Peace Corps or some other program

If more Americans had the chance to be exposed to different cultures, I think we would be a much more accepting society. When you remove yourself from all the things we consider normal, your realize what an “American centric” view we have of the world.

Joining Peace Corps is also a chance to do something rewarding. I don’t think many volunteers get to “save the world” or do huge major projects, but I think most, if not all, make at least a small difference in the lives of the people in their host country.

I will say the Peace Corps is NOT for everyone. If someone is thinking about joining, they should research it thoroughly and make sure it really is right for them. It’s pretty easy to find the contact information for many volunteers online. Find some volunteers who seem to be similar to you and start up an e-mail exchange with them. Ask questions and get a lot of different opinions. I think most volunteers will be happy to tell you about their experiences and some have had bad experiences while others, like me, have had a great experience.

8) Describe your village site….in detail: what is attractive/difficult about it?

I actually live in the town of Neiafu and it’s not really what you would imagine as a typical village. I live on the property of my landlord, Kepu Tupou and his family. In addition to Kepu’s house, there is the house where I live and right next to it, is another house where James Barbour, an education volunteer lives. James and I live 10 feet from each other, but each has our own house. Our situation is unique in Peace Corps Tonga because no other volunteer lives that close to another anywhere in the country. For some volunteers they have to take a boat to see another volunteer.

I like my living situation a lot. Kepu and his family are great and they feed me Tongan food almost every Sunday. That’s a big part of the culture here, not only sharing food, but having a big meal on Sunday after Church. It’s also nice to have another American so close and I’m thankful to have a person like James right next door.

I’m also very close to work. It’s a 10 minute walk down the hill to my job at the Tonga Development Bank. That walk home isn’t quite as nice as I have to climb back up the hill and it is a steep walk. However, the road offers a great view of the harbor so the view helps make up for the steep climb.

9) When were you most frightened?

Only once was I really frightened. The story is a bit long and it happened just one month after becoming a volunteer. One Thursday, my friend and fellow volunteer Craig and I had lunch together at the Catholic Basilica in Nuku’alofa. They have a small restaurant in the basement of the Church and I had eaten there a few times previously. I usually order the special and on this day it was fried tuna. I would have preferred to have it lightly seared, but was just happy to get tuna, as it is one of my favorite meals. Craig did not order the fish and ate something else which I don’t remember. When I got back to work, I wasn’t feeling great and told my supervisor at the bank I was going home. I told Craig that lunch didn’t sit well with me. He was surprised that I was feeling bad so quickly after we ate, even mentioning that normally food poisoning takes a while to be noticed after you eat.

I went home and stayed in bed the rest of the day and called in sick on Friday. I did not eat anything at all either Thursday night or all day Friday. I never vomited but just felt bad. Not really nauseous. I think queasy would be the best way to describe it.

I woke up early Saturday morning, reached for my water bottle and discovered I did not have the strength to pick it up. My first thought was that I was weak from not eating, but I quickly realized this was much more serious. I couldn’t lift anything with my left hand and I couldn’t even raise my arm and hand over my head. For all practical purposes, I had lost use of my left arm and hand.

This terrified me as you can imagine. Clearly this was not the result of something I ate. It was a much more serious problem. I called the Peace Corps medical office and the Assistant Peace Corps Medical Director came over. She checked my blood pressure and pulse, which were both normal. She asked if I was in pain to which I replied no. I had numbness in the fingers on both hands and also had numbness on my tongue but I wasn’t uncomfortable. She told me that she would get me to a doctor first thing on Monday, but there wasn’t much she could do for me on a Saturday unless things got worse.

On Monday when we got to the doctors office, I was unable to write or sign my name. (I write left-handed). Jacinta Tonga, the nurse who is the Peace Corps Medical Officer had to fill it out for me. Once I got into the exam room, the doctor diagnosed that I had just 1/5 of my normal strength in my arm. In other words, I had lost 80% use of my hand and arm. The doctor thought I might have had a stroke but thought it could also be something muscular. She even checked me for diabetes. I really didn’t believe I had suffered a stroke.

The doctor was an Australian Doctor, probably in her late 50’s. After examining me, she suggested acupuncture to see if that would help my arm. While Jacinta, the Peace Corps Medical Officer who accompanied me to the doctor was skeptical and wasn’t sure I should have it, I agreed to give it a try. I figured it certainly wouldn’t do any harm.

At the clinic, there is only one exam room, so the doctor moved me into the clinic pharmacy which opens onto the waiting room and has a big open window between the rooms. She stuck six needles in me, one in my head, the rest in my hand, arm and shoulder. I asked for a glass of water and was left alone in the pharmacy. After about five minutes, I started to feel faint. I screamed for help and a stampede of people came rushing in, including other patients who were waiting to see the doctor. They grabbed me before I fell and put me on the floor. I spent the next 20 minutes lying on the floor of the pharmacy with these needles sticking out of me. I can only imagine what would have happened if I had fallen on top of one and jammed it into my body. Afterwards the doctor told me that about 1 out of every 50 people get faint when they get acupuncture. It’s hard for me to imagine that those little needles could cause that.

Peace Corps was now making plans to send me to Brisbane, Australia for a full exam and an MRI. Jacinta told me: “Steve, I know you really love Peace Corps, but if you have to be sent home, it’s because you need to take care of your arm. That is what is really important.” Of course she was right, but just hearing someone say out loud that I could be sent home and medically discharged from the Peace Corps was pretty scary. I went home and spent the rest of that day and night wondering what I would do back in the US, especially with no use of my left arm and hand. I couldn’t even type or use the computer easily. However, the practical side soon kicked in and I decided I would go back to the US and find to the very best doctor and hospital for treatment of problems like I had. It didn’t matter to me where it was in the United States, just that I would go to the best place possible. Peace Corps would be paying for my treatment and I figured I could easily absorb the costs of living somewhere until I got better. And there was always the chance that the hospital was near my home in Florida or near my family in Virginia.

