Goducate has been training Filipinas who are undocumented aliens in Sabah to teach literacy and numeracy to the children in their own community. There are now 22 Goducate literacy centers catering to over 1000 students.
In another town on the other side of Sabah a Malaysian couple, concerned about how street kids usually end up as child laborers, troublemakers, or victims of child abuse, had also set up a center to teach literacy to the children of undocumented aliens. The husband had grown up in a village where he had learnt some farming, and he believes that a school that teaches practical organic agriculture to out-of-school youth could help transform their condition from one of hopelessness to one of usefulness. Hence they were also starting a little farm.
They turned to Goducate for help with their farm project, and thus it was that I found myself there for 5 days to train them in some agricultural techniques—namely, vermicomposting and vermitea brewing, hydroponics and aquaponics, organic container gardening, and organic moringa production. The first 2 days were spent teaching with powerpoint presentations and discussions, and the next 2 days were spent with hands-on work at the farm. The last day was spent on mapping the area for optimum land use and a field visit to a nearby vermiculture project.
The big dream of this center is that the farming project will end up as a center for organic farming initiative that can contribute significantly to the food security of Sabah. For now, it is a means of turning out-of-school youth into useful and productive citizens instead of troublemakers.
