Nga's story

Ngaremu Matangi-Manoharan

Correspondence school

Year 1

Self Evaluation.

I don’t really like writing.

I’m really good at writing

My teacher last year Matua Rob thinks I’m good at writing

Yes Mum and Dad think I’m good at writing

I don’t like writing at home.

I can’t spell and don’t know how.

Below is Ngaremu’s explanation of her picture in her own words dictated by Mum. (Chrissie)

This is a picture of a party at Whanganui. I went to Whanganui with Malaysia who is my big sister, she is 6. We went to a party, Well everyone is coming to the party, there is cars, Malaysia is running to the house cause she wants to show everyone everything but she wasn't  allowed inside, four people are jumping on the bouncy castle actually six, it had flags on the side. An Aunty I didn't know is helping the little 2 year old at the party, cause she can’t walk very well. I'm in the picture, wearing a pretty dress and Malaysia is too, the girl with 5 over her head is me because I'm 5. The Aunty I don’t know is helping another cousin to the bouncy castle, but she has to wait because there are too much people and she might get squished. It’s sunny, with a little bit of clouds, it’s hot. There is a table to eat off with lollies and banana’s, chicken, cheerios’ and the lollies were in cups. The balloons are by the table and when everyone comes they get a balloon. So they are all holding their balloons except the kids in the car, who will get one but they are still in their car. Aunty Trishna, Andreaus and Aunty Whyte were there too. We all drove in the car it was a long long long way from Aunty Trishna’s to Whanganui, Aunty Trishna's is in stokes valley. The little girl has a little balloon because she is little. It was special because I went with Malaysia, then they brought me back to camping and I was happy to see everyone. I said goodbye to Malaysia and she drove back to her house. Luckily I was back at camping with my family, I said luckily because I liked the party but there was too many people I didn't know and I felt lonely, but I was with Malaysia and Andreaus. It was a good day for a party because it was hot.

Photo's:)

Rainy doing his preschool homework!

View from the pier looking back towards the beach by our house:)

Ez up a coconut tree!

Full height, Go Ez!

Making coconut cream

Starting to scrape the coconut

pressing out the cream

 Finished product:)

                                                 

Gecko!

Beach

                                                                                                     

Sand art

                                                                  

Thanks Grandma for the cars!

Rainy climbing at the beach

Rainy and Mum having fun with the Camera

Home made Fish n Chips- Yummy

Generosity two Easter examples

On good Friday the church service was a combined one over at Fale, we have no transport however and rely on the school boat in the week and the kindness of others at any other time, Pale offered to come and pick us all up for the service (7 of us are quite a few extras in small boats) so at 7:15am we were scooting across the lagoon in our Sunday best on our way to Church. The ride was lovely the beauty of the lagoon is and will continue to be a moving and blessed thing. The church service started at 8am so Pale and Lihe invited us into their home until the church bell rang…as we sat Pale produced a feast!! Much to the delight of our children especially Nga and Rains, Chicken nuggets, hot chips, pancakes and milo, Lihe had prepared these especially for us in generous abundance. We went to Church with full stomachs, after the service we were very hot, and before we were taken home, Pale and Lihe gave us ice water and Oranges!! (Like gold here) so amazingly generous.  Lihe also gave us two beautiful church fans she had made, which will be so so great for our Hot Sunday mornings, as we were leaving Pale also gave us his copy of the Tokelauan new testament (only the new testament has been translated into Tokelauan so far) to borrow until we can get our own-it feels very much like a treasure to be able to read the gospel in this beautiful new language we are beginning to learn…We felt so far away from family at this significant time in the year and yet Pale and Lihe have welcomed us in like family in spite of our otherness, radical hospitality in action…

Our empty tomb

our coconut palm and pandana leaf cross

Ez,Nga and I with the finished tomb

Finishing touches before home for Easter Eggs:)