On Tuesday, my arm was better. Not normal, but I had more use of it and could almost bend my elbow into a right angle. I called Jacinta who told me she still did not have an appointment for me in Australia, but that she was happy to hear I was doing better. She told me I was to stay home for the rest of the week and didn’t even want me to go out of my house.

Two days later, my arm and hand were doing much better and Jacinta called and said “You were poisoned”. That was the official verdict from the Peace Corps Medical office in Washington, DC after reviewing my case. I was skeptical at first. I couldn’t believe that everything that had happened was the result of eating fish. But after reading the Peace Corps medical handbook and looking online, I came to believe that it probably was a proper diagnosis. I was probably suffering from Ciguatera Fish poisoning, Paralytic Shellfish poisoning or Scombroid Fish Poisoning. And it probably was not anyone’s fault that I got sick. All three of the poisons mentioned above are impossible to detect and the fish comes out of the water that way.

Because I was getting better everyday, I no longer had to take a trip to Brisbane, Australia and I had no need for any further medical attention. I went back to work the following week and two weeks after I had first eaten the poisoned fish, I decided my arm was 100%. However, it does still scare me to think how much poison I had ingested to have that kind of impact on me. It also changed my perspective and made me appreciate the fact that I was still in Peace Corps.

10) How will you move your service forward upon your return to the US?

As I mentioned early, I think I have a better view of the World, or at least people because of my Peace Corps experience. Ideally, I would like to continue with Peace Corps in some capacity. I’m pretty passionate about helping small businesses and would love to find an opportunity where I could so that within the Peace Corps organization.

I’m also fully prepared to talk about my Peace Corps service with anyone who is interested. I’ve been writing a weekly blog about my experiences since I applied to join the Peace Corps and I’ve been amazed by how many people read it each week. Since I’ve started the blog and through July 8, 2009, I’ve had 32,621 page views and 18,152 visits from all 50 US States and 132 Countries and Territories. While I plan to stop writing my blog once I return to the USA, I intend to leave it online for anyone who is interested in learning more about Peace Corps and Tonga. (The blog is at http://blog.stevesadventure.com)

Food Glorious Food

2009-08-24T23:11:00.002+13:00

One of the first things you learn as a Peace Corps Volunteer is that no matter how hard you try, your eating habits are going to be very different. Some volunteers who have been vegetarians for years soon find themselves eating meat. Others, who may have been picky eaters in the USA now find themselves eating things they never imagined while others try to come up with creative ways to add some variety to the diet.

There are really two problems with food in Vava’u. The first is that Tongans pretty much eat the same foods every day without a lot of variety. There are a number of root crops that are grown here and those are part of the Tongan diet daily combined with some kind of very fatty meat.

On Sundays and for special occasions, Tongans eat the same root crops but instead the fatty meat is wrapped in Taro leaves and cooked in an outdoor oven in a dish called lu. (The photo is a typical Sunday dinner.)

The second problem is that you live on an island and if it doesn’t grow here, it has to be imported. If there are no tomatoes at the market, you are not going to get a tomato even at the best restaurants. “If it ain’t here, it ain’t here”.

For the first year or so of my Peace Corps service I either shared meals with other volunteers who knew how to cook or I ate stuff that I was comfortable cooking. In the past year, I’ve gotten a little more ambitious, trying to actually learn to cook with what is available.

The good news is that in Peace Corps you have lots of free time so you have the time to cook.

I thought I would tell you about two things that I’ve made recently. I would never have attempted either of these meals in the USA. It was too easy to go Publix or Polo Tropical and pick up chicken . Want a pizza? I would have ordered from one of the many places that deliver to your door and if I was desperate, I might have even popped a frozen pizza into my oven.

So when I show you this picture, you have to understand this is a big accomplishment for me.

This is pepper chicken…meaning, it is cooked with pepper and a few other spices. The key to the chicken in Tonga is to remove all the fat and skin before you cook it. Often you end up cutting away about almost half of what is in the package.

The biscuits were made completely from scratch. (I was really proud of myself when I discovered I could make biscuits). The stuff that looks like mashed potatoes is actually mashed ufi, which is a Tonga root crop. I boiled the ufi, which was given to me, mashed it up and added milk, hot peppers and salt.

Pizza from Scratch

My love for pizza hasn’t diminished since I began my service but it has taken me a while to learn how to make it. The place that has the best pizza in Vava’u has been closed since December even though they are scheduled to re-open soon.

This pizza was also made from scratch. It’s all veggies with green peppers, canned tomatoes, canned tomato sauce, onions and garlic. There is also some fresh basil which my neighbor James planted right outside my door. I decided to make this pizza after I discovered two cans of black olives in one of the stores. A rare find and I bought both of them and came home and made the pizza. The cheese is the most expensive part. It all comes here frozen but you can usually get it without a problem.

Vava’u Shopping Tip

A shopping habit you quickly learn in Vava’u is that when you see something you want in a store, you buy it…because you may never seen it again. We once has fresh broccoli. It lasted about a week and I haven’t seen it again. That was more than a year ago. Another time a stalk of celery showed up…yes there was just one when I went into the store. I didn’t buy it as it was expensive and didn’t look very good. It’s not just fresh food that’s random, we occasionally will run out of staples like rice, flour and boxed milk. (There is no fresh milk in the stores).

