The Road Less Traveled : The Land and the Sea

With nothing of merit having occurred this past week to relate to all of you, I have instead decided to dust off the cobwebs of a post that has been sitting in my back pocket for the past few months. I hope it will captivate you at least enough to want to read another post next week.

Before I arrived in Tonga a little over 9 months ago, I knew very little about the country and the culture, and therefore I tried to begin my service with as few preconceived notions as possible so that I wouldn’t be excited or disappointed about something that simply wasn’t true. One of the few facts about Tonga that I did know was that it was an island nation with a total combined landmass of the 5 island groups equal to that of Memphis or Dallas. With such little land and so much access to open ocean, I could not help but think that fishing was a huge staple of the Tongan diet and economy. As has usually proven to be the case, I was wrong.

In the unseen battle of land and sea in the tiny island nation of Tonga, land has undoubtedly won. There can be no dispute. Out of two, Sea placed second in Tonga’s hierarchy. Fishing exists in Tonga, but it is nowhere as prevalent as one would think it would in an island nation, especially on the main island. Very few people own boats or fish. The village I lived in during my home stay on the main island did not possess a single fisherman even though it was only a five-minute walk from the ocean. People may walk out to the ocean and spearfish for tiny fish and collect clams at low tide, but I didn’t know a single person who went out on the water and fished in a boat. There are villages that specialize in fishing and have many fishermen, but considering that almost every village boarders the ocean the number is surprisingly small. Further, the price of fish on the main island is shockingly high, making it unaffordable for most Tongan families.

In Vava’u, my present home, fishing is certainly more prevalent than Tongatapu, the main island. Here, many more people have boats, especially those who live or have family on the numerous outer islands. Fish is cheaper than on the main island, however it is still more expensive than beef of lamb, which are considered luxuries themselves in most Tongan families, and is triple the cost of chicken, which is itself still a rare treat for most Tongans. Tongans instead mostly survive off bread, root crops, canned food, and anything else they may grow on their land. Fish may be more present in Vava’u, especially in the delicious ‘ota ika (raw fish and think of ceviche) but it is still in short supply for an island that when I told people from my home stay village that I was moving to Vava’u joked that they hoped I liked fish as that was all I was going to eat once I arrived there.

The winner of the battle that exists only in my mind, land, is of course a much different story. Every single Tongan family has their own ‘uta or bush. This bush, consisting of a few acres, is farmland where Tongans raise pigs, cows, and chickens and grow root crops and vegetables for personal consumption and to sell in town. Farming is the very backbone of Tongan life and the economy as it is the only source of income, other than family members from overseas sending back money, for many Tongans and supplies nearly all of their food. Interestingly, Tongan farms were never turned into large properties that employed workers on wages, and instead practically every Tongan owns their own land and decides how to best use it. To give you some idea of how prevalent the bush is in Tonga, every person in my village, even the few who have jobs in town, works in the bush every day besides Sunday. For the vast majority of people in my village, their only occupation is their bush. Every morning when I walk to school, I have the same conversation with the men I see.

Them: ‘Alu ki ako? (Going to school?)

Me: Io. ‘Alu ki ‘uta? (Yes. Going to the bush?)

Them: Io. Nofo ‘a (Yes. Good-bye)

Me: Toki Sio. (See you later)

This conversation almost runs like clockwork, with very few deviations from the above discussion.

Therefore, land 1 sea 0. 9 months in, I am still amazed how expensive fish is in Tonga and how important farming is to the people, especially considering that while Tongans have been farming for centuries, growing vegetables has only become popular and prevalent for the past decade. As for me, I just try to enjoy to the fish when I do eat it and try not to get overwhelmed by the abundance of root crop at my disposal.

In my life, I only have one new thing to report. With the “winter” school break next week, my school is sending the report cards of all the students to their parents. This means that I have to give midterms in English to all my students. Though I am testing my Class 6 and 5 students next week, I assessed my Class 3 and 4 kids and while their English is still low, I was happy to see that they have made some improvements. It is nice to know that at the very least I am having some positive effect on the kids and I’m curious to see how well my older students do. As for my grant proposal, I have heard nothing yet so once again I am cautiously optimistic that I will have more to discuss on that front next week.

Thanks for reading and have a great weekend.