Showing posts with label Tuvalu. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tuvalu. Show all posts

May 13 - Gospel Day in Tuvalu

Posted on May 13, 2019

(Monday that follows the second Sunday in May)

 The spread of a particular religion can look to outsiders like the spread of anything else: the spread of a particular clothing style, the spread of a particular music style, the spread of popular culture, even the spread of an idea like "people should have the power to choose their leaders." 
The spread of popular culture includes things like fast
food. I can imagine that some people in the world see
that kind of spread as almost a kind of contagious disease!
In every case, the thing being spread can "mutate" or change as it spreads - sometimes adopting local customs and holidays, sometimes adapting to local conditions. 

Also, in every case, the new thing being spread can replace older religions or styles or ideas - and that can be something that people get concerned about! They ask, "What about our old ways?" They might even look at the spread of a religion, fashion, or idea as a kind of infection from outsiders!


 In Tuvalu, the old ways were Polynesian beliefs: the worship of ancestors, multiple gods, and stories of the creation of their islands and the founding ancestors of each island. Because these stories involve te Pusi, the Eel, the people of Tuvalu do not eat Moray eels. 

However, now Tuvaluans are almost entirely members of the Congregational Christian Church of Tuvalu. (And when I say "almost entirely," I mean about 97%.) Most of the remaining 3% are Christian of other kinds, although there are tiny percentages that are Baha'i and Muslim. I do not know if anyone in Tuvalu now regrets the abandonment of the old religions - but I'm pretty sure that some people back in the late 1800s, when Christian missionaries first arrived on Tuvalu, did get upset at the change.

 Gospel Day is about the day in 1861 that the "Christian Gospel" arrived. The deacon of a Congregational Church in Cook Islands was caught in a storm and drifted, lost, for eight weeks before washing ashore one of the islands of Tuvalu. 

 He must have liked what he saw:



Tuvalu is made up of three reef islands and six atolls (ring-shaped coral reefs that had grown around islands that eroded away or subsided below the surface of the water, so that the islands no longer exist other than the coral-based rings!). 
The Hawaiian islands are not labeled but are
near the top right corner, above the words "North
Pacific Ocean." You can see that there are many
different island nations in the Pacific Ocean!

 Tuvalu is located about halfway between Australia and Hawaii.







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March 11 - Commonwealth Day in Tuvalu

(Second Monday in March)
Posted on March 11, 2019


The flag of the Commonwealth
of Nations
The Commonwealth is a grouping of 53 nations. Almost all of these member nations were former territories (aka colonies) of the British Empire. The British Empire held onto its territories and colonies, basically, with political and military power, but the Commonwealth is completely voluntary. According to a 1949 declaration, all the member countries are considered "free and equal" - and that includes Britain (the United Kingdom) itself.

What's the Commonwealth for? Well, the nations have no legal obligations to one another - they don't HAVE to defend one another, for example - but are united by the English language and some aspects of culture, ties from history, and shared values of democracy, human rights, and the rule of law. Some people say that it's a friendly way for nations to stay in touch without having any formal obligations to one another.

If you want to know more about what the Commonwealth is actually for, check out this link. Note: not everyone agrees about what it's for and whether it should even exist!

The Commonwealth nations include large nations such as Canada, Australia, and India; medium-size nations such as Zambia, New Zealand, and Malaysia, as well as teeny nations such as Antigua and Barbuda, Seychelles, and Nauru. They include nations from all six inhabited continents, which means that the Commonwealth is spread widely across the world.


One of the teeny nations is Tuvalu. Unlike most Commonwealth nations, Commonwealth Day is actually an official public holiday, with events for kids, games, and other special celebrations in Funafuti, which is the capital city.

Check out some info about this island nation:

Located in the South Pacific, about halfway between Hawaii and Australia, Tuvalu is an island nation made up of three reef islands and six atolls. The reef islands are platform reefs, which can develop when the seabed is close enough to the surface of the ocean for coral reefs to flourish. The atolls, on the other hand, form when a volcanic island develops a fringing reef (a coral reef that stretches around or most of the way around the island) - and then the volcanic  island itself erodes away or sinks below the surface of the water in some sort of tectonic action. Atolls look like a ring of "land" or reef surrounding a central lagoon.