This creates even bigger challenges when you are in the mood for something because it might not be there.

I now wonder if I’ll still take the time to cook when I return to the USA or if you’ll be bumping into me at the deli counter of Publix.

Changes in Peace Corps Tonga

The Peace Corps Tonga Country Director is leaving. The Country Director is the top position in each country and in the case of Tonga, he is also the top-ranking American here since there is no Embassy.

Jeff Cornish is moving to a new Country Director Post in The Gambia, West Africa. In his e-mail announcement to the volunteers he said:

It has been my honor to serve with you here in the Kingdom. Together we have done much to improve Post operations, programming and Volunteer support. I am proud of the role each of you has played in supporting each other, as well as those you serve in your respective communities. I am also proud of the fact that you have remained committed to your service and to the fulfillment of both Peace Corps and local community goals for development.

No word on a replacement. He begins his new job on October 25th.

Best of luck Jeff!!

The Wreck of the Clan McWilliams

More than 80 years ago, a steam powered tanker came into the harbor at Neiafu, Vava’u. The 300 foot long boat was on fire and sank before the captain could run it aground. The wreck now sits in about 100 feet of water at the bottom of the harbor. Last week, I had a chance to dive on the wreck. Because of its depth, I was limited to just 20 minutes on it, but it was amazing to see how intact this boat is after all these years.

You can still see the portholes and where the doors used to be. The ladders are still there as are the railing along the side of the ship. We only explored the first half of the ship, as the remainder is in even deeper water. I did not take my camera with me, but I found this photo online of the wreck.

I plan to dive on the wreck again next week.

The “Facts” about the Tonga Ferry Sinking

2009-08-16T10:43:00.001+13:00

By definition, a fact is something that is proven and true. Ideally it would be nice to think that the information Tongans receive about the sinking of Ashika Ferry last week would all be factual. But in a place like Tonga, where the media is controlled by the government, getting the “facts” can be difficult.

While there are some independent media voices, you still need a “newspaper publishing license” from the government. If you upset the wrong person, your license to publish will be terminated. For the most part, the government can decide what it will release to the public and what it will keep secret. Neither the public nor the media have any formal right to gain access to official documents and reports in Tonga.

The “coconut wireless” or word of mouth is still very much alive in Tonga, but that system has its faults because you often hear so many conflicting stories, it is hard to know what is true and what is speculation.

But times are changing. Tonga may be a remote island country but it is no longer an island of information. Media from other parts of the world are covering the ferry sinking and unlike the Tongan based news organizations who may be fearful of criticizing the government and the King, these foreign news organizations can ask the tough questions and what they write is available in Tonga via the Internet.

I wrote a post last week called “Grief turns to Anger in Tonga” in which I talked about the anger that some Tongans have directed toward the Tongan King, who left on a four month holiday the day after the Ashika Ferry went down. After that post, I exchanged emails with another volunteer who lives in Tongatapu, who says he hasn’t heard any criticism of the King , instead saying people are mad at the Prime Minister.. And one of the independent Tongan newspapers, Matangi Online has not made a big deal out of the King’s departure. The editor of that paper was quoted in the New Zealand Herald last week.

Matangi Tonga newspaper editor Pesi Fonua yesterday said that Tongans living at home appeared untroubled by King George's rapid departure for Edinburgh.

"There's no uproar by the people who lost loved ones. There doesn't seem to be any feeling about that."

In Scotland, where the King is beginning his four month vacation, a news organization has a very different story.

Playboy king's Scottish holiday sparks anger

Heilala Delasau, a Tongan human rights activist, said: "The king is partly to blame and should be held liable. He should have stayed to help. He is a leader and should be helping his people at this time."

Sitiveni Lilo, a retired Tongan journalist living in Wellington, New Zealand, said: "Tonga is not a full democracy and people are afraid to speak out. "People are concentrating on their loss, but there is also deep anger that the king left instead of staying to command the rescue operation and attend memorial services."

Protesters say they are exasperated by the wealthy playboy king, who earned the nickname "Oddball" because of his habit of riding around his Pacific island nation in a London taxi.

With his penchant for elaborate uniforms and remote-controlled boats and toys, (King) Tupou has a reputation as an eccentric out of touch with reality.

Closer to Tonga, the New Zealand Herald has the following in their Sunday edition this morning.

Tongan king's critics hit out

Mateni Tapueluelu, editor of the independent Taimi o Tonga newspaper, said yesterday he was infuriated by the reports from Scotland and expected the Tongan public to feel the same way.

"It's just going to make people angry, they're going to see the monarchy as useless and an expensive irrelevance. At best he's a waste of money," said Tapueluelu.

"When the going gets tough, he gets going: Leaving his people to swim or sink."Tapueluelu said there was growing dissatisfaction with the Tongan, royal-dominated Government as well over its handling of the Ashika tragedy.

"I'm beginning to hear talk that we should have an interim government," he said, adding that he hoped a "peaceful transition of power is ensured".

The Latest “Facts”

Now to the “facts”, or what I think are the latest “facts”.

Officially there are still 93 people missing and presumed dead. The ship was located last week in 330 feet of water, making it too deep for divers to recover the bodies of those who perished. One report says it would cost $25 million New Zealand dollars (About US$17 million) to do a full recovery of the ship, money that Tonga does not have. Right now, Tongans have accepted that their loved ones are not going to be coming back, but they are still waiting until they learn if they will get the bodies back before they do any funerals. The Tongan Transportation Minister has resigned from his job and Tongans are doing their best to support each other in this time of tragedy and yes, the King is on vacation in Europe.

