Town Officers, District Officers and representatives from 5 Districts and 23 communities from Ha’apai have completed a week-long intensive training on outrigger canoe carving at the MORDI Tonga HQ.
The training has been a partnership between Local Government, IFAD and MORDI Tonga.
As the participants pack away their canoes to re-assemble in Ha’apai, many have shared their appreciation for such a training. The outer islands especially in Ha’apai are known to generate many skilled fisherman and over the years they have seen to the phasing out of traditional outrigger canoes in favor of modern modes of fishing including motorized boats and kayaks.
Town Officer Lupeolo Kulikefu of Ha’ateiho si’i from the Foa District shares how her community are dependent on fishing for their income. The community do not have any boats or outrigger canoes and have mainly been casting nets and shallow water gleaning. The community would also enlist the aid of neighboring community of Faleloa to use their boats.
However, she says this has been an additional burden to fishers as fees are either paid by cash or with a portion of the catch caught. If it wasn’t a good day fishing, the fisherman would lose much needed food for his household for that day. The provision of the community outrigger canoe will remove this issue they face and will possibly provide income from any surplus in catch.
She also says that the community members that accompanied her also have also learned a great deal from the training to the point where they are confident they will be able to replicate the carving should they have access to materials and tools once at home.
‘Ofa Tama’ofa a community member of Fangale’ounga of the Foa District shares that his community is where the start of the causeway that links Foa Island to Pangai Island. He also shares that there are times when the waves get too high and it covers the causeway and obstructs any travelling by vehicle. So many of community members travel by boat and believes that the canoes can assist in travelling aside from fishing. Currently the community own a single outrigger canoe but that in itself has presented a challenge as a majority depend on fishing for their daily needs. Taking turns using the canoe and adapting to changing weather and tides has prevented many from fishing daily.
“We make canoes back in the islands, but it is so time consuming. This training has shown me that there are innovative ways to create canoes in a day. This is knowledge that I am able to take back and share with my community”, he shares.
Kisione Taulani District Officer of Lulunga shares how he sees the canoes helping his communities.
“It can help people get to and from larger ships without needing to swim to larger ships. It is also exciting for our elderly fisherman who will have a chance to use this for fishing” he says.
He also says that the canoes will enable fishers to stay dry and many can use for maka-feke an age old traditional method of luring octopus where only an outrigger canoe can be used as opposed to motorized boats. His district have been using kayaks but he says it limits fishing and the person using it often is drenched after an excursion.
“I see so many people’s faces light up as we know that many traditional fishing methods can be revived as soon as we get our canoes, we have been slowly seeing canoes fading but now it is being re-introduced it has so many potentials for our communities”, he adds.
During the week long intensive training many have been contacting him as the canoes have been highly anticipated by his district. He believes along with many other participants that the training should continue because there is a high interest from the communities garnered from the outer island and they know the value the canoes will add to their lives.