Our time in Tonga has come to an end. There would be too many people to possibly thank in one blog post. We are so grateful for the kindness and support we received from friends, family, fellow Peace Corps Volunteers, and co-workers during our time in the Kingdom. I was 29 when we went to Tonga; now I am 31. We left during the Bush Administration, and have returned to the Obama era. We are sure to feel incredibly blessed and patriotic this upcoming 4th of July. Right now, we are enjoying the opportunity to reconnect with our families and loved ones. We plan to move to the Denver, Colorado area in mid-July. We have returned to the U.S. with a wider world perspective, countless anecdotes and stories about our time in Polynesia, enhanced Professional skills, and a renewed appreciation for home. Thanks for following our journey!

I wanted to give a few updates from the past few weeks.  Two winners of the prestigious “Commonwealth Writers’ Prize” happened to be in Tonga after receiving their awards in New Zealand.  The authors, Marina Endicott and Mandla Langa, were only in the Kingdom for a couple of days.  I was fortunate enough to set up a book reading at my school.  My Form 6 students (High School Seniors in the U.S.) attended the event.  It was really such an honor to have the authors at my school, and I was so proud of my students.  Although they may not have understood every single word, they listened diligently and actively participated in the question and answer session.  Because we had recently studied the apartheid movement in South Africa, the students were especially interested in talking with Mandla Langa.  He is a South African poet and novelist, who was honored with the Commonwealth Writers’ Award for his recent novel, “Lost Colours of the Chameleon.” My students asked about racism in South Africa today, as well as the post-apartheid political climate.  For more information about these novels, you can click here.

Mandla Langa at Tupou High School

Marina Endicott

Cynthia and Sateki, two of my favorite students, at the book reading.

If you get a moment to look at some of our new photos, you will see me– all dressed up in traditional Tongan clothes, mat and all, marching in the opening of the Parliament parade.  I’m just going to over generalize here, and say that Tongans love a) marching bands b) parades.  I honestly think all of Nuku’alofa came out for the event.  The parade, which involved nearly every school in Tongatapu, seemed to be designed to signify the people’s support for both the Royalty and the Parliament.  I don’t know if that is always a social/political reality, but like I said… everyone loves marching bands and parades!  This was the first year my school had a marching band, due to recently acquired instruments.  I have to say… I was impressed and enjoyed myself– despite the heat and the massive crowds.  And the outfit:)

Well my main position here at the Ministry has always been IT, but since Lara’s departure, I was able to transition over to GIS. It’s a great time and I really enjoy working with Richard, Seli, Leilika, and Maka. We have a good time and I have actually felt like I have had things to contribute as well as learning a great deal from them! I just finished writing a guide on mapping the seismic data from Geology for the past number of years. It’s good fun!

I am also working with my IT counterpart, Vinod, and a new Energy Planner, Lano, on biofuel initiatives here in Tonga. It’s really exciting because these guys are really excited about the potentials here. In just few weeks, with Lano’s navigation of the culture and extreme enthusiasm and some background work I have done, we have been able to identify some real potential for reinvigorating the copra economy here in Tonga! We have also identified some people doing some really interesting things with grid tie solar systems as well as experimenting with gassification of wood systems! We have also gotten approval to install a two tank straight vegetable oil system in a Ministry truck!

BYU reactor from 2006, still being used! They are out of chemicals at the moment.

The Product line they are creating! The second from the left is the washed biodiesel.

Here is the couple and their tractor they have been using their homebrew in!

Here is Murray with his Solar grid tie system!

Here is Murray’s new project, his gassification of wood unit!

Here is the truck we are going to covert to a 2 tank SVO(straight veggie oil) system!