The Road Less Traveled : The Kaipola

Following a great birthday on Thursday, I experienced one of my more interesting weekends that following Saturday.

The week before I had been invited to attend the Wesleyan Church in Houma’s annual fundraiser and the kaipola (feast) that would occur afterwards. Though I live in the village of Ha’akio, the two villages of Houma and Mangia compose part of my school district so I am trying to integrate into all three villages and I attended church in Houma the week before.

I was not expecting anything extraordinary as, by this point, I am well versed in the Wesleyan services. The family I lived with in Ha’asini was Wesleyan, and most of the people in the three villages I live in in Vava’u are Wesleyan, so I have more or less been to a Wesleyan church every Sunday since I have been in Tonga. I knew more money would be given than usual – a practice that I disagree with, but more on this later - but I did not foresee the ridiculousness that would soon ensue.

Though I knew the feast would not start until 3 pm, out of respect I went to church at 1 pm for the beginning of the service. It was a very unusual service. With the exception of two speakers in the first ten minutes, nothing else happened. Everyone sat down in the pews and a man and a woman came around with the collection boxes. Each Tongan would give between one and 5 pa’anga every time a collector came by. The collectors walked down the aisles maybe fifty times over the course of the next two hours, and every time the villagers would put a few pa’anga in the box. I would assume the church collected a few thousand pa’anga this way – a large sum but not ridiculous.

What I did not know, at least not yet, as I sat in the back of the church letting my mind wander for two hours, was that each family also brought envelopes stuffed with cash to donate to the church. The Wesleyan Church of Houma, with maybe 100 congregates including children, raised 41,000 pa’anga ($25,000 US dollars). No family gave less than 1,000 pa’anga with some families giving 5,000 or more.

I was shocked. This is a ridiculous amount of money in Tonga. Each family gave a large percentage of their total income to the church in one day, compromising their ability to provide for themselves and their children for the other 364 days of the year.

With the help of my friend Pila, who has lived in Australia for 30 years and speaks flawless English, I tried to understand how this was possible. The conversation went something like this:

Me: I don’t really understand how they were able to raise this much money. Does every family pay?

Pila: Yes, every family. The ones who can afford it pay more, but no family pays less than 1,000 pa’anga.

Me: Can they afford to pay this sum? I didn’t think they receive that much money from working in the bush. Is it all from overseas?

Pila: Pretty much. All of the families receive money from relatives overseas and they use this money to give to the Church. It is too much money. When they work in the bush, the families might sell some of the crops for money but they mostly use the crops to feed themselves. This is overseas money. My mom donated 5,000 pa’anga, all money my brothers and sisters sent back from working in Australia.

Me: Ok…what does the church do with the money?

Pila: Church is a big business in Tonga. Half of the money goes to the headquarters in Nuku’alofa and the rest might go to repairs for the church and other things. I don’t really know exactly.

End of the conversation.

Everyone might feel differently about this issue. I am not personally very religious, but I have discussed how much money Tongans give to the church with some of the other pcvs (all of whom are Christian and some are much more religious than myself) and they are also uncomfortable with this practice.

The issue is not the money in and of itself. A person has the right to do what they wish with their money. The problem is that the money given to the church is not only money that was received from the hard work of relatives overseas who wanted to help provide for their families, but also it is a large percentage of each family’s yearly income and directly compromises their ability to provide for themselves and their families. It sadly reminds me of the indulgences that occurred in the Catholic Church in Europe prior to the Reformation, and while I respect how important religion, along with family and community, are to Tongans, I sincerely hope in the future that Tongans will only give as much to the church so as they can still meet their basic needs. Seeing my students at school go hungry from not having eaten lunch and knowing that the money that could have fed them was given to the church is a difficult thing to observe.

To end on a happier note, and indeed while I struggled with the amount of money being donated this was a joyous occasion for the village, the fundraiser was followed with the largest feast I have ever seen. Every type of food that is available in Tonga was there and in spectacular quantities. Dozens of roast pigs. Lobster. Crab. Asian Noodles. Fried chicken, grilled chicken, spicy chicken. Roast Lamb. Beef. Grilled and Fried fish. Lasagna. Crab salad. Coke, Sprite, and Fanta everywhere. Pineapples and Watermelon. Cake. Goody bags in front of every person filled with chips, cookies, apples, oranges, lollipops, and other sweets.

It was overwhelming. There was so much food that for leftovers I was given a bowl of Asian noodles, a bottle of coke, a large goody bag of sweets and fruit, and a third of a roast pig. I was offered much more food, but I had to say no as I could no longer carry anything else.

As an honored guest – which is crazy that at the age of 23, palangi, and a teacher I am considered one of the more important people in the village – I sat at the front table with very important faiefekaus (Church ministers). The feast was delicious and I left with a stomach about to burst.

Tongans are a very generous people. Sometimes their generosity is difficult for me to observe, as with the giving of so much money to the church, but in other situations, like the communal sharing of food, it is fantastic to behold. I do not know if my feelings regarding this issue will change in the next two years, nor do I know how you my faithful readers will regard this level of generosity, whether you agree or disagree with my analysis and perception, I just wanted to give my two cents and explore a difficult but interesting aspect of life in Tonga.