This
post will be all inclusive of July starting with the current activities and going
backward. We were without internet
services for 3+ weeks! So glad to be
connected again. We are well and happy!
Monday,
July 30th, the mission dentist, the dentist on temporary assignment,
and their four assistants opened the dental clinic at Vaiola to provide free
checkups and dental services to students, their families, church employees, and
some community folks. They do this
annually, staying a full week, and filling a serious need, indicative by the
continual hum of their generator. On
Friday evening after the dental crew packed (or stuffed) their supplies in the return van, they came to our home for dinner.
The ten of us had a great time conversing and getting to know each
other. Just a word here---our mission
dentist and his wife, Elder & Sister Pitcher, have worked hard to establish
a training program for training assistants; thereby, providing a means of
self-reliance. It is a program they
coordinated with the Samoa national dental association to meet the government
goals and criteria. Despite the
obstacles, they have had a very successful program.
This
week we wrapped up two classes and had a big brownie day after a final in one class and final presentations in the other. This is a
time of makeup work, grading, filing, and getting paperwork and materials
prepared for the startup of two more classes which will be our last. 😞
The
Vaiola student athletes are preparing diligently for the zone and national Samoa track and field competitions, arising for early morning drills at 5:00 a.m.
and then practicing after school as well.
On Friday, August 3rd, Ron presented a training at our 6:30 a.m. faculty meeting. It included a myriad of education elements. We are blessed to serve with a wonderful staff.
Saturday
evening, August 4th, we attended the first Savaii Pathway Connect graduation. There were nine graduates who completed their
online semesters. This makes them
eligible to enroll with the BYU-Idaho online program and their credits are
accepted at BYU-Hawaii. It is a blessing
that the church instituted and made a cost effective program like Pathway
available around the world.
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| Graduates and the Facilitators, Brother & Sister Lolo |
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| Singing group comprised of current first Semester Pathway students and Sister Lolo. |
On July 23rd, Elder & Sister
Little came to Vaiola to meet with staff regarding TVET and SQA. They stayed a couple of nights with us;
always a joy when we get together. In
addition, Area folks from New Zealand arrived and held meetings for two days
including a faculty meeting on Thursday morning about Corporal Punishment and
Classroom Management.
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| Jeremy & Jonathan from Area |
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| Victoria from Area HR |
That
week we were privileged to judge impromptu speeches again for Level 1
(Kindergarten). Most of the young
students could describe their object and its color and a few expounded on its
use. They did great.
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| Ron announcing the winners---several ties. |
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| Winners with teacher, Sister Frost. |
There have been a few BYU-Hawaii students on campus for two weeks completing internships. One of them named Joseph, from Arizona, helped out in the Primary School where the boys and girls came to love him. (Actually, one day Primary School had most of their teachers out sick and Joseph taught a class the whole day.) After the Level 1 speeches, Joseph was called up to be recognized and thanked. He was showered with leis, lava lavas, and other gifts.
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| Primary School Principal, Sister Obley, and Joseph laden with gifts. |
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| Primary School Teachers, Sister Taala & Sister Ufagalilo, with Joseph |
The
college (high school) held an assembly to recognize academic achievements of
students for the previous term.
Certificates were awarded for those who made honor, high honor, and the
principal's list. After the awards, the
BYU-Hawaii interns were recognized; our students embraced the university young
people.
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| Teachers Brother & Sister Nemes on either end with some of the interns in the middle. |
About 7:30 a.m. the school plays the national anthem and a student raises the flag:
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| Raising the Samoan flag. |
Ron continues mentoring a student teacher:
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| History Class |
Ron
dug up some huge sweet potatoes from his patch.
We cooked one and made it into mashed potatoes. He shares all his produce with those
interested. He gave a variety of garden seeds
to the dorm girls who planted their garden area. In addition, here are more garden pictures:
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| Gnarly sweet potato! |
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| Exceptionally large cucumbers. |
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| This squash plant has completely wound around the flower bed. |
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| Ron has these Soko trellised. The plastic bags deter birds who pick the young buds. |
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| Soko reminds us of a potato---peel and cut up and cook as stir fry or in soup. |
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| Recent cloud picture. |
This is a bus barn where we've seen new wooden buses built or restored and painted.
We drive past it all the time on the Vaiola road and finally took a picture.
Going Back during
the school break in early July...
We had more house guests, Bonnie & Lennie
from Hawaii. Ron and Lennie attended
middle school and high school together so this was another great reunion. After showing them the usual sights of Savaii
for four days, we ferried to Upolu. This
gave us the opportunity to revisit a couple of places we really wanted to
return and to visit new places. It
seems when you are from Laie, Hawaii and teach at BYU-Hawaii, you know island
people wherever you go; such was the case for Bonnie and Lennie.