Tuvalu is very low-lying and has poor soil. The economy includes coconut trees, pulaka (a starchy food that is a bit like taro and that can be grown in pits of composted soil below the water table, fishing, and sailors who work on the ships of other nations.

Steamed pulaka
The people of Tuvalu are mostly Polynesian.



Tuvalu is too remote to get many tourists. But it's lovely, isn't it?





Tuvalu is so low-lying that global warming might cause enough sea-level rise to completely eliminate it. Ecotourism might be a growing thing for Tuvalu - many people in the world DO value protecting the environment and keeping climate relatively stable!





Also on this date:





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October 1 – Three-Way National Day!

Posted on October 1, 2014


Three nations are celebrating their national days today. In alphabetical order, they are: China, Cyprus, and Tuvalu.

Which of these nations matches up to each statement?

  1. Picture 1
    It is the fourth smallest nation, by area, and it is the third smallest nation, by population.
  2. Its railroad network is second in the world, only exceeded by the U.S.
  3. It used to be known as the Ellice Islands.
  4. It is an island nation in the Mediterranean Sea.
  5. It is the world's most populous nation.
  6. On this date in 1960, it became independent of the United Kingdom.
  7. On this date in 1978, it became independent of the United Kingdom.
  8. It is home to some of the oldest water wells in the world.
  9. Its first inhabitants were Polynesians.
  10. Picture 2
    People here paint buildings with white paint made from burning dead coral and mixing the ash with water.
  11. The northern part of the nation has been illegally occupied by Turkish forces since 1974.
  12. The cuisine of this nation is based on coconut and fish.
  13. The Communist Party has ruled the nation since this date in 1949.
  14. This nation is home to one of the world's earliest civilizations and today has the second largest economy in the world (the U.S. is the largest).
  15. Many people of this nation are of Greek ancestry, and one of the official languages is Greek.
  16. Picture 3
    Cricket, ano (a local version of volleyball—but played with two balls at once), football, and rugby are popular sports in this nation.
  17. This nation is made up of three reef islands and six atolls (which are rings of coral reef surrounding lagoons). The islands are very low-lying and are in danger of being swallowed up if global warming causes the sea level to rise.
  18. This nation is dominated by the Troodos Mountains and the Kyrenia Range, and the highest point is Mount Olympus.
  19. Picture 4
    This nation's cuisine is very diverse, so it is hard to make generalizations about it. We can say that its staple food is rice and that the nation's cuisine—or offshoots of its cuisine—has become known and popular all over the world.
  20. This nation suffers from a shortage of water, even though it has 107 dams storing water in reservoirs. Water desalinization plants are being built to deal with recents years of drought.
  21. This nation is the second largest in the word (when measuring just land).
  22. There are no longer working railroads in this nation.
  23. Picture 5
    There is only one airport and only one hospital in the entire nation.
  24. There are almost 300 living languages spoken in this country.
  25. There are no railroads at all in the entire nation.
  26. This nation has bragging rights in many different sports, but some of the most traditional sports include dragon boat racing, wrestling, and horse racing.
  27. Most of the population are members of the Greek Orthodox Church, but there is a substantial Muslim minority.
  28. Picture 6
    This nation hosted a recent Olympics.
  29. This nation's cuisine centers on seafood, olive oil, cucumbers, and tomatoes, along with marinated meat and pickled vegetables.
  30. This nation is famous for having severe air pollution problems.

ANSWERS:

  • The following items are true of Tuvalu: 1,3, 7, 9, 10, 12, 16, 17, 23, 25. Pictures 2 and 6.
  • The following items are true of Cyprus: 4, 6, 8, 11, 15, 18, 20, 22, 27, 29. Pictures 3 and 5.
  • The following items are true of China: 2, 5, 13, 14, 19, 21, 24, 26, 28, 30. Pictures 1 and 4.


Also on this date:



































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