Tropical Cyclone Ian and Ha’apai

View Larger Map News can be a bit slow getting here, but Sam and I have recently been informed of the category 5 cyclone (“hurricane” for Americans), Cyclone Ian, that hit Tonga’s Ha’apai island group on January 11 with winds of up to 178 miles per hour.

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John O’Malley: Ha’apai, Tonga Volunteer Interview

Today’s post is an interview with Returned Peace Corps Volunteer John (“Sione” in Tongan) O’Malley, who served in Ha’apai from 2009 to 2012.  John is now wrapping up his service in Liberia where he works as a Peace Corps Volunteer Leader, but he’s generously taken some time to answer questions about his time in Ha’apai,…

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Kate Asleson, Ha’apai, Tonga Volunteer Interview

Kate Asleson and her husband Brett are Returned Peace Corps Volunteers (“RPCV’s”) who served in the island group of Ha’apai from 2008 to 2010. They now live in St. Paul, Minnesota USA where Kate works in Marketing for Target’s corporate office and Brett teaches at an all immigrant/refuge English Language Learners (ELL) program high school….

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Two Days (and a little history) in Ha’apai

Often overlooked, Tonga’s mid-island group, Ha’apai, comprises 62 islands (only 20 are inhabited), hides some of the most beautiful white sand beaches in the world, and cradles famous tales of nautical misadventures in its unassuming waters. Ha’apai, a History For instance, the mutiny, as in the Mutiny on the Bounty, occurred  in 1789, just between the…

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