The Road Less Traveled : Vava'u!

I am very happy to announce that I will be spending the next two years of my life in the beautiful island of Vava’u. Unfortunately due to Peace Corps regulations, I cannot tell you the name of my site in this blog at this time, but I am very excited and I can tell you a little about my site (if you want to know the name of the site email me or ask my parents).

I will live in a small town of about 60 people, and commute about a km to my school every day. The school is in a town of about 100 people, and consists of students in the town I’m living in and another town that is roughly the same size. Since the town is so small, I am really hoping to integrate into the community quickly and actually learn everyone’s name.

The school has three teachers and 54 students. The description of my assignment, as written by the principle at my school, is as follows:

* Co‐teach English lessons for classes 3 ‐ 6 for 4 days a week and Fridays will be used for teachers development
* Lead teacher training workshops for teachers at school based on expressed needs
* Help establish library

* Help conduct sports activities.

I am incredibly excited about the description, as it covers everything I hope to accomplish in Tonga. I feel very strongly about organizing athletic events and establishing a library, and I particularly wanted to teach every class level. Further, I am looking forward to having an entire day each weak to focus on teacher training so that I can make my project sustainable by working with my fellow teachers to develop new teaching strategies. I also hope to establish some secondary community projects, but that will mostly likely remain separate from my teaching assignment.

To top it all off, the primary school I am teaching at has never had a pcv and the town has not had a volunteer since 2000 – he worked in agriculture which is very different from what I am doing - so I can really put my stamp on my site from day 1 and not be restrained by previous volunteers successes and mistakes. As far as site placement goes, I am extremely fortunate, as I could not have picked a better site to match both my skill set and desires.

Overall, I am very happy with my site location and I cannot wait to get there and get started. I still do not know a lot about the site, but I am heading up to Vava’u from October 31^st to November 3^rd, and I will then hopefully know more and relate it to my faithful readers.

Until then, however, I have posted a description about Vava’u (courtesy of Lonely Planet via the Peace Corps), a map, and some recent photos below.

Vava’u is a paradise not only for sailing but for year-round diving and snorkeling as well. The tranquil islands have a population of about 16,000 scattered throughout the 50-odd thickly wooded islands of the group.

To many Vava’u is Tonga’s most scenic region. It’s an uplifted limestone cluster that tilts to cliffs in the north and submerges in a myriad of small islands to the south; most of these are wholly or partially surrounded by coral reefs. In Vava’u one superb scenic vista succeeds another, all so varied you’re continually consulting your map to discover what you’re seeing.

Geography:

Where: 275km north of Tongatapu (the main island and where I live now)

Size: 21 km east to west, 25 km north to south

Islands: 34 elevated thickly forested islands/ 21 inhabited

Area: The main island is 90 sq. km