Help on the way for Tonga Ferry Victims

2009-08-11T10:05:00.001+13:00

There is often a strained relationship between Tongan business owners and the Chinese business owners who operate here. The Tongans like the cheap prices and the regular hours of the Chinese stores but there is resentment because they have put many Tongan shops out of business.

By law, only Tongans can operate grocery stores in the Kingdom. But a few years ago, the former King sold Tongan passports which effectively allowed many Chinese to become Tongan residents and business owners. Even though the practice of selling passports was quickly stopped, the Chinese continue to take market share away from the Tongans.

Today, the owners of all the Chinese stores in Tonga announced they were going to donate TOP$50,000 to help pay for the funerals of the 93 people who are still missing and presumed dead after the sinking of the Ashika ferry last week. In addition, a local money transfer company is kicking in an additional TOP$10,000 and a local Tongan Kava group has raised TOP$300.00 to assist. (TOP$2.00 is about US$1.00)

Here in Vava’u, a fund has been created by many of the local tourism related business owners. So far, thanks to contributions from tourists who are here and from those businesses, that fund has about TOP$800 in it.

There is also talk that the Tongan government may help with some of the funeral expenses and the boat was insured by Lloyds of London, which could provide additional funds.

A funeral is very expensive in Tonga. A family will easily spend TOP$3000 to TOP$5000 to bury a loved one and sometimes even more. It is expected that the government will declare the missing “officially dead” later today or tomorrow. The funerals will start all over Tonga immediately afterwards with a photo of the deceased substituting for their final remains.

The Washington Post has a comprehensive story about the Tonga Ferry disaster today. And all around Vava’u, many people, myself included, continue to wear black in memory of those lost.

For additional information about the ferry sinking, I’ve updated my post from yesterday with new information.

Grief turns to Anger in Tonga -- UPDATED

2009-08-10T09:56:00.005+13:00

For the most part, Tongans are a happy people who love to laugh and they take most things in stride. “Sai pe” may be the most uttered phrase in the Kingdom and it simply means “It’s Okay”. But things are not “sai pe” in Tonga today. The grief that first hit the country when the MV Princess Ashika ferry sank last week is now turning to anger.

All over Vava’u, the destination point for the Ashika, people are asking how could this happen and why did our Government take this boat and put it into service when it was so old? The Ashika was older than the boat it replaced. Another story being reported here says the Government was urged NOT to put this boat into service because it did not pass safety checks.

There is also a lot of anger directed toward the King. In Tonga, it is illegal to criticize the King in public or to print anything negative about him. A few years ago, the owner of one of the Independent newspapers was jailed for making negative comments about the Government.

But that’s not stopping Tongans now. The anger today is because just after the ferry sank, the King left the country for a vacation in Scotland. It seems abhorrent to the Tongans that their King would abandon them like this in a time of crisis.

When the survivors of the ferry disaster arrived back to the main island of Tongatapu, they were not consoled by the King but instead met by his sister, the Princess. The King has not issued any statements about the disaster and has done nothing to show support for the victims and their families.

Complicating things ever more, the Prime Minister of Tonga was out of the country at a meeting in Australia when the boat sank, but instead of returning to Tonga immediately, he stayed at the Pacific Forum meeting saying he had important agreements to work out that would benefit Tonga in the future.

Even in peaceful Vava’u, some Tongans are talking about protests and an Australian news organization reported that an angry crowd gathered in Nuku’alofa outside the offices of the shipping company that operated the ferry. That should make people nervous as Nuku’alofa is just now being re-built following riots in 2006 by people unhappy with the King and his government.

As is typical in Tonga, a lot of the information is passed through word of mouth, in what is often called the “coconut wireless”. That means you hear many different stories about what is actually happening. The official word from the Tongan police is that there are 93 people still missing, most of them women and infants. All but six of the missing are Tongans. (UPDATE: 95 people are presumed dead out of 141 who were on board the ship.)

In villages around Vava’u, the impact is particularly hard. In one village of just over 100 people, six people are presumed dead…meaning the ferry disaster has wiped out 6% of the entire village’s population. There are similar stories every where in Vava'u. Just about everyone either knows or is related to someone who was on that boat.

So far just two bodies have been recoved. The boat sits in water that ranges from 36 to 110 meters deep, much of it too deep for divers.

There is also worry about how a small place like Vava’u is going to handle so many funerals. There is talk of having one large funeral for everyone instead of many smaller services. And Tongans want to know who is going to pay for the services. Funerals are very expensive and Tongan families are expected to feed everyone who shows up and to give gifts to those who attend. This could be a major financial hit in an already struggling economy.

While it is extremely unlikely that there are any survivors, some families are hoping that perhaps their relatives never got on the ferry.

In addition to being the primary way that Tongans travel between the islands, the ferry is also the way that most food and freight get to the outer islands. On board the ferry when it sank was an ambulance and medical supplies donated by a US organization to provide emergency transportation for the hospital here in Vava’u.

Some speculate the ferry disaster will serve as a “wake-up” call for Tonga and could help the pro-democracy movement gain momentum, especially if it is determined the King’s government allowed this ship to sail knowing it was unsafe. If that’s the case, it certainly was not “sai pe”.

A Very Sad Day in Tonga (Updated)

2009-08-06T19:20:00.003+13:00

Early this morning, one of the ferries that operates between the Tongan Islands sank with 79 people on board, almost all of them Tongans. The boat left the main city of Nuku’alofa yesterday in route to Vava’u.

Fifty three people have been rescued and the remaining 26 are believed to have drown. It appears that no women or children survived, just men. (UPDATE: 95 people are presumed dead out of 141 who were on board the ship.)

