Tonga National Youth Congress

In 2017 Tonga National Youth Congress launch the Green Campaign, the camp was set to advocate, educate and activate youth to be closer to Mother Nature and take a very active stewardship roles to the environment starting from their communities.

Since then, participants on the Green Camp have set up their own green campaign within their community and started addressing environmental issues that they encounter on a daily basis.
One of the greatest achievement of the green movement is the developing of the Green Codes.

“Article C of the Green code state ‘We promise to to do all that it is necessary, with all our hearts and life. To preserve natural resources so it may be a elemental wealth for our children’” said Lakuni Sio
One of the indicator for this particular Article is the planting of trees in nursery to be distributed to local community

“So we plan to plant 2 million trees” continues Lakuni Sio “We plan to plant timber trees, traditional trees that could be use for local medicine and ‘akau kalala (fragrance tree). Part b of this plan is we can also help community in planting trees for coastal area or as a forest reservation”.

Tonga National Youth Congress (TNYC) livelihood program is funded by New Zealand AID fund through Oxfam New Zealand and Tear Fund. One of the key factors of the livelihood program is helping people living with disabilities.

After the piloting stage at Nakolo, that shows great success of families not depending on getting their vegetables from the market but grow, harvest their own vegetable and serve their families with organic vegetables.

“I love this program for it has help provide healthy organic vegetable to our table” said Saane one of the mothers from Nakolo “another great value of the program is not just my family is the only one eating out of the garden even our neighbours pick out fruits from the garden and serve it to their families”.

With the program being successful in villages that it has touch, now the livelihood program is reaching people living with disabilities, for this task TNYC is working together with Naunau ‘oe ‘Alamaite Tonga Association (NATA).

“The livelihood program has always considered people living with disabilities a top priority” said Navuso Tuaimei’api “yes our timing may seem a bit late distributing to people living with disabilities, but this was due for some kind of trial and error on our seed bed and seedling in our nursery house. So the ICS and Livelihood team had to replant everything and get it ready so it can be distributed as we see here today”.

The livelihood program will reach out to 17 disabilities person’s giving them the opportunity to grow their own vegetable garden and can help cut down the cost of the his/her family in buying vegetables from the market.

“I thank the Lord for blessing me with such opportunity that I may grow my own vegetables” said one of the mothers “these vegetable will help me and my family not only to to put healthy food to our table but it surely will help cut down our spending in buying vegetables from the market for it is getting expensive. I like eating vegetables but since the vegetable in the market are getting expensive for us we kind took a step back however now we can grow our own organic vegetable garden yes we are looking forward to once again have vegetables on our table”.

“I’m just overwhelm with joy when I get my organic vegetables seeds” said ‘Aisea Pahulu “Im so happy that I’m already looking forward to the harvest day. I love tomato but it can be frustrating when I go to the market to buy a tomato pack and the quantity just don’t counterpart with the prize. All of that is now pass, for now I can grow my own tomato and eat as much as I want so I’m already looking forward to the harvest day”.