Goducate’s aim is to help the needy help themselves. So it follows that Goducate should help itself—ie, by aiming for self-sufficiency. Thus the Goducate Training Center (GTC) in Iloilo has not only facilities for training purposes but also holiday accommodation and recreational facilities that could be let out to the public. The recreational facilities include a swimming pool, a fishing pond, a zipline, a rock-climbing wall, and a fish spa, as well as many hectares of land for walks and games.
One group that was attracted by the facilities at the GTC was schools. Initially the schools conducted their own program, paying the entrance fee and the fee for whatever facilities they used. However, from June 2013, we started to market educational tours at PhP 150 ($3.35) per head for 30-45 min talks on various aspects of agriculture and farming that Goducate trainees are taught. The topics covered include basic botany, vermiculture, hydroponics, the rice-fish model of rearing fish in rice fields, container gardening, and characteristics of farm animals. The talks are geared for different age groups. They are interactive, with students being invited to use their senses and to participate in accompanying activities. For example, they can taste the Stevia leaf (a sweetener or sugar substitute), spray vermitea (a fertilizer made from worm castings), pot up plants, or feed animals. Included in the educational tour package is a GTC souvenir of either a potted plant or a key chain.
75% of the schools visiting GTC are kindergartens and day-care centers and 25% are elementary or high schools. In the first 2 months of this year 7 elementary or high schools, and 20 groups of kindergartens and day-care centers visited GTC. One of the groups consisted of 24 day-care centers, with a total of 750 pupils. Another very recent tour catered for a mixed group of 150 parents and students ranging in age from 6-40. Of the 27 lots of visitors, 11 took up the educational package and the rest conducted their own program.
