FREE MEDICAL CLINICS

An estimated 500 local residents from all over the territory took advantage of the two-day free medical clinics that were hosted by the Samoa USA Medical Mission in collaboration with the Men of Promise Ministry.

The first clinic was held last Wednesday at the Mulitauaopele residence in Laulii where about 235 families — including children and senior citizens — received information and treatment for everything from skin diseases to diabetes and vision problems. Free medications were also distributed.

Most of the cases that were presented had to do with skin problems like rashes, boils, and fungi.

On Thursday, the clinic moved to the west side in Ili'ili where about 300 people were served.

The services offered were free of charge and the doctors and medical professionals who carried out the 'mission' all came here on a volunteer basis and had to pay their own airfare.

According to Bishop Vaofanua Mulitauaopele, who led the group and heads a church based in South Carolina, the 'mission' of serving the needs of the people has been ongoing for 18 years and the only criteria for the volunteers is that "they have to be born again Christians.” Otherwise, he added, “it would defeat the purpose of our work, which is to spread the Good Word and inform everyone that God is good and He lives!” The volunteers represent 16 churches across 17 states, and the free medical mission is expected to visit the territory again next year.

A.S.I.A. PROGRAM WINDING DOWN

The Aoga Samoa I Afioaga (ASIA) program is winding down and is set to close this week. Thousands of local young people are taking part in the program, which stresses the importance of the Samoan language. The curriculum includes lessons in math, writing, and reading — all taught in the Samoan language.

The program, supported by the American Samoa Department of Education (ASDOE), is offered throughout the villages and held in various church halls belonging to the Congregational Christian Church of American Samoa (CCCAS). It kicked off on June 16th and will end later this week on July 18th.

Students taking part in the program are prescreened and required to take the pre-test prior to the beginning of the program. Afterwards, they will take a post-test that will determine if there has been an improvement from their initial test scores.

Those in the program include elementary and junior high school students, with some high school students scattered throughout. Teachers from various centers are happy to report that the kids are showing progress and have improved since the first day of the program.

The goal of the summer session is to teach young people how to fluently speak and read in Samoan, as well as carry out math problems when presented to them in the Samoan language.

NMSAS CLASSIC PHOTO-FISHING CONTEST

NOAA's National Marine Sanctuary of American Samoa (NMSAS), along with the Sanctuary Advisory Council (SAC) Fishing Working Group recently held a "Classic Photo-Fishing Contest" and the names of the winners are yet to be announced.

The purpose of the competition, according to NMSAS community outreach/education coordinator Isabel Gaoteote, is to assist the sanctuary team in raising awareness of allowable and prohibited fishing practices that vary in the different sanctuary management areas.  

The contest aimed to not only increase community awareness, but also encourage fishing and recreation, and was a part of the 2015 “Get Into Your Sanctuary” (GIYS) campaign.

Samoa News should note that allowable fishing practices differ among sanctuary management areas.  Fagatele Bay is the only sanctuary management area that completely prohibits fishing. Fishing, in various forms, is allowed in all other sanctuary management areas.

The contest was open to school-aged children from K-5 all the way up to the high school. Participants were to submit photos of fish (either caught or swimming), or people fishing in any one of the sanctuary management areas.

Voting was carried out via Facebook, and deadline for submission was June 30.