Goodbye to Pam

Our immediate supervisor (APCD) was "let-go" in October for embezzling (according to rumors) and the Tonga Country Director left shortly thereafter for "personal reasons." In the interim while new leadership is identified and hired, we have had the incredible opportunity to have Pam Martin come to Tonga. Outside of our trainers, she has been the first individual who has exhibited that she genuinely cares for volunteers. She has been tireless in requesting to hear our thoughts, has listened patiently and not downplayed any of our numerous concerns, but has offered great insights and openly admitted that things here have not been handled as they should have. It has been rather tragic though, to catch a glimpse of how different our experience could have been with leadership who was actually invested in the volunteers. Here is a photo of a group of us and the staff with Pam before she left.