“Nobody Starves in Tonga”

 

I was having dinner with Faiana last night and she made an interesting point.

Paraphrasing, she said, “In America if you don’t work you starve, but in Tonga nobody

works and no one starves.”

 

Tonga is very different culturally in some ways from America and the rest of the world.

Tongan’s place much less emphasis on work, and the status and availability of food in

Tonga is much greater than in most developing countries.

In America, we identify ourselves by what we do. Much of our self-worth is closely

connected with our occupation. We view our personal success and level of achievement

by what type of job we have and how much money we make. When someone asks you if

you are successful, they are generally referring to your work.

 

In Tonga, a person’s identity has nothing to do with what they do. Most Tongans are

happy to receive money from foreign aid, usually New Zealand, Australia, or Japan, and

also accept money from family members who are working out of the country and send

back money to Tonga – much like how Mexican immigrants in America will send back

money to their families in Mexico. Some Tongans will work to make money, but many

either fish, farm, or work in the bush to supply some food for themselves without caring

how they receive the money they spend. A lot of Tongans might not even do that much

because fishing and farming is very tough work, and they are content to buy canned food

at the falekoloa (store) with the money they are given.

 

A good example of jobs not defining ones status in Tonga is the issue of gender equality.

Many pcvs all over the world try to help empower the women in their villages and make

gender equality a large component of their service. Many empowerment strategies focus

on employment and making women self-sufficient. At first glance women in Tonga seem

to possess complete equality by our standards, as women are extremely well represented

in the work force and may even outnumber the men. Misrepresentation in the workforce,

as is and has been a problem in America, does not exist in Tonga. This does not mean

however that there is complete gender equality in Tonga, as possessing a job does not

elevate a Tongan to higher status. The job does not identify one’s importance or worth in

Tonga.

 

Neither value is inherently good nor bad, and I am not advocating the virtue of one over

the other. I just find it very interesting how different the two concepts of work are in the

US and in Tonga, and these values play a large role in differentiating the two cultures.

Similarly, food is a very important part of Tongan culture. Tongans are big by genetics,

but they also love to eat. Tongans eat large meals and snack all day. Lunch and dinner are

daily, not hourly, activities. This would seem strange as many Tongans do not have a lot

of money, and food is usually scarce in developing countries. The image that readily

comes to mind of food in developing countries is children starving in Africa. I know that

when I signed up for the Peace Corps, I assumed that I would be sent to a country where

the scarcity of food was a dominant issue.

 

That is the not the case in Tonga, however. If a Tongan does not have any food, he

simply goes next door. Tongans are an extremely generous people, and will always give

you food or eat with you if you ask for it. There are almost no beggars or homeless

people in Tonga, because a Tongan can always live with a family member no matter how

distant the relation. As Faiana said, no Tongan can ever starve because of the generosity

of their neighbors.

 

This phenomenon is increased exponentially at funerals, as the family of the deceased

gives food to everyone who comes to the funeral. Since the funerals last for three days

and everyone in the village attends, funerals are extremely expensive affairs in Tonga. I

went to a funeral my first week in Tonga, and they gave me raw meat, bread, sweets, and

a drink as a “party favor” for coming to the funeral. Faiana told me that the family killed

four cows just to feed everyone who attended the funeral.

 

That concludes my anthropological evaluation of Tongan and American culture. Please

let me know in the comments if you life this kind of post, or just find it boring. I find the

cultural differences interesting, but if I am pontificating too much please comment and I

will only discuss funny or cool anecdotes about my life in Tonga in this blog, and save

this stuff for family emails.

 

Faiana and Baby (one of the volunteers host sister)

 

Tongan dancer wearing traditonal outfit