We have been on the receiving end of much generosity in our short time away from home, Paula and her family, who we hardly knew, Matt had met once, hosted us in Samoa, Emanuel took us under his wing for a day, Pale and Lihe, have kindly let us rent their home in Fenua Fale, strangers have given us fish, crabs, drinks, the list goes on, one such act has made Our Easter Sunday very special (especially for the kids.) We got to meet a lovely man Falima from NZ while He was in Tokelau during the General Fono. He is Tokelauan, but has always lived in NZ. He was very kind to us and friendly, chatting warmly and making us feel very welcome. On the day before he left I saw him as Rainy and I headed to preschool, He had a book on Tokelau that he had talked to Matt about and was lending him until he comes back. He gave it to me and then handed me two balls for the kids!!! Super exciting as we forgot to bring one with us, one is a semi soft NZ kiwi cricket ball and one is a black squash like ball, soft and super bouncy and lots of fun, Rainy and Ez have particularly enjoyed these.  it was so thoughtful and kind. Then that night just as we were getting the kids to bed He came round to say goodbye, He gently offered what he had brought round for the children, a packet of marshmallow Easter eggs!!! We had just been talking about how our kids would miss the usual chocolate goodies they get from family at Easter time….we were tempted to eat them but instead put them in the freezer where they have been until this morning (3 weeks waiting pretty good for sweet tooth’s). After a small family reflection time at the beach, where we built the empty tomb and cross, we came back and had a hot drink (yes hot even though the temp is over 31 degrees already at 10am) and an Easter egg.  Needless to say they were enjoyed immensely :) So Thanks Falima for blessing us when you were here and today, your kindness and generosity will not be forgotten. 

A first experience of “inati”

Many years ago, I had a conversation with my good friend Okesene Faraimo that first captivated me and planted the seed of interest in Tokelau culture, which ultimately lead us to bring our family here. Okesene told me about the age old Tokelau tradition (and present day practise) of “inati” – the sharing of resources so that everyone in the community is cared and provided for.

Inati happens constantly at all levels of Tokelau society, but specifically refers to a semi regular event where all the village men head out, often well before dawn, to bring in a large catch of fish – enough to share around every person on the atoll. The catch is then very carefully divided out according to the number of people in each kiaga (family or household) and the whole nuku (village) gather together to participate in a practise that is profoundly shaping of Tokelau culture.

The other night, Chrissie the kids and I were already tucked into bed at around 9:30pm. At around 9:45, we received a phone call (well two actually because we groaned, rolled over and ignored the first). It was Danny a teacher at the school ringing to say that someone from the family needed to make the trip to Fale the next morning to receive our inati. He said be there around 8am and bring “containers” because this inati was of dried foods such as flour and rice.

So being the palagi that I am, the next morning I left promptly at 8am with a bunch of containers – at least what we think of as containers – Tupperware or Click Clack type things. The first niggle of doubt occurred to me as I met with an elderly woman who carried several buckets rather than a couple of small containers! We took the trip to Fale on the first boat heading that way and when we arrived she vanished in a different direction so I headed up to the Fale Fono – the meeting house - to await what was to happen next. I arrived at the Fale Fono to find only the Pulinuku (Mayor) talking to one other man and subsequently found out that 8am actually meant sometime in the morning and that most of the village had been up partying the night before – hence barely a soul to be found. I settled down, realising I’d be waiting a while and that at least I’d witness the whole process.

Apart from carrying 50kg sacks of flour and sugar (no mean feat for a little palagi boy like me) to be placed in piles in the Fale Fono, I waited island style until about 11am before any real action started. At this point people showed up from everywhere – each and every one of them with large 10 and 15 litre “containers”. Fortunately my little palagi containers were hidden away in my backpack! Finally at 11:30am, the inati kicked into action. First a “significant” tithe was loaded onto golf carts and taken to the two ministers on the atoll. It appeared that inati could not begin until this important step was completed. Once done, all the remaining food was divided into four piles which become ‘distribution stations’. 

Each station had a pre-prepared list with the family name and the number of people in the kaiga. Names are shouted, repeatedly, over the top of each other – calling people up to receive their inati. First round was breakfast crackers. Actually this was four rounds in total and took a full hour or more as they figured out how many should be given out per person. There was a very clear importance placed on making absolutely sure that no-one would miss out. All told it ended up being 20 crackers per person and a good handful per family for good measure. For our seven that meant  the equivalent of about 2 ice cream containers full. 

Crackers were followed by rice, sugar and flour. I was given sacks to collect mine in and at approximately two very large cups per person ended up with some 30 plus kilos of these items.

The gathering is full of life and noise and laughter and people crisscross over each other and pass the time chatting, and generally enjoying being together. 

Kids all emerge as preschool and then junior school finishes and they add to the lively nature of things. So after many many rounds of assessing if more should be given and how much (it reminded me a bit of the Fruit and Veg Co-op that Wesley runs in Cannons Creek, were sometimes we’re trying to figure out if there’s enough surplus for everyone to get one more of some item), things finally seemed to wrap up at around 2pm – or so I thought. People all vanished pretty quickly and I secured myself a ride with someone with a boat heading back to our motu. However just as we were about to load the boat, I realised that inati was not in fact over for the day. In addition to the large load that I’d already accumulated, a huge quantity of pork and chicken had been divvied up in similar fashion at the waters edge (but thankfully a whole lot more promptly given the heat) so I was also allocated about another 10kg of meat for our 7 person kaiga. Overwhelming for a wee palagi boy to say the least! And very heavy and hot to carry in two or three loads from the beach to our house at Fenua Fala!

It was such a blessing to be part of this most beautiful of cultural traditions and practises, and to be included without even a question of our ‘eligibility’ – just that “everyone in the nuku gets their share”. What a profound and beautiful challenge to reflect on in the way we live our life and spend our money, time and resources. My prayer is that some or a lot of the ‘spirit’ of inati will rub off on my family and I during our time in Tokelau.

Challenges…..

There is so so much that is amazing and beautiful about being in Tokelau and on this wonderful adventure, however we would not be being truthful if we pretended there weren’t challenges, here’s a list of some we are experiencing….

* Mosquitos- My legs and arms are on fire and they bite all day long!! Especially as we live in the bush…..aaaarrrghhhhhhhh

*The relentless grit that is on the floor, on my feet, in my hair, on our beds, in our clothes…even when they have just been washed

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*Sitting through a telling of crucial information and not understanding anything……except Palangi.

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*Sleeping, living, eating, playing with 7 people in one room, two of who are 5 and under!!

*“ Peeing in a bucket (with a lid) at night to avoid going to our outside toilet and being attacked by the mozzies

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*Emptying said bucket in the morning (wee from dehydrated people stinks!!!!) in toilet outside, then filling cistern from a bucket so it can be semi flushed away.

“* Trying to cook creative meals with rice, frozen veges and chicken………sometimes 10 nights in a row!!

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*Wanting to make friends but only knowing so little of the language

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*Any small cuts or scratches becoming infected in 24hrs…pus filled sores galore…which the flies love to land on…..

sore that needed to be drained at the Dr's much to the delight of the four local kids who gathered round to watch....just glad it was on my thigh not somewhere more embarrassing!!

*“ Sweating all day and night….as Rainy would say “Dripping Hot” as in sweat streaming down your back, face & legs etc mixing with the grit……

“* Being constipated from lack of fruit, fibre, and dehydration or the other extreme as our bodies adjust to a new diet and drinking coconuts!

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*Not being ab
le to buy hair ties and having four girls( Chrissie included) who have to have their hair up for school, preschool and church…..and the ones I brought with us rust from the sea water.

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*Waking up in the night with a cockroach on your back….

*“ Ants everywhere, constantly crawling on you and falling through mozzie nets and from the roof.

*“ Nits that multiply at an outrageous rate….no treatment available…so combing, combing, combing with oil….

*“ No hot water

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*Cutting chicken off the bone to make it go further while inundated with flies….

*“ People being unsure of us and not having anything to offer but a smile and probably some confusing Palangi behaviour.

“* Not having a boat, when it is the main transport

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*One shop on the other Island (Fale) that restocks twice a month….

“* Being so tired from the heat and the effort of learning a new language and culture

*“ Ez says writing in Tokelauan….I’d have no hope!! (Chrissie)

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*Nga says missing Malaysia, Connie and Kyla

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*Internet costing $100 for 2.5GB, which is  over $20 for a ½ an hour skype call

*“ Cheese costing $38 for 2kg…….missing having it…..small peanut butter for $6-would cost you a fortune to live here Claire!!

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*Wanting to play soccer with friends but getting so so hot and running in Jandles and a Kie!

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*Hair being wrecked by the saltwater!! And conditioner cost $5

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*Ru says lack of language

*“ Thinking about coming home and having to start friendships again…..nervous as (Ruana)

“* Losing earrings and you can’t get them here.

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*Running in temperatures above 30 degrees.

*Sweat moustaches……

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*No fruitL

“* Conger Eels….ask Ezra 

Ezra's creative side:)

Ezra's awesome Frangipani creation.

Ez had been playing outside with our new treasured ball (blog coming!!) A really bouncy one:), He had bounced it out over the toilet and lost it in the bush and I had told him to try and find it as the ball had only become ours that same afternoon, He had been gone for ages and I started to feel worried about him feeling stressed out about losing it, so I went out to say not to worry and I see him come round the corner, ball in his pocket (He had found it virtually straight away) but had got distracted making this awesome creation, which looked and smelled beautiful!!                              Lovely boy:)

Random pics...