We had our own Savaii farewell dinner for Elder & Sister Deffense. Since it was a Sunday, everyone opted to wear an apron for our spaghetti dinner.
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| Lennie, Bonnie, Ron, Elder Michel & Sister Sharon Deffense |
CANOPY WALK
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| This Primary School has a lot of history and is situated at the entrance of the canopy walkway. |
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| Lava Fields |
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| Flags were for a community celebration. |
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| Noni season. |
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| Pigs abound...they roam but always know where home is. |
Below is a proprietor of a road side produce stand. We found out that his daughter attends BYU-Hawaii. While there a project was taking place on his property. They had contracted a brick maker for the day and he manually made the cinder bricks below. The gentleman is going to build an add on to his home.
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| This gentleman has a daughter attending BYUH. His stand offered a lot of produce. |
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| Contractor filling his mold with concrete. |
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| He then turns out the brick. He had spent all day making bricks! They sell for $3 tala each. |
There is a bay near Lano that is fun mile or so walk at low tide.
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This lady was chipping lava rock when the tide went out to dig clams for her father-in-law
because she said they were his favorite. Her son chipped rock with a hammer to bag some crawdads.
A lot of work and a labor of love. |
While in Savaii we happened onto a wonderful group of young missionaries and got to meet our new mission president and his sweet wife. Ho Chings and Huffs are well acquainted since they both come from Laie, Hawaii.
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| Lennie, Pres. & Sister Ho Ching, Bonnie, & Ho Ching's son |
UPOLU WITH BONNIE & LENNIE
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| Papapapai-uta Waterfall |
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| Robert Louis Stevenson hike at the Vailima National Reserve |
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| Aerial view from atop Stevenson memorial. |
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| Beginning of a breadfruit. |
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| Developed breadfruit from same tree. |
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| Elder Kinghorn, Lennie, Bonnie, Karla, Ron at RLS memorial |
Interesting note: Lennie & Bonnie are in the same ward as Elder & Sister Kinghorn in Hawaii along with our new mission President and his wife, the Ho Chings.
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| Ron, Elder Kinghorn, Lennie |
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| Vailima, Home of Robert Louis Stevenson family. Now the museum. |
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| Yes, a fireplace in Samoa to remind RLS of his Scotland. |
That week in Apia was the final farewell of Elder & Sister Deffense. We had a group breakfast at Izzy's. These have become some of our cherished friends.
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| Elder Little, Sister & Elder Deffense, Elder & Sister Cameron |
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| Ron, Karla, Sister & Elder Little |
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Sister Kirkham, Sister Westenskow, Sister & Elder Little,
Sister & Elder Deffense, Karla & Ron |
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| Beautiful flowers at the market in Apia. |
One of our last excursions in Upolu with Bonnie and Lennie was to the To Sua Trench, a place we've wanted to go and finally did!
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| We descended down that ladder from above into the awesome pool below. |
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| This gives an idea how steep the climb is. |
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| Lennie jumping from the platform! |
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| We were watching Lennie plunge. |
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| Proof Karla was on that ladder...and hanging on! |
After the adventure and picnic at To Sua Trench we joined other Senior Missionaries at Mermaid Beach down the road a ways. Snorkeling between those two juts, it looks like an underground canyon and easy to keep your bearing. Love seeing the varieties of colorful tropical fish.
Along with our play time we did attend to business. The church schools in Apia are Pesega Middle School and Pesega College (high school). We were able to meet with a couple
of administrators and teacher coaches to fulfill an assignment by our Area
Coordinator. We know the administrators
from attending the Principals' conference in Tonga in August 2017. It is always good to touch base with them.
On Sunday evening while at the mission home, this group of missionaries presented an inspiring devotional in the outdoor visitor center.
Before saying farewell to Bonnie and Lennie as they ventured to other Pacific Islands, we lunched at Izzy's.
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| Sister & Elder Kinghorn, Karla, Lennie, Bonnie |
We returned to our Vaiola home. Teachers were focused on getting grades posted in light of
scheduled Parent Teacher Conferences.
Our ITEP class on Human Growth & Development resumed and our new
Admin class on Curriculum Leadership commenced.
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| Pre-Parent Teacher Conference Assembly |
Sorry this post reads like a book but we did want to record some of our activities of the past month. We have mixed emotions knowing that we serve for only eight more weeks.