The boat, the MV Princess Ashika was put in service just a few months ago to temporarily replace another boat that was determined to be unsafe. The Ashika, which was actually older than the boat it replaced, was to remain in service until late next year when a new boat, paid for by the Japanese government is to begin connecting the islands.

It may seem odd that only the men survived, but as is normal in Tongan culture, it is very likely that the men were in a different part of the boat or outside. Men and Women do not normally socialize together in public or even sit together. The woman and children normally sit inside the boat and the men will stay outside and drink kava and smoke.

All over Vava’u today, the accident was all everyone was talking about. At the market, one of the women selling vegetables was in tears after just learning that her son may be one of the victims. There are similar stories all over the area as it is likely that the majority of the people on board were either from Vava’u or are related to someone who lives here.

One of the missing men is a JICA volunteer. JICA is the Japanese version of Peace Corps.

The area where the boat went down is not far from Nomuka, which is part of the Ha’apai Island group, but is actually closer to the main island of Tongatapu.

The survivors have been picked up by the other ferry that serves Tonga and taken to the main island in Ha’apai.

No word on what caused the boat to sink but one rumor claims that the boat was having troubles even before it left Nuku'alofa and that the crew was told not to make the trip.

Spending the Night at the Police Station

2009-07-29T05:33:00.000+13:00

I woke up last Tuesday morning in a Tonga Police station. In fact, I ended up spending 15 hours with the Police at the Police Station and it was NOT my decision to be there. There were no handcuffs, no Miranda rights (those don’t exist here) and no free phone call to an attorney or even the Peace Corps.

It all worked out fine but the story of how I got there and why will take a little explaining.

Last Monday, I began a visit to many of the outer island villages here in Vava’u. I was joined on the trip by two Tongans, a loan officer and a boat driver. These two make the trip every month to see clients on the outer islands, but I came along because we were planning a workshop on Hunga, which is one of the outer islands.

We left the old harbor of Neiafu and soon arrived at Olo’ua.. This village is pretty close to the main island but is a world apart. As we made our way from the dock up to the village, there were no sounds, no people, not even the chirps of any birds.

We found our client and then headed back to the boat and on to Taunga. This was my second trip to this village and it is a really pretty spot with a beautiful sandy beach and friendly villagers.

Our next stop was Ovaka. This island is one of the furthest from the main island and it is also home to my fellow Peace Corps Volunteer Scott. We found him helping the woman of the village.

In Ovaka, we started inviting people to the workshop we had planned for two days later. Since this was my first visit to Ovaka, I went to check out Scott’s house.

By outer island standards, Scott has a pretty big house. It’s two bedrooms and a large open living area. There is no electricity or running water and the only furniture is a single twin bed. Not even any chairs. I didn’t know it at the time, but a comment I made here was the first step in my eventual stay with the Tongan Police.

From Ovaka, we got back in the boat and went to Hunga. There is a huge Lagoon in the middle of Hunga that connects to the outer ocean in just two places. The entrance closest to Ovaka can only be used at high tide. It was low tide, so we ventured out into open ocean and around to the other side.

The first thing you notice when you arrive in Hunga is the new road. New Zealand Aid has paid for a road to be built from the water up the hill to the village.

This might seem like a pretty good deal until you discover that there is just one tractor and one truck in all of Hunga. That’s it! Two motorized vehicles.

While making our client visits and handing out more invitations to our workshop, I saw something I’ve not seen before.

That is an octopus hanging on a pole to dry. They do this to preserve it.

By the time we were finished in Hunga, it was late in the afternoon and we had completed our work for the day. At this point, Oholei, the loan officer with whom I traveling suggested we make a stop at the near-by Blue Lagoon Resort.

A number of years ago, the bank helped the owner build this resort and he seemed glad to see us, buying us both a beer and telling me to look around. It’s a nice place. It’s powered by windmills and solar power and looks like a perfect place to spend a relaxing vacation or even a honeymoon.

So what does all this have to do with my overnight stay with Tongan Police?

When we first left the main island, both the driver and Oholei had asked me if I was planning to spend the night in the islands. I said sure and told them I was prepared with a sleeping bag and other gear. I told them I could sleep anywhere.

Since I’ve been in Tonga I’ve slept on floors, in a kava hall, on sofas and I’ve camped plenty of times. I assured both of them I could stay wherever they were staying.

Now remember I mentioned the comment I made at Scott’s house? I pointed out he only had one bed. Oholei apparently took this to mean that it was not acceptable for me to stay with Scott. There is only one other Peace Corps in the islands, and that is Amy and because she is a single woman, it would not be culturally appropriate for me to stay with her. They were worried that I might not have an acceptable place to stay.

Finally, the two Tongans tell me that we are going to stay in Falevai. Falevai is the only outer island village with both a medical center and a police station.

We get there as the sun is setting and they go inside and quickly arrange for me to spend the night at the police station. When I ask why I’m staying at the police station I’m told that it’s the only place they knew of that had a bed. I told them again that I would be fine sleeping anywhere, but there was no arguing with them and so for the first time in my life, I spent the night at a police station with the one police officer who works in the outer islands.

My room was a small room with a single bed but it was not behind bars. I was just a few steps away from the jail so I can say I slept AT the jail, but I did not spend the night IN jail. There is a big difference.

A Cool Camping Spot

The Friday before my night AT the jail, I went camping for the first time in almost two months. I joined five of my fellow volunteers for an overnight camping trip and beach bonfire.

One of the great things about Vava’u is that you can find a beautiful beach and have it all to yourself.

