South Pacific: Scientology Goodwill Tour in Tropical Sunshine

June 12, 2009 - PRLog -- Tonga is an archipelago of 169 islands one-third of the way between New Zealand and Hawaii.

Traditional ceremony and ritual opened the Scientology Volunteer Ministers Goodwill Tour on the Island of Vava’u in the kingdom of Tonga.

Local performers welcomed the Scientology Volunteer Ministers with a prayer and songs and the chief magistrate of the island, on behalf of the people of Vava’u, thanked the Scientology Volunteer Ministers for coming to their island.

A dancer performed the ‘Tulou kihe niu vakai’—a traditional greeting for honored guests and friends—before cutting the ribbon in front of the big yellow tent where the volunteers will provide courses, seminars and one-on-one help.

Having opened the tent in the capital city of Vava’u, the Scientology Volunteer Ministers are offering their services on a grassroots level by visiting the local villages.  The first place they went to was Talihau, a fitting first stop as its name means “to welcome the Chief,” coming from the days when any boat arriving from other islands would land and be welcomed by this village first.

The Scientology Volunteer Ministers began their visit to Tonga on the island of Tongatapu, where they found that drug and alcohol abuse were a major concern of the local officials and community leaders.  They provided drug-education lectures, using information in the Scientology Handbook which is based on the research of Scientology founder, L. Ron Hubbard.

Tonga is the third South Pacific nation of this goodwill tour, which began in Fiji and moved next to Samoa. On completing their work in Tonga, the Scientology Volunteer Ministers will move on to Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands.