Catholic Cathedral, Nuku'alofa, Tonga

Andreas Wiesner, on October 29, 2007, said:

Nice reflections! Unfortunately i missed this view because i didn´t go round this church...

Cheers, Andreas!

©IR Stehbens, on October 29, 2007, said:

Thanks Andreas. Even if you had gone around to this side of the cathedral you would not have seen this picture. It was taken one morning after a week of torrential rain from a tropical cyclone (hurricane) in Feb 1999. The low lying area only fills with water after prolonged heavy rain, for as you know Tongatapu is a coral island and there rarely is any surface water. Even the Monsignor at this cathedral is most impressed by the picture - he is here with us at the moment in a peacebuilding convocation, partly in response to last November's destructive violence in Nuku'alofa. There is so much beauty in Tonga but too much tolerance of violence, sadly. Maybe we will see a sea-change in this attitude now.

©IR Stehbens, on October 29, 2007, said:

Andreas, Did you intend a link to "church" photos. The link didn't work. Regards.

Andreas Wiesner, on October 30, 2007, said:

That explains why i couldn´t find this pond... You´re right, Tonga is full of beauty and the people were really kind to me when i was there in April 2005. I was shocked to hear about the riots in November last year. A friend of mine visited Tongatapu at that time, but luckily she didn´t get in trouble.

The link was intented to guide you to my picture of this church. I can create a link to a homepage, but i don´t know why it didn´t work for the picture directly...

Greetings from Germany, Andreas!

©IR Stehbens, on October 30, 2007, said:

Thanks Andreas. You do not have to provide a link for me for I went straight to Your Photos page. The riots were a shock to Tongans generally, though there were signs that this would happen. I suspect that the actual event involving arson and looting that resulted in deaths was begun as a copycat idea that had been seen on TV from Honiara, where the boil over from the election of PM after the general elections resulted in the destruction of most businesses in Chinatown as well as schools and homes.

Paul Petrus, on November 22, 2007, said:

Hi Lincluden. I am delighted to see this picture for I haven't been to Tonga, but I have been with the Priest from here at a 2 month program in peacebuilding in Sydney. I send greetings from the Highlands to Fr Sione Kaota in the Tongan lowlands. Paul

©IR Stehbens, on November 20, 2008, said:

Wikipedia Tonga

©IR Stehbens, on November 25, 2008, said:

Other Website using this photo http://in.glue.yahoo.com/page/migration%20to%20newzealand