This beach is a bit of a hike, but well worth it. It’s below the village of Holonga and its rare to see anyone there. I camped last year at Utula'aina point which is just above this beach, but this was the first time I had camped on this beach.

Peace Corps Tonga Group 75

The Peace Corps office in Tonga is expecting 27 future volunteers to in a few months. That’s a slight increase over the 24 who started with Group 74 and down from the 33 who started with my group, Group 73. Of the 27 new trainees who are coming in October, the staff is expecting 1 teacher trainer volunteer, 6 primary school volunteers, 10 secondary and tertiary institute volunteers and 1 Community Development volunteer.

A Whale of a Day

2009-07-21T14:36:00.000+13:00

This morning, I was calling on bank clients in the small outer island village of Matamaka. I was with Oholei, one of the loan officers at the Tonga Development Bank where I work. We had arrived by boat and he and I were making our way through the village while the boat’s driver, Ha’ukau stayed with the boat.

We had been in the village for less than 15 minutes when I see Ha’ukau walking quickly toward us. This is pretty unusual as he always stays with the boat when we are visiting clients.

As he gets closer, he yells:

“Ha’u Steve! ha’u vave”. That means “Steve come here quickly”. He motioned me to follow him to the beach and when we got there he said in English just one word: “Whales”

I kept looking but couldn’t see them but we headed back toward the boat while Oholei finished up with our client. We waited at the dock my eyes peeled for any sign of a whale. Finally, way off in the distance, I saw a little black hump appear. If I hadn’t been looking, I would have missed it.

That was the last we saw of the whales until Oholei made his way back to the boat. We got in the boat and started heading to our next stop when we saw not one, not two, but three whales dead ahead.

We moved closer than turned off the boat’s motor and waited. A few minutes later we see a giant whale swim directly under our boat. If it had surfaced it would have capsized the boat, but clearly the whale was just as curious about us as we were about it.

We didn’t want to disturb the whales so Ha’ukau started the engine and put the boat in reserve. Almost immediately, a large whale breeched directly in front of the boat. All you could see ahead was black…no water, no shoreline, just the side of whale. It was THAT big. If the boat had been going forward, we would have hit it, it was that close.

We stayed in the area for a while longer and the whales continued to play. We think it may have been a mother, father and baby as two of the whales were very large and the third looked smaller.

I’ve seen whales before but never this close. There are about a dozen companies in Vava’u that offer whale-watching trips or swimming with the whales experience, but we were the only ones around to share this experience and we didn’t pay for it.

The whales soon swam away and we continued on to another village and more visits with clients but it was our visit with the whales that the three of us will remember most.

I did take some video as well, but it didn’t really come out that great. I was standing on a boat that was rocking and kept trying to find the waves in the water. But here is a short clip anyway.

The Great Vava’u Clean-up

2009-07-16T08:13:00.000+13:00

When you walk around Vava’u today, the island is immaculate. It hasn’t been this clean since the King’s Coronation last August. There is no litter in site, all the yards are mowed, junk has been taken out of the yards and the sidewalks in the main town of Neiafu are spotless.

My landlord and his family have been spending hours every day working in the yard, planting flowers and scrubs, weeding and even putting Tongan flags on ribbons across the front of my home.

As this photo of my house shows, both the house and the yard look great and I had nothing to do with it.

Last week was National Environmental Awareness Week and all across Tonga, students were encouraged to learn about the environment, pollution and renewable energy. Here in Vava’u, the Tonga Development Bank, where I work, awarded a TOP $250.00 prize to the winner of a contest among all the high schools . Each team had to answer questions and the team that got the most correct answers got the check.

Vava’u High School won the competition and walked away with the money.

So it might be a natural conclusion to assume that the reason the island looks so great is because of National Environment Awareness Week. Unfortunately, that is not the case.

The Tongan Princess, the sister of the King, is visiting Vava’u this week and the reason that everything is spotless has everything to do with her visit and little to do with Environment Week.. She is visiting both outer villages and the main city. In the case of my neighborhood, I live just a block from the Vava’u Royal Palace so my Tongan neighbors want to make sure everything is clean as she comes and goes during her stay.

It would be nice if the island could stay this clean and I’m sure the focus on the environment in the schools last week will help, but unfortunately there are no easy solutions. In my opinion, the biggest problem is that nothing that is imported to Vava’u ever leaves here. All of the cans, bottles, cars, oil, tires, etc that are brought here in the name of progress stay here forever. All this stuff is either burned or put in junk piles. Until there is a viable recycling program and until there is island-wide garbage collection and garbage bins, the problem will remain.

Leave me a Voice Mail

I’ve been playing around with a new service called Google Voice. With this service it is now possible for me to send and receive free text messages to and from the USA. I can also receive voice mail in Tonga that you leave for me on my Florida phone number.

If you want to send me a voice greeting, and it’s always great to hear a friendly voice, just click on the icon below and enter your phone number. Your phone will ring and you’ll be connected to my voice mail which I will get in Tonga. There is no charge for you to do this as long as you live in the USA.

Unfortunately, it still costs money to place a live International phone call to Tonga but it’s nice for me to be able to able to listen to any messages you want to leave.

And my Vava’u mobile phone number is also changing. All the phones are being converted from five digit numbers to seven digit numbers. That means my number is now 676-75-12566. You can still dial it without the 75 but am not sure when that will stop.

Peter’s Photo

Here’s a photo of my landlord’s grandson Peter. He is a great kid and has really warmed up to me. When I first moved here, I think he was a little intimidated by me. Now, he comes over and jokes around.

When I took the photo of the house that is pictured above, Peter spotted me and immediately ran over and posed for this photo. It’s also interesting to see how much he has grown in the past 15 months since I last posted a photo of him.

They Call This Cheating in the USA!

2009-07-07T15:30:00.000+13:00

Monday night, just after 10pm, I’m laying in bed. The doors are closed and the lights are out. I’ve just finished watching a movie and I am going to sleep. The phone rings. I look at the caller-ID and I don’t recognize the number. However, I quickly think it might be a friend who just got a new phone number, so I answer it.

“Hi Steve, I’m a teacher at the side school and I need your help” (The side school is the all-English speaking school where my neighbor James works)

“What kind of help?”

“I have to write an essay and I want you to help me. I’m outside your house right now”

I quickly have several thoughts before I answer. Why is this woman outside my house at 10pm, why is she calling me instead of James, how did she get my number and why does a teacher need help to write an essay? I tell her that I’ve gone to bed and ask if we can meet in the morning. I suggest she come to the bank at 9:30am and I’ll try to help. She says okay and we hang up. I then hear the sound of a car engine starting, I see headlights come on and hear a car drive away. Yep, she really was outside my house.

Now, before I go further with this story, let me explain that when a Tongan wants something, they usually just show up at your door. That’s more common than a phone call. Someone showing up, even complete strangers, has happened often and if my doors are open, I’m usually glad to help but not after I’m in bed unless it’s an emergency. This was not!

The next morning, just after walking out the door of my house at 8:30am , a car pulls up with a woman inside. She tells me she is the woman who called last night. In the USA, I might feel like I’m being stalked, but in Tonga I actually don’t think much about it. The woman, who doesn’t tell me her name, gives me a little more details about the essay she has to write. She says her cousin is a student at Vava’u High School and he has an assignment to write an essay about the over-population of Tonga. He wants her to write the essay and now she wants me to write it.

I politely tell her that I can’t do someone’s homework for them, but that I’ll be glad to help him write it. I suggest he come by the bank or by my house this evening and I’ll work with him to get it done.

“Oh no” she says. “I told him I would write it and I need you to help me”.

I then tell her that I’m not going to write the essay for her, but that I will help her write it. I don’t see any point in me writing a high school assignment for someone when they are not going to learn from it.

“OK but how about if I give you the information and you can just write down the important points and then I’ll write it from that”.

She hands me a notebook.

Clearly she is not going to give up so I take the notebook and tell her I’ll make some notes for her and that she can pick it up later at the bank.

I walk to work and then open the notebook. It’s filled with questionnaires that have been filled out by other Tongans concerning over-population. Clearly this is not just a simple essay, it is an exercise in analyzing data and writing about it. (By the way, one of the people who answered the survey said the solution to over-population was sterilization for everyone.)

So what did I do? I did as I said I would do and wrote some notes. But the notes are about how to analyze the data and compare people’s opinions to the facts. She will still have work to do to complete the assignment. I doubt her cousin, the student, will learn anything from this assignment. I also assume she will take the notes I’ve written and give them to someone else to write the essay.

As it turns out, that is exactly what happened. I left my notes and her notebook at the bank for her to pick up. When I got home, I went over to James' house and guess what? The notebook and my notes had now been given to James.

That's just the way things tend to happen in Tonga.

A Big Bank Robbery in Tonga

On Friday someone left the door to the vault open at the head office of the Tonga Development Bank in Nuku’alofa. That by itself isn’t actually that unusual. I worked there for two months when I first became a Peace Corps volunteer and I remember noticing the door was often open. However, on Friday someone walked in and helped themselves to a half million Tonga Pa’anga, which is about US$250,000. That’s pretty much everything that was inside the vault. On Monday the staff here at the bank branch in Vava’u were all buzzing about this and most believe it was probably someone at the bank who took the money.

From TV to Tonga

I was surprised and humbled this weekend by a story called “From TV to Tonga” on the website of WCPO-TV in Cincinnati. It was written by Larry Handley who is a meteorologist at the station. As he mentions in the story, which I’ve pasted below, he and I used to work together. I didn’t even know Larry was reading this blog which made it even more of a surprise.

Thursday, July 2, 2009
From TV To Tonga...

It was a beautiful March day in 1989 when I arrived at TV20 in Gainesville, Florida (at my own expense) to interview for a weather anchor position that I heard was open at that station. Steve Hunsicker, the station's News Director, greeted me warmly and proceeded to politely listen to me blather on about why someone with no credentials or real weather experience should be given a chance. For reasons I still can't explain he hired me and the rest, as they say, is history. Despite his apparent lack of sound judgment some 20 years ago his recent decisions are much more impressive.

About a year and a half ago Steve resigned his position as a big-time television group executive to join the Peace Corps. He left his nice home in South Florida, his powerful and high-paying job and all the comforts of America to help businesses in the Kingdom of Tonga succeed. His blog is a favorite bookmark on my computer and I always look forward to his newest entry. I must admit that I'm living vicariously through his adventures on the other side of the world. He tells tales of beautiful geography, people and traditions. He shares adventures that could only be experienced in that setting. He had to learn a new language in just a few months and he lives on nearly nothing. He chose to do all of this in his upper 40s and he seems genuinely happy and content.

His two year commitment to the Peace Corps ends later this year and he has no idea what he will do when it's over. However, he seems totally unconcerned and relaxed. I believe that's the way it works. The more you give of yourself - freely and honestly - the less you worry. Maybe helping to solve other people's problems and making their lives better increases your own faith that things will work out. Thanks to Steve things worked out for me 20 years ago when I was desperate for a job like they are working out now for the people of Tonga. And there's no doubt in my mind that things will work out for Steve as he transitions back to life in America.
Follow the last several months of Steve's Peace Corps adventure at http://blog.stevesadventure.com/.

