It has been a while since my last update. The trip to Tonga went very well and it was good to visit home especially to see my mother and relatives in Auckland and of course the rest of the “kainga” in Tonga. In addition to my partner, Kirsi, my daughters Fiona and Tahine, and Ipu my granddaughter, 4 other members of our Herttoniemi church choir came along. We visited schools and churches and donated the Tongan youth hymn book which was the main reason for our trip. We were so pleased and thankful for all the welcome and the hospitalities that we received.
Last year, we collected a few euros from Ipu’s birthday together with donations from the members of our visiting group and started a few scholarships this year in three of the high schools in Tonga. The scholarships are for girls whose parents have difficulties in paying for their school fees. Primary school education is free in Tonga. Unfortunately, high schools are not free. There were some hymn booklets left and they are sold in the Friendly Islands Bookshop, all the proceed goes to the scholarship fund. In addition, we gave out ukuleles and other donations in kind collected from Helsinki.
I would like to express our sincere thanks to all our hosts in Tonga: Queen Salote College (Nuku’alofa), Mailefihi-Siu’ilikutapu College (Vava’u), and Hofangahau College (‘Eua), to the churches, Makave and Pangaimotu (Vava’u), Petani and Mata’aho (‘Eua), Kapeta (Tongatapu), and the Tongan North Cote Methodist Church (Auckland, NZ), to the Finnish Lutheran Church Council for the financial support and to our local church, Herttoniemi parish music department for the ukuleles, to the Helsinki Rugby Club and the players for the rugby stuff donated, to all the friends and relatives, thank you all for all the supports we received. Last but not the lease, to my mother, Ipu Soana Elone and to the rest of the gangs both in Auckland and in Tonga, as our Tongan saying, “the only tressure Tonga has, is saying malo.”