Health Minister’s cautionary message about eating habits; a timely reminder at the Avatele Show day

Rain is seen as a blessing and Avatele received a great deal of it on Saturday during their annual show day this year. The village green was surrounded by colourful stalls selling all sorts of food, drinks, agricultural produce, the women’s beautiful hand crafts and the men’s carvings.

Officially opened by the Minister of Health and Social Services Sauni Togatule whose message about our eating habits was a timely reminder as we head into the festive time of the year.

The minister acknowledge the hard work of the people of the village and the whole island for the abundance of produce and food available these days. However, he offered a cautionary reminder of the downside of too much food which has contributed to Niue being one of the countries in the world with the highest number of people with diabetes and high blood pressure. The minister said that we should perhaps return to the eating habits of the past when our grandparents would tell us to “pick at our food slowly”.

The new member of parliament for Avatele Pita Vakanofiti thanked this village for their efforts this year to host yet another successful show day. He also paid tribute to his predecessor Billy Graham Talagi for his more than twenty years of service as the MP for Avatele.

The Village Council Chairperson Speedo Hetutu extended on behalf of the village and the Council kind words of welcome to all who attended and to the newly appointed NZ and Australian High Commissioners Helen Tunnah and Susan Allen respectively, saying that he and his team look forward to fostering relationship with the two donors.

Incidentally, the Australian High Commissioner Susan Allen who arrived a few weeks ago is currently a resident of Avatele.

Premier Tagelagi also attended and encouraged the village of Avatele to continue to work with the government on some of the key projects of the village such as the rebuilding of the ramp and the Liolau accommodation property. He also told the village to seek out assistance from the various organisations and donors to help with village projects.

The highlight of the show day would have to be dancing in the rain when the little ones walked onto the village green in heavy downpour and danced their hearts out. Little girls and boys as young as 3 years old swaying in rain followed by their older siblings to entertain the crowd. A fitting finale to yet another successful Avatele village show day.