Child's Play

In Tonga Sundays are brutally quiet. Going to church, eating a huge Tongan lunch called lu cooked in the underground "umu" oven, and sleeping are pretty much the only acceptable activities. It is illegal to work on Sunday in Tonga and even exercising and listening to music is frowned upon.

Last Sunday I decided to go for a leisurely walk around my village, as I was extremely restive from being in the house all afternoon. I was fairly disheartened after spotting a nomadic toddler wandering aimlessly along with the chickens and pigs. After my encounter with the lone toddler I came across a group of children vociferously playing, a definite anomaly on a Sunday. The children, ages 3-10, were playing a game which consisted of precariously balancing planks of wood using sticks, and then trying to knock them down by throwing sizeable rocks, sticks, and coconut shells. This game seemed extremely dangerous, and I decided to leave because I was afraid if any of the children were to get hurt I would be liable. On my way home I realized the game the children were playing, albeit fairly unsafe, required both creativity and cooperation, and noted the rarity of having such a wide age range of children all playing together "nicely".

I do not always have to venture out to observe children’s resourcefulness in play. Just today I was sitting at home when I heard the sound of incessant drumming and singing filling my ears. I looked out my window and saw a group of the neighborhood kids sitting in the middle of the road, banging away at old corned beef cans with sticks, drumming and singing to their hearts content.

After music time some of the kids stuck around and played a game of “baseball” using flip flops as mitts and a stick for a bat.

Perhaps it is my degree in child development, years spent working in childcare, and upbringing in a culture that tends to overprotect its children that has made me oversensitive to the fact that Tongan children are not closely supervised here. Children in Tonga are frequently left unattended, with four and five year olds left to take care of their much younger siblings. I am sure many Tongan children are injured or even killed due to lack of adult supervision, however, sometimes this absence of care proves to be beneficial. Tongan children are left to their own devices and are extremely autonomous, imaginative, cooperative and confident as a result. It is amazing the ways in which Tongan children amuse themselves, entertaining and inspiring me in the process.