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    The Newsroom Blog
    2 February 2018 | POSTED BY Shirley Ann McGuire

    Tongan Touts Education as Key to Escaping Poverty

    Although a successful rugby player in his native Tonga, Tevita Akau encouraged his children to adopt education rather than sports as their path to success in life.

            
       

    Now he has a daughter who will soon graduate from the University of Utah in pre-med with plans to go to medical school and a son who has been accepted to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Boston.

    After becoming a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at age 17, Akau was disowned by his family and moved in with the Makaa’fi Lotulelei family and eventually moved with them to America.

    Read here for more of his inspiring climb from poverty in this story by Dick Harmon in the Deseret News.

    Read Older Post Generous Donations from New Zealand Women Provide Comfort for Refugee Families Read Newer Post New Zealand Latter-day Saint Discusses Death and Grieving in TVNZ Interview

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