Thirteen new United States Peace Corps Volunteers were sworn in last week and have taken up residence in various villages across Upolu and Savaii where they will live and work for the next two years. I could not fly up to greet them because of Cyclone Evan, but my Chargé Chad Berbert tells me that the group is enthusiastic, excited to be in Samoa, happy to be finished with their intensive 10-week Pre-Service Training, and ready for the field.

Our new arrivals (from left): Lou Chen, Teuila Pati, Mildred Andrews, Bradley Boelman, Angelina Velarde, Allyson Miller, my Chargé Chad Berbert, Michelle Paul, PC director Dale Withington, Rebecca Haas, Kate Brolley, Allyson Fraser, Kiri Center, Madisen Rhodes, Joshua Fraser, Zach Wegner, and Karen Acree.

During their extended time in Samoa the volunteers will work on a variety of projects, with a strong focus on improving primary school students’ English literacy. Several of the volunteers are going to villages that were severely affected by the cyclone, and they will help repair and rebuild schools as well as teach students and assist their adopted communities in additional ways.

Because of recent events we did not have a public arrival ceremony. Instead, the volunteers were sworn on my behalf by Chad at our offices in Matafele and then immediately deployed. The new arrivals spent their first day with Chad and our Embassy colleagues helping the Samoa Victim Support Group (SVSG) clean out its facility at the old police building, which had been badly battered by the storm.

New arrivals Michelle Paul, Angelina Velarde, and Allyson Fraser get to work, Peace Corps style.

The work was quite a challenge because the mud which innundated SVSG was more than a foot high in some places. Getting SVSG’s facility back into shape was a priority because in addition to everything else it does, SVSG had tacked immediately into assisting Samoans impacted by the cyclone. We were happy to pitch in. You can learn more about SVSG in the profile I posted earlier this year.

Our new volunteers are part of an extraordinary progression. Since President John F. Kennedy founded the Peace Corps on March 1, 1961, more than 200,000 Americans have served in 139 countries, spending two years or more of their lives working on health, education, water, food security, and development projects that have opened new horizons for children, extended and improved people’s lives, and uplifted entire communities.

In the Oval Office in March 1961, President John F. Kennedy hands to Sargent Shriver the pen used to sign the act creating the Peace Corps.

For more than 45 years of its history the Peace Corps has been present in Samoa. During that time more than 2,000 Americans have served here, living and working in villages and making a strong postive difference.

Neither the Peace Corps nor the volunteers always get the recognition and support that they deserve, but President Kennedy’s goal wasn’t to attract attention, generate indebtedness, or win thanks. It was simply to help people.

For that reason I’m a vigorous partisan of the program. I think that more folks back in the United States and abroad should learn about its history and current work.

So, when you have a moment, please check out my pertinent prior posts, including a warm remembrance of founding Peace Corps director Sargent Shriver and notes about my visits with volunteers when I’ve been in Samoa.

I’ll end today with one of my favorite quotes from Sargent Shriver, spoken at the University of Notre Dame in that turbulent year 1968. The words could be the Peace Corps’ — and indeed America’s — motto:

“We need to make a national examination of conscience. Why do we need a national examination of conscience? Because suddenly we Americans seem to be panicking. It’s time to stop moaning and wringing our hands. It’s true, the country is in a crisis. But we have always been in a crisis. We ought to thank God we are. Because then we always have something to test us — like a piece of steel that stays strong precisely because it is enduring great pressure.”

Another of the highlights of my trip to Samoa earlier this month was my first visit to Manono. Situated between Upolu and Savaii, Manono has a population of approximately 1,000, making it the 3rd most populous of the islands that compose the country.

The people of Manono were considered to be among the greatest sailors and fiercest warriors of the Pacific in ancient times. They were routinely hired as mercenaries by ambitious leaders of other islands seeking to extend their rule. Now Manono is notable in part for having no dogs, horses, cars, or large machinery, making it a particularly peaceful island paradise.

Our captain and my colleague Joe, as we sail for Manono (in the distance).

I heard about Manono even before becoming Ambassador, and I have been very much looking forward to visiting. Unfortunately, my prior business trips to Apia have been too heavily scheduled to allow the excursion. This time, though, I made sure that we kept a day clear for the trip.

My colleagues Chad, Ben, and Joe and I drove from Apia to Cape Lefatu, the western-most edge of Upolu island. There we engaged a small, double-hull fishing boat to ferry us the two miles across the lagoon to Manono. It was a clear, blue, sunny day, and we thoroughly enjoyed the half hour sail.

Approaching the Manono shore, near the fales of Sweet Escape Resort. Our boat was the same as the fishing boat pictured here.

Manono has four villages – Faleu, Lepuiai’i, Salua, and Apai. We stopped first in Faleu, where we were officially greeted by village matai with a traditional ava ceremony. I was honored to be welcomed with such warmth and respect.

Upon conclusion of the ceremony, the elders, my colleagues, and I enjoyed a robust traditional breakfast of papaya, banana, fish, and vaisalo, a tasty pudding-like dish made from young coconut flesh and cassava starch.

My deputy Chad, me, our Manono friend Leiataua Kilali Alailima, and my colleague Ben at the ava ceremony.

The elder (at left) directs to whom the ava cup will pass, the young woman prepares the ava, and the young man guards the ava.

The tulafale (talking chief) speaks at the ceremony, with a cup of ava in his hand.

We started our walking tour of the island with a stop at Sweet Escape Resorts, where our boat had docked, to watch young men in the midst of preparing a traditional Samoan umu, similar to a hāngi but above ground.

The process involves building a fire, piling stones onto it, and then allowing the fire to burn down to embers. You then put green bananas, breadfruit, taro, fish, and lu’au (a delicacy made of coconut cream, onions, and taro wrapped up in whole taro leaves) onto the hot stones, and cover it all with banana fronds. The process creates a natural oven … and ultimately a delicious feast.

Young men preparing the umu.

After watching umu preparations for awhile, we walked to Faleu Primary School. The students entertained us with the Manu Samoa siva tau, a haka, and several songs and dances, including a rousing rendition of  “Who stole the cookie in the cookie jar?”  

The kids succeeded in coaxing my colleagues and me onto our feet to dance the traditional Samoan Taualuga. When time came to leave, we all sang Tofa Mai Feleni (Goodbye My Friend), the traditional Samoan farewell song.

Some of our new friends at Faleu Primary School.

Several of the girls perform a siva for us.

We then walked to the village of Apai where we consulted with Women’s Committee representatives from all four Manono villages. We discussed Women’s Committee projects, shared views on development priorities, offered thanks, and then enjoyed lunch together. What the women prepared, though, was more feast than lunch – fried fish, marinated raw fish, chicken soup, macaroni with chicken, coconut milk, taro, boiled taro and bananas in coconut cream, other types of fruit, and fried doughnuts.

During lunch the skies clouded over, the heavens opened, and we were treated to an intense but refreshing downpour. The fale of course kept us dry, and we continued talking, laughing, and eating. My new colleague Ben performed admirably as translator. Ben is a former Peace Corps volunteer who fell in love and married in Samoa. He speaks fluent Samoan, and we were happy to hire him as our new economic and political specialist.

In consultation with the Women’s Committees of the villages.

Ben tells me that one can completely circumnavigate Manono in two hours. I had hoped to do the full walk and see the entire island, but our initial stops ran long because we were having so much fun with our new friends. I could not risk being late for a fixed appointment later in the afternoon back on Upolu with His Highness the Head of State, so we had to forego the rest of the walk around the island (as well as the umu second lunch waiting for us back in Faleu).

Because of the timing of our departure, the tide was out. The water was too shallow to permit our boat to reach the shore or any of the nearby docks. So, we took off our shoes, rolled up our pants legs, and waded out to the boat. Of course, Ben chided Chad and me for not following his sartorial lead, given how much more convenient and utilitarian a lava lava is when wading across a lagoon and climbing into a boat. (And yes, I destroyed all the photos from that part of the visit.)

A local fisherman wishes us farewell as we sail away from Manono.

I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to Manono. Our time on that beautiful island passed far too quickly. I expect to return again soon, however, and not just for a day trip. From everything I saw, Manono is a wonderful place to relax, vacation, and explore.

To all my new friends on Manono, a heartfelt fa’afetai lava for a wonderful day in paradise and for all the warm Samoan hospitality.

One of the pleasures of the turn of the year was receiving an email from my friends at the Mahanoy City Public Library back in Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania. I have been supporting the Library for the past several years, and I always enjoy hearing about upgrades, new projects, and other goings-on there.

Attached to the email were a few photos of recent changes in the facility. I was particularly interested to see the new-and-improved children and youth room of the Library, dubbed Huebners Corner. It certainly looks like a warm and inviting place to spend time exploring, discovering, dreaming, and learning.

A part of Huebners Corner in the Mahanoy City Public Library.

I know from my own experience that libraries can be powerful tools for sparking imagination, broadening horizons, and opening minds. They are egalitarian, libertarian treasure troves of knowledge and entertainment at no start-up cost or user fee to the consumer, which is particularly important during tough economic times.

Unfortunately, when budgets get tight, libraries get squeezed. The officials doing the squeezing often argue that the internet is a cheaper, more expansive, and more cost-effective substitute. I disagree. Even if one overlooks or blocks the gaming, chatting, and porn, the internet simply does not feed and socialize young minds the way well-stocked, well-run libraries can.

That’s why, in my private capacity, I established an endowment fund to support book procurement and youth programs at the Library in Mahanoy City. It’s also why, in my role as Ambassador, I pushed to create a traveling library program in Samoa, with hundreds of donated books in waterproof crates rotating every few months among villages on Upolu and Savai’i.

In fact, I insisted that one of my first official acts as Ambassador to Samoa be library-related. On my inaugural trip to Apia in February 2010, I helped formally open a new American Corner that we constructed at Nelson Memorial Public Library. The Corner is 736 square feet packed with 1,000 books, 65 magazine subscriptions, a bank of research computers, and weekly story-telling and literature programs.

Another view in the Mahanoy City Public Library.

In 1607, Edward Topsell wrote in The Historie of Foure-footed Beastes, “If by covetousnesse or negligence, one withdraw from them their ordinary foode, he shall be penny wise, and pound foolish.” Seems quite apropos. He could have been testifying today at a public hearing about appropriations, books, and young minds.

Among your New Year’s resolutions, please consider stopping at your local library to hug the librarian, check out a book, make a donation, and even volunteer to read stories to children. You’ll be glad you did. (And of course, if you happen to bump into a public official on the street, consider sharing Topsell’s advice.)

I was delighted to hear recently that one of my Peace Corps friends, Elisa Law, was granted the matai title of Leutogitupa’itea by the village of Vaipu’a on Savai’i, where she has been living and working for the past two years. I visited Elisa in Vaipu’a and have spoken with her several times. She has always impressed me with her enthusiasm, warmth, and skill. I’m not at all surprised that she was accorded such a special Samoan honor.

Leutogitupa’itea Elisa Law.

Matai is the Samoan word for chief. Fa’amatai is the village-based system of elders, or chiefs, at the center of Samoan society, culture, and governance. Selection of matai is a somewhat complex process that considers merit, service, custom, seniority, consensus, and ability to contribute value to the family and village.

Vaipu’a selected Elisa as a matai to honor her many achievements during her time in the village. In addition to teaching English, Elisa tutored students in various subjects after hours, arranged a grant to construct a staircase down the cliff from the village to the beach, obtained sewing machines for the village Women’s Committee, arranged a grant to build a community library, launched tree-planting and rubbish bin projects, coordinated healthy living programs, and much more.

Elisa shakes hands with other Vaipu'a matai.

When asked about the ceremony at which her title was conferred, the indefatigable Elisa stated:

“It was beautiful. The food preparations, decorations, speeches, and everyone participating were overwhelming. I felt such love and respect from everyone, but it was comfortable and natural, like receiving congratulations from family. I had a unique relationship with each matai, and when I walked around to shake their hands there were a lot of tears and smiles passed between us. I feel so blessed to have had this experience with Vaipu’a. We had a special chemistry that made successes and deep friendships possible.”

Elisa with other matai after the ceremony.

All of the Peace Corps volunteers I know have finished their service with fond memories of the friendships they made in their villages, the great warmth and generosity of the Samoan people, and the powerful ways in which the experience shaped their own lives. Those are all special gifts, deeply cherished. Being granted a matai title, which does not happen often, links a volunteer to his or her village in an even more significant way for life.

Congratulations, Elisa.  Or, more appropriately … Fa’amalo, Leutogitupa’itea.