TYEE GO GREEN! brought together the youth and communities at the Youth Market in Nuku'alofa.

7/27/2020

Youth Group from Fatumu Village setting up their Market Stall

NUKU’ALOFA: Saturday, 25th July was another successful Youth Market for TYEE GO GREEN! From six registered participants last March which was our first Youth Market, to over 100 participants in a time span of four months, the programs and our established activities have sparked a lot of interests not only from the youth but the public and we continue to excel and grow each time.

The main goals for GO GREEN! to help the environment (by encouraging the youth to give back and take full responsibility of the environment), and to help the youth. The term “help” the youth, we broke it down to three objectives. Firstly, to help the youth live a healthy and active lifestyle, which we encourage through our monthly Zumba Competition and Food & Recipe Challenge. Secondly, help our unemployed youth gain the necessary work experience required by the workplace and give them a more practical understanding prior to getting into jobs, which we have our GO GREEN! Volunteers, who help organise and plan and deliver the events. And lastly, to help our young entrepreneurs by showcasing their talents to the public, and allowing us to best identify the viable business ideas that these youth have in order to best support them to be able to step up from the Youth Market into creating and establishing their own small businesses. That is the dream. All of which we were able to witness on this event. Our young entrepreneurs are serious about creating their own jobs. Their parents, kids and friends came along to show their support which highlights the purpose of the Event to be known also as a "fun family day out". Some of which participated in our previous Youth Markets and they have assured that they will continue to get involved.

The Youth Market Stall Holders were given a chance to compete for the Best Market Stall Presentation Prize. This category of the Event Competitions was the first judging event and we were honored to have the Director of the Youth Division from Ministry of Internal Affairs, Sinama Tupou Fuao as Judge. Here is a short video clip of a few words Mrs. Fuao shared with us at the Event.

The second judging event of the day was the ZUMBA Competitions. The registered teams made up of small children, youth all the way to adults, mothers and grandmothers. We are grateful for the three youthful Judges who took time out of their busy schedule to join us and support the initiative. Also, thank you to our youth Auditor for her commitment and good work.

Judges for the 2nd Judging Event - ZUMBA Competitions. L-R: Sevaki Fe'ao (Tonga Health), Christine Latu Lopeti (Rise-n-Shine Australia), Virginie Dourlet (Teacher, Tonga High School) Back Row: Auditor Vesta Guttenbeil (Environmental Science Bachelor Degree Holder & TYEE Volunteer) supported by TYEE President, Lusia Latu-Jones.

Many youths, adults and children as per their feedback, talks about how they put in a lot of effort to stay fit for the Zumba Competition.

The Competitions Categories for Prizes and the Winners are listed on this this page [click here to view]

To top it off, we continued to collaborate with SPM Tonga Ltd who has supported the initiative by utilizing the TYEE GO GREEN! trained Volunteers to promote and sell their products; 40 seaweed packs on the Youth Market and within 2 hours, our GO GREEN! trained Volunteers have sold out every single pack. SPM continues to donate a percentage of our seaweed sales to the GO GREEN! initiative and we are very grateful for their support with our Youth Market.

It is with no doubt that with every event, there is guaranteed involvement from not only our existing but also new participants. As a self-funded Youth NGO it is the support and backing that we get from the sponsors and businesses both local and international that enables us to deliver our services to the best of our ability. By maximizing the benefits of their kind donations and sponsorship we are able to reach out to the majority of the youth and their families.

Acknowledging our Sponsors who helped us to make this event possible

We would like to acknowledge the Digicel Group for sponsoring the venue for the event, what better place to gather the youth of Tonga than in the heart of Nuku’alofa.

To our Gold Sponsor for our Events Prizes, Rise & Shine Australia. A Tongan private owned company in Australia who saw the value of TYEE GO GREEN! delivering for the youth of Tonga and instantly without hesitation asking us how can they help then lend a helping hand. Support does not only flow from within Tonga, but also from overseas and it goes a long way in the lives of the youth, their families and their futures.

We thank Tonga Health Promotion Foundation who have partnered with GO GREEN! to fight NCDs in Tonga and have sponsored our speaker and equipment for our event. As we have evident from some of our Zumba participants, not only do we encourage healthy living and eating, but educating our people and the youth so that they value their participation in this meaningful youth-led community initiative.

To SCH Lawyers Ltd who have been volunteering their time and service and generous donations towards GO GREEN! events but also the TYEE organisation in general, it is very much appreciated.

We would like to thank Soana Samate & Hadassah’s Educational Stop who have not only donated office stationeries to TYEE from the beginning, but they have recently extended their donation to First Aid Kit and Prizes for our events through gift vouchers for our GO GREEN! Top Performing Volunteers.

We would like to acknowledge the BSP Bank Tonga for sponsoring T-shirts and hats for our volunteers.

As well as the JR Hire Ltd run by a youth entrepreneur, Amelia Vallabh for providing tables and chairs at discount prices for our events and not only through the events but have also collaborated with TYEE GO GREEN! for our other existing initiatives. Local youth entrepreneur supporting youth is the example we wish to highlight in the work that we do.

To the Frangipani Korean Restaurant and Holty’s Hideaway Cafe Ha’atafu are both small businesses owned by Non- Tongans. To have these businesses support the youth of Tonga in these difficult times is an indication of the genuine and spirit of togetherness that we constantly share to our youth. We work better when we work together.

We thank VMJ Custom Prints, private owned company by Tongan youthful couples that not only participated in the Youth Market event but sponsored some of the prizes.

Also, to Lee and Roger Miller of What's On In Tonga (WOIT) Newsletter for the promotion of our events through the WOIT. This is the kindness of free contributions and the generosity of the Miller’s heart towards TYEE’s work in Tonga.

We thank the Mate Ma’a Tonga Radio station who sponsored a live broadcasting of our events and promotion sessions. It is very much appreciated.

We welcome any form of support, whether big or small, we ensure that we divide it to be able to reach every single youth out there and the majority.

Even with COVID-19, we grow, we improve, and we innovate. We return the praise and the credit to our Almighty God for His Love and Blessings. We can survive if we work together.

TYEE GO GREEN! our home, our future, our responsibility.

Event Participants' Testimonials

“I learned that the talent I have it will help me provide for myself and not only for me, but also my family…don’t be afraid because small or big you can still earn a future from your gifted talents” -Sinai, 26 years old, Vaini, a registered participant of the Youth Market.

“We manage to be energetic and active practicing….trying to be more healthy and to lose weight to fight obesity and COVID-19”. -Leuleu Mafana Group. They were also the Winning Team with the Most Weight Loss in two weeks, and 2nd Place in GO GREEN! Zumba Competition.