A trip down memory lane

He remembers his days at Avele College as if it was yesterday.

At 80-years-old, Tilialo Viliamu Tilialo’s memory is as sharp as they come.

“I will never forget Avele, the place where I became a better person in life,” he said.

“It is the place where discipline was very much the most important thing in my school time. How can I forget you, Avele?”

As hundreds of former students of the school gather at Vailima for the celebration of the school’s 90th birthday, Tilialo is lending his support from his home at Saleimoa.

Married to Marie Tilialo with nine children and 25 grandchildren, he remembers every little thing while he was a student at the College, starting in 1947.

“I stayed at the hostel and during those times, things were not easy because we were poor,” he said. “We didn’t have enough money and we had to walk from Apia to where the school is. Even when school finishes, we would walk from there to Apia.”

Discipline was the key at Avele.

“You had to listen and obey,” he said.

“You did not want to be the guy who opposed the older boys. You just knew that you had to do whatever you were told if you were the newcomer.”

He also believes that one of the strongest aspects about being a student at Avele College was the relationship between the old students and the new students.

“I had fun and joy in learning from the old students because it was also there that I heard that saying, ‘those who are last refer to those who were last (e fa’alogo mulimai i a muamai).”

That means doing many things one didn't necessarily enjoy, he said.

“Like I said, it was an unspoken code, you knew trouble would follow if you don't listen and nobody complained.”

Tilialo also remembers having to walk from Avele to where Samoa College is located today to collect coconuts.

“It was very funny when I think back because the amazing thing was if one house is scraping coconuts, let’s say four coconuts, then those four coconuts will have to be shared among four houses.

“Which means that the coconut cream – even if it’s small – will have to be divided evenly among those houses. So if we were cooking bananas in coconut cream (fa’alifu fai), it didn't really matter as long as there was some sort of white thing on the bananas.”

The point of the exercise was instilling the values of sharing and looking after each other. Looking back now, Tilialo said it was Avele College that gave him the courage to approach everything in life.

And life has been good for Tilialo.

By 1953 during the Queen’s Coronation, he was working at the Coxon Shop (aka Koki) as an accountant.

He worked at Molesi before he was employed by the Electric Power Corporation (E.P.C).

When he retired, he became the mayor of his village.

“In the start of something, there are always trials that we face but at the end, we will reap with joy,” he said.

Asked what he cherishes the most about Avele, he said it’s the discipline and the lessons about sharing and love.

He said Avele has had a huge influence on his life and how he has brought up his children. He also learnt so much about traditions and the Samoan culture from Avele because that was one of the things taught at the hostel.

These days, he said many things have changed.

“If I compared my days to nowadays, I would say back in the days were much better in terms of discipline, he said.

“Because nowadays, we are talking about things like a child’s rights. This has taken over that discipline that had kept our community back in those days.”

Tilialo is also grateful to be alive to see the 90th birthday of his school.

“Getting to meet the old boys from my time is just amazing and I will remember this until the day the Lord calls for me,” he said.

The celebration of Avele’s birthday is continuing.