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L.A. County’s Tongan community pulls together

Members of the congregation kneel in prayer at the front of the Tongan United Methodist Church during the Sunday service.

Members of the congregation kneel in prayer at the front of the Tongan United Methodist Church during the Sunday service.  (Katie Falkenberg / Los Angeles Times)

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Members of the Tongan community are among Los Angeles County’s poorest residents. Census Bureau figures estimate that half of Tongan Angelenos are living in poverty. But even through the recession, local Tongans and their churches have stayed faithful to their culture of sharing.
Read more: Close-knit community grapples with poverty

In church

Simote Tuifua with his son, Lisiate Lion Heart Tuifua, and his wife, Melesisi Tuifua, listens to the Sunday church service.  (Katie Falkenberg / Los Angeles Times)

Playtime

Saane Vaeno, 5, looks down at Katisha Holani, 6, as they play outside of the Tongan United Methodist Church during the Sunday service.   (Katie Falkenberg / Los Angeles Times)

Choir practice

Suliana Tuivai, the youth choir teacher at the Tongan United Methodist Church, points to the words of the song, written in the Tongan language, during practice after the Sunday service.  (Katie Falkenberg / Los Angeles Times)

After church

Faitau Vaomotou, left, and Sione Epoti Tukutau sit with other men from the Tongan United Methodist Church after the Sunday service as Liki Vaomut serves kava, a traditional drink.  (Katie Falkenberg / Los Angeles Times)

Family time

After church, Tongan immigrant Saia Holani sits with two of his children, 3-year-old Ana and 4-year-old Kaho, right, in the family’s apartment in Inglewood. Katisha, 6, sits nearby. “No Tongan is here to get rich,” Holani says. “Even the smallest thing, we give.”   (Katie Falkenberg / Los Angeles Times)

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