The Freewheelin' Ryan & Abby: Service Update #3

Ryan and my second year of service is officially under way. So, we thought we would take a little time to share with you what we are working on this second year.

This year, our focus shifts a bit from the students to the teachers. Last year, our main goal was to improve our students’ skills in English. This year, we are focusing on trying to help Tongan teachers develop their craft as teachers. We will help create resources and train teachers on how to use them based on skills and knowledge we gained from teaching Tongan students last year. We will work with our Tongan counterparts to help them understand how to adapt the current curriculum to better meet students needs. Already, a principal from the village next to ours has asked us lead some professional development workshops for her staff. Ryan is also working really hard to help the Ministry of Education develop an online dropbox for all teachers in Tonga to have a way to share resources teaching videos, etc.

We still plan to teach this year, as it is one of our favorite parts of service. Our little school got much smaller this year; it looks like we will be rolling with about 30 students total. Some of our favorite kids moved over the holiday, which was so hard as we didn’t even get to say good-bye. Ryan lost his good buddy Laea who we will dearly miss. But, we are excited to make the most of our precious time left here in Tonga.

We just finished our first 2 weeks of school. It felt wonderful to be back at work again. The kids look great and we realized just how much we missed them all. It was an interesting first week because only one teacher was at school with us. The other teachers have been hospitalized with pneumonia. Wednesday morning was a day I don’t think I will ever forget. It was about 9:00 a.m. and Ryan and I were still the only teachers at school. We just looked at each other and said, “Yep, this is really happening.” So, we bravely told the kids to ring the bell and get in line for prayers. The kids were on cloud 9. Some class 6 boys were pulling Ryan aside and explaining to him how to be the “pule” (boss) for the day. They explained what behaviors he needed to punish and promised to help him. My dear sweet class 6 girls were telling me, “Epi, don’t worry. We will help you. We will teach the little kids.” I just loved them all so much at that moment. People walking by stopped dead and watched the two Peace Corps try to wrangle the student body and remember the Tongan prayers to start off the day. A few parents who had come by to talk with teachers were helpful and supportive. They helped us get the kids in line and kept telling the kids they better obey. Luckily, five minutes into the start of prayers, Viola pulled up. I honestly have never felt more relieved. The audible sigh of “Awww…” from the kids was hilarious. The rest of the day went well as we did our best to try to teach the classes with no teacher. Ryan was a rock star. He confidently led the 5/6 kids in their math lesson in Tongan and kept them busy and working all day. On the walk home from school, all those kids kept telling me “Epi, I am so tired. Ryan made us do so much work.” They were gleeful about it and couldn’t stop telling me EVERYTHING about their day with him. All of the 3/4 kids (which I lead) told the 5/6 kids, “Epi let us color and play English games all day.” True story. My how the tables have turned.

Well, that is about it for our week. Clingy Lucky has decided he should come to school every day too. The kids love this, but I think if I heard one more kid call “Epi, sio ki Lucky!” (Epi, look at Lucky) I was going to pull my hair out. He is such a nuisance and distraction. Watching the kids ride him was pretty funny, but that too got old fast. Another problem for another day J

Hope you all are having some warmer weather! Please keep our principal Tevita in your prayers. He is so very sick, but desperately wants to try to keep his post this year. Right now, there is such a surplus of teachers. Many teachers coming out of the teacher’s college are left to wait and listen to the radio to see if a position opens up for them. There are so many teachers, in fact, that the teacher’s college is not allowing any new students to enter the program this year. If things get better, they will open it up next year. So Tevita is worried if he leaves his post this year, he may not get it back next year. His family relies on his employment; so not having his post would be pretty hard for them. We really hope he gets better soon.

Last weekend we went camping at “secret beach.” This is one of the neatest beaches on Vava’u. It is close to one of the other volunteers’ villages. We call is secret beach because it is a pretty tough hike to and from the beach. So it is usually empty of people. It was a really wonderful night. We enjoyed sleeping under the stars, eating great food and swimming. Here are some pics: