Day 162 Tonga Feast

We received a call on the radio that there was a fund raising feast on the island to raise money for one of the local churches. Almost all of the 10 yachts in the harbor turned up. The guide book says that a Tonga feast is not to be missed but visitors shouldn’t be surprised at the amount of food. Even with that warning, we were surprised.
On the way to the church we walked around some of the island. The Lonely Planet notes that Tonga suffers from never being colonized by a Western nation. They not only did not get the funding colonies normally get but they also missed the guilt money that countries get after they become independent. As a result, the nation has half the GDP per capita of Samoa and 12% that of French Polynesia. There are two unpaved and rutted roads that pass by three villages of very poor houses. Even though the street and house grounds are very clean, the presence of bony dogs, skinny horses and many pigs of various sizes gives the appearance of a rather poor country.
We passed by the school where a presentation was underway to promote the use of English. I took pictures of several signs indicating that English is viewed as the route to success in the future. What would the French think if this was one of their colonies?
The church ceremony was still underway when we arrived. It was obvious that the object of the fund raising was to build a new church. The congregation was engaged in vigorous singing and the pastor seemed like he was delivering a fire and brimstone speech although it was in Tongan and none of us (even Andy with his knowledge of Samoan) could understand it.
On the ground outside the church was a row of "tented" food trays with mats on either side. After the service, we were invited to join the congregation so we all took seats on the mats sitting "indian style". Behind or next to every "Palangi" (white person) was a local who spoke good English and gave us information on what we were eating. I had fish, lobster, chicken, yam and a wide variety of fresh fruits. On the tables were a dozen roasted suckling pigs as well as breadfruit, and dozens of other delights that I don't even know the name of. We all ate until we were stuffed, made our contribution to the church and stood up to leave. The woman sitting behind me was the pastor's wife. She said she was sorry there was not enough food. This must be a Tongan tradition as her comment was almost surrealistic. There was enough food for three more feasts. She said it had been prepared by the women of 8 families who started cooking at 6 AM.
Everyone was very friendly with big smiles even if they did not speak any English. At no time did I feel we were being fattened for another feast later in the day.
We returned to the boat where we had another good swim and later in the day sat down to another feast of our own from the fresh tuna. We had already given tuna steaks to most of the other boats in the harbor but every time I look at the fantastic red steaks we have I am awed by the bounty of the sea and by our fortune to share in it.