I left Nanumea on 8 January 1963, Te Po o Tefolaha (the day of Tefolaha). Tefolaha was the ancestor the Nanumeans regarded as the founder of the island. This great Tongan warrior drove out two women, Pai and Vau, who were the first settlers on Nanumea. Tefolaha is believed to have left behind three sons to whom all the inhabitants of Nanumea trace their descent. The church term for Te Po oTefolaha is Asopati. This day is commemorated every year because it was the day Nanumea embraced Christianity brought by the London Missionary Society through the Samoan pastors. It is celebrated on 7-8 January. In significance it equals Christmas Day and New Year. The people assemble in the ahiga (public hall), feasting and having games and, in the evening, dancing and contributing money throughout the night. The church welcomes those who wish to receive the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ in a special service held every month after the usual Sunday service. Looking back I cannot remember what happened on these big days of that last year of 1962. I remember deciding to dance (local dancing) the night out; it is the decision that I can remember, but whether I actually did dance or not, I cannot. Towards the morning, I remember going home to sleep hoping to miss the Santa Teresa, the Catholic Mission ship, from the Gilberts. Our house was full, there were people coming and going all the time. I was woken to get ready for the ship. Departure time had come and I was too sad even to think. How I wished I did not have to leave behind those I loved. Since it was my first time to leave home, I was heartbroken; and going to Kiribati was like going to the end of the earth! I was crying, my mother was crying and my grandmother was crying. Though there were others there, I do not remember the faces even of those who kissed me goodbye. My father took me to the ship on his canoe with three other men. I did not shed a tear when I said goodbye to my father. I held him responsible for my going away so I had no tear for him. He had explained that no one would accompany me to Tarawa because Viane had arranged that his two brothers on the ship, one the captain, the other a crew member, would look after his three children—his eldest daughter Taeaniti, Ioane, Teresa—and myself.