Thanks Larry for such kind words.

Independence Day in Tonga

On Saturday July 4th I celebrated the USA’s independence by eating hotdogs, hamburgers and drinking beer while sitting on the ocean. While it was a lot different than the way I spent last July 4th, it probably wasn’t that different than the way many Americans spent the day. But there were a couple of differences…I was eating hot dogs from China, beef from New Zealand and drinking beer from Germany. I wasn’t in the USA, I was in Tonga. And the ocean? It was the beautiful blue South Pacific.

Looking Forward

2009-07-03T16:15:00.000+13:00

It’s been more than two years since I received my invitation to become a Peace Corps volunteer in Tonga. That invitation had the date I would begin. Another big date was the day I announced I was leaving my company after 15 years, Having specific dates made those decisions seem final..

Now, with less than five months left to go, I have another date. That’s the date when I’ll be leaving Tonga and wrapping up my volunteer service in the Peace Corps. That will happen on Thursday, November 26, 2009,. It now seems very final.

Officially, my group wraps up our service on December 12, 2009, exactly two years after our swearing in ceremony. This means I am leaving 16 days early. However under Peace Corps rules, volunteers can leave anytime during our last 30 days with the permission of the Country Director. I have now received that permission. Others in my group will start leaving November 13th

In my case, leaving a little early will allow me to meet a friend in South Africa. I’ll be flying out the morning of November 26th to Sydney and then on to Hoedspruit, South Africa and the Kruger National Park. From South Africa, I’ll head home to West Palm Beach. When I get back, I will have flown all the way around the globe.

At various times during my Peace Corps experience I’ve thought about extending my service or even signing up for another stint in a different country. However, as much as I’ve enjoyed my experience here I’ve realized that the best thing for me right now is to get some “USA Time”. I would like to continue with Peace Corps in some capacity and will be exploring that option as the time for my COS or “close of service” get nearer.

So while I’ve got a final date, I’ve also got a lot of things left to do. I just started work this week on a video project for the Tonga Development Bank. The bank plans to air the video on local TV and also use it to promote the bank at workshops in the future.

I’ve also got several new clients with whom I’m working and it happens to be tax time in Tonga, which means I’ll be helping a bunch of people with their taxes. I never would have guessed I would be giving tax advice in Tonga.

I’ve still got some vacation time left and am hoping to make one more big trip before I leave even though I haven’t decided yet where to go. And in September, I’ll be flying to the main island of Tongatapu for my COS conference, which will be the last time that the members of my training group will all be together. (There will soon just be 19 of us remaining out of the 33 who started. Two more volunteers from Tongatapu are leaving on Tuesday).

So the adventure isn’t over, but the end is near. I’m very thankful for the experiences I’ve had and while I didn’t plan it this way, it seems appropriate that my last day in Tonga, Thursday November 26th, is Thanksgiving Day.

Steve's Adventure with the Peace Corps

The Adventure Continues

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Steve’s Adventure Ends Today

A Video Journal

My Future Plans

A Final Thought

UPDATE: February 17,2010

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Wrapping Things Up

Meet my Co-Workers

The Week Ahead

My Friends in Tonga

Some Random Notes

Good-bye Shannon

Peace Corps Tonga Videos

Tonga Development Bank Video

Farewell Janis

Team Teaching

Science Fair

A Tongan Drag Show

Swimming with Whales – Absolutely Amazing!

The Humpback Whale Experience

Whale Photos and Whale Videos

More Information about Swimming with Whales

A Scary Welcome to Tonga

Job Training

Fun Friday in Vava’u

First Hand Account of the Tongan Tsunami

Photos from the Tsunami in Tonga

Another Australian Adventure.

Kangaroo Island

Wine Tasting

Melbourne

Together for the Last Time!

A Tongan Tradition I Don’t Like

Will You Buy This for Me?

10 Questions (and Answers) about Peace Corps

1) What one particular experience/moment highlights your Peace Corps service?

2) How have your values shifted, if at all?

3) What have you accomplished for the Tongan people?

4) Have you made local friends? Share a ‘friendship’ moment.

5) What local customs drive you crazy?

6) How does technology fit into your experience?

7) Why should more Americans apply for PC service?

8) Describe your village site….in detail: what is attractive/difficult about it?

9) When were you most frightened?

10) How will you move your service forward upon your return to the US?

Food Glorious Food

Pizza from Scratch

Vava’u Shopping Tip

Changes in Peace Corps Tonga

The Wreck of the Clan McWilliams

The “Facts” about the Tonga Ferry Sinking

Playboy king's Scottish holiday sparks anger

Tongan king's critics hit out

The Latest “Facts”

Help on the way for Tonga Ferry Victims

Grief turns to Anger in Tonga -- UPDATED

A Very Sad Day in Tonga (Updated)

Spending the Night at the Police Station

A Cool Camping Spot

Peace Corps Tonga Group 75

A Whale of a Day

The Great Vava’u Clean-up

Leave me a Voice Mail

Peter’s Photo

They Call This Cheating in the USA!

A Big Bank Robbery in Tonga

From TV to Tonga

Independence Day in Tonga

Looking Forward

Get the Printed or Nook e-book from Barnes and Noble
($16.99 Print, $4.99 Nook)

Get the e-book for Sony and Palm Devices
($4.99)

Get the Printed Book from Create Space
($13.99 when you enter coupon code BCSUHUM4 at checkout.)