A Bunch of Volunteers

For a Peace Corps Volunteer, I don’t know too many other people serving in other countries. I don’t know anyone from college who joined the Peace Corps, and I speak seldom to the two girls I attended middle school with who are currently volunteering in Madagascar and Samoa respectively. I am the exception, however, as many of the other volunteers have several friends serving in Peace Corps around the world, and I am always interested to hear from them how their experiences differ or are similar to our lives here in Tonga. Especially because, while I can’t imagine being anywhere other than Tonga, Peace Corps could have sent me to any of these countries, and I always find thinking that my last two years could have been completely different as a little surreal.

One of the feedbacks I often hear secondhand from the other volunteers in Tonga, is that their friends talk about how in their day-to-day lives they interact with so many other volunteers, NGO workers, and employees of government aid programs. In Peace Corps countries in South America, Africa, and Asia, so many different organizations are present that it is nearly impossible for these volunteers to not overlap or converge with another group or person in the course of their service.

This is not quite the same in Tonga, however. Tonga, being a small country in the far away South Pacific, there are not nearly as many NGOs or government aid programs operating here and as such volunteers in Tonga are part of a much smaller international community. This is nice as I came to Tonga to integrate into the local culture and spend my time with Tongans, but one of the unforeseen enjoyments of living in Tonga, specifically the smaller Vava’u, has been the friendships the other American volunteers and I have formed with volunteers from all over the world, mainly Australia and Japan.

Since arriving in Vava’u, I have gotten to know 6 Australian volunteers and 3 Japanese volunteers well. The Australian program is quite different from Peace Corps, as the Australians apply for a specific job, like working as a hospital administrator in Vava’u, and as such they mostly work for one year in a more professional role and often live in larger towns or the capital. The Japanese (JYCA) volunteers serve in Tonga for two years, like Peace Corps volunteers, and of the three volunteers I have been friendly with, one teaches Japanese at the government high school and two have worked in the Tonga Ministry of Health dental program.

Before leaving the US, I never expected to make personal friendships with people other than Peace Corps volunteers or Tongans. The friendships all the volunteers have formed in Vava’u has been without a doubt one of the many unexpected joys I have found living in Tonga. We are able to have fun – to go diving, go out together, host everyone at each of our houses – and work together on projects where our assignments overlap or that we feel a particular passion for. Surprisingly and enjoyably, these friendship have offered both a nice change of pace for me in my life in Vava’u, and meaningful relationships that I believe I will carry with me after I finish my time as a volunteer in Tonga.

As always, thanks for reading and enjoy the photos.

A rainbow over my house, on the left, and my neighbors'

It is common in Tonga for the students to use empty alcohol bottles for water bottles at school

I know that I have posted a ton of tooth brushing photos in this blog, but this photo has a special significance for me. The kid in the front left (wearing a red and white shirt) Samiu, is a Class 2 student who for the last two years has been the only kid who refused to brush his teeth no matter what my teachers and I tried to do to change his mind. Several weeks ago, Samiu, for whatever reason, finally decided to join in the fun. And...he became a good role model in the process as his little Class 1 brother Tevita (in the orange shirt) starting brushing his teeth for the first time at school as well.

Class 1 and 2 listening intently in class

Class 1 and 2 with their teacher and my principal Selu