Found Rainy with the camera and He said “I took a selfie” :)

 Rainy’s super cute jandles

Nga’s homework Tokelaun Alphabet and in Red the height measurements as of February…making the place feel like home.

Dishes

Add caption

Dishes inside on makeshift bench- away from Mozzies!!

This is me doing the dishes, on our makeshift bench aka piece of rotting wood we pop up between flour bucket and table. Means we can do the dishes inside which is much more pleasant, just fill up the bowl outside from tap under the house and then we are away.

Hot work, even though the water is cold and it's the late afternoon- photo's taken by Meli.

Rainy's fun with Mum....

Excited about doing some baking! Piklets:)

After preschool today Rainy and I (Chrissie) did some baking, made some Piklets a favourite treat here for our kids just served plain with no toppings...We made the mix and then cooked them up in time for the big kids getting home for school-Rainy has such a big smile as He was only one home so knew He was getting bowl licking privileges:)

While we let the mix sit for a bit I asked Rainy if He wanted a turn with the Machete (spelling??)
He was super stoked and enjoyed feeling like a Ninja turtle (what He said He was) and also said He was a big and strong boy and would cut some coconuts down for his special Mum:)

Cute!! such a charmer this boy- love him.

A Machete!! 

Article about the Ulu inauguration

Article written by a lovely Dutch man we met who is originally from Pukerua bay (small world:))




http://www.sobserver.ws/en/12_03_2016/local/3544/New-Ulu-o-Tokelau-steers-the-waka-to-better-quality-of-community-life.htm




Our post coming soon!!

Learning to weave a basket

Here's my first effort (Matt) at weaving a basket from a coconut palm unassisted. Still some refinement required, but it carries stuff. Most men here seem to make these in about 3 mins flat - takes me more like 20. They're used for carrying everything - fish, coconuts, rubbish and whatever else.

The basket on the right is my first complete effort

Dishes Creatures

In Tokelau, I have all manner of creatures keeping me company while doing dishes. There are flies and ants abundant. There are mozzies that line up along my veins. Then there are feral cats, chooks and the odd mouse that runs about.

This guy is a bit of a different dishes guest that I came across the other day. He wasn't that keen to hang out! I did the dishes another time!

Hermit Crab visiting our outdoor dish-washing space

Dinner delivered to the door

Tokelaun’s love to give fish. I think it’s their primary love language. We've been given fish from a whole range of different people here. Here are a couple of pics of food that’s arrived at our door.

During the storm a couple of weeks back when fishing couldn't be done the men all went out and caught a whole lot of crabs to be handed out around the community. Here’s Chrissie and Matt hoeing into ours. (The kids didn't like them. They did take a lot of work for the amount of meat you got, but were quite tasty.

Here’s some fish that we were given. The pink once are our favourite – apparently in the same family as Snapper.

All of us are enjoying the fresh fish we’re having a few times a week – even the fussy boys which is a plus in a land where fish is the staple food.

Ingenuity

Making the most of a Tropical down pour.

Showers

Here’s a couple of photos of tropical ingenuity…Our old fridge which was broken when we arrived has become a great pantry and place for our plates, cups and cutlery. Loving having somewhere to order it all (Yes we are both “J” on the Myers Briggs!) and so good not to have to throw the old fridge into the tip.  The other photo is of Matt making use of the tropical downpours we have had over the last week or so, filling all our water containers, filling a bucket to flush the toilet, doing the washing, having our showers and washing all the dishes…plus cooling off. It’s a lovely rain and it feels so good to be able to use it all as our water tank is full and over flowing so we can’t store it at the moment.  Feels very satisfying and the flurry of activity is a nice shift after long slow days.

Our Pantry:)

Church

Off to Church

Here is a picture of us all ready to go to Church, about a 2min walk from our home. The bell rings for about 1min, ½ an hour before church so you know it’s time to get ready, and then it rings for about 5min when it’s time for church to start. Church lasts about 1hr-1hr and ½, but it is very hot, I wish we had church fans!! Should have bought some in ApiaJ  after church we come home for a special Milo!! And a treat…. This week a Tim Tam- yum only Chocolate/sugary treat for the week. $5.80 a packet!! And to get out of our hot and sticky church clothes. No one hangs around after church to chat or have a cuppa, everyone is keen to get into cooler clothingJ

The Tupelenga have banned all fizzy drinks and lots of sugar laden items which is a great community initiative and means good health and teeth which is important as no fluoride in the water, and very limited dental care, only emergency removal.

We all enjoy our Sunday treat though!!