Last week I had the opportunity to meet most of the 40 Sabah teachers that Goducate had trained.
Firstly, it was a joy for me to see how many had been trained. When we first started recruiting teachers for training, we had few trainees because these mothers did not believe that they could be teachers. They had never taught before. In fact, most of them had never had a “white-collar” job before. We had to persuade them that we would train any one who had a high-school diploma. We were convinced that the most valuable asset was their desire to help their own kids.
Secondly, it was amazing to see how different they were. I had seen many of them before they became teachers. I had met them in preliminary Goducate “meet-the-mums” meetings where we shared with them our dreams of educating their children. They had come in their simple work clothes – appropriate for their various had manual jobs. But when I met with them last week, they looked like teachers, they talked like teachers and they behaved like teachers. I believe that Goducate gave them more than phonics and maths skills, we gave them back their dignity!
Thirdly, I was so happy to see the unity of the team. They had come from different villages, different tribes, different regions in the Philippines, different religions. When I first met them, they did not trust us, nor did they trust each other. It was basically, every man for himself in their difficult daily struggle to survive. When I met them last week, it was like one big family – just eating, laughing, crying, planning and dreaming together.
As I watched these teachers, I realized that was a dream fulfilled for Goducate and more importantly, it was a dream fulfilled in the lives of these dear teachers!
They were now had the tools to help themselves, their families and their communities!