Honoring Athletes, Hospitality Classes

We teach the HR/Law class in the evening to accommodate staff who are concurrently coaching field/track athletics right after school.  Because of the system of Chiefs or Matai in Samoa, disputations are not as readily resolved in a court of law as we know it.  After consulting with a local attorney, Ron has learned that most cases here are about property or ownership.  Since our class is focused on educational law, we reference the U.S. cases for teaching due process and basic rights & responsibilities.  

Wednesday was verification day for the government to audit for compliance with Ministry of Education rules and regulations.  In preparation one teacher requested that we videotape her students doing presentations about the Samoan culture; that was fun.

Last week Vaiola had a parade and celebration for five of the twelve athletes who played on the Samoan Rugby team in the 16 & under division.  The five from Vaiola also included the team captain.   They traveled to the Carribean for the international games and came home with the gold!

Parade Cars

Athletes and Family Members

One of many banners.

Ron has been enlisted to assist with the long-distance runners for track events.  They have a meet this Friday for all Savaii schools.  Tracks are usually grass surface and runners may run wearing tennis shoes or barefoot.   This has been a good chance to mingle with students.

Parent/Teacher conferences were held and the concerns were similar to any school setting regarding participation and parental support and so forth.  Overall, faculty seemed pleased with the outcome.

Our focus the prior week was in the Tourism vocational classes where students implemented skills on how to wait on the customer, how to communicate clearly, how to enhance food presentation, and how to serve courteously. In each class, the teacher invited us to be the customer and to offer constructive feedback along with other staff “judges”.  During visits to three different classes, we were served a veggie omelet; tuna, green beans and taro; crepes filled with bananas and whipped cream; and pineapple ice cream topped with bananas.  Of course, the food was delicious.  Vaiola students do an amazing job with the limited resources they have.

 

Veggie omelet topped with hot sauce & crackers to the side.

Plate of fish.

Fish, Taro and Fried green beans & tomatoes.

Pineapple ice cream topped with banana slices.

Preparation.

We stopped in a clothing store where they sell limited t-shirts, men’s wear, and fabric.  The snapshots show the display of buttons and thread.  Mini zip lock packets of buttons are kept in each container.  Generally, we would buy fabric and hire a seamtress to sew new clothing items or sew it yourself (without the pattern).  Ready made items are scarce. 

A young lady in her 40’s stopped by to visit this week.  She introduced herself one day while we were at the village shopping and we invited her to visit Vaiola and she came.  We found out that she is a member of the church and is from New Zealand.  She was here to bury her husband who passed away.  Her one-year old son is a cutie.  She testified how much she has felt God’s love during this hardship here on the island.  We can’t begin to tell you the extraordinary complications and trials she has had to bear but she is certainly exemplary of trusting the Lord and praising Him.

More fruits and plants.

We did not post last week as our office was without power all weekend and we can only post during after school hours during the week.  Next weekend is a three-day holiday for the Samoan Father’s Day.