Seven of Goducate’s young volunteers in Laguna are collecting water hyacinths to earn money to cover some of their school or college expenses. They borrow a small fishing boat to paddle out to where water hyacinths grow wild in Tagumpay Village, near Laguna Lake. They are paid PhP 150 ($3.20) per 1000 pieces. Working in the mornings before class, or in the afternoons after class, each can earn an average of PhP300 a week, enough to cover expenses such as fares to school or costs of some school projects.
These students are part of Goducate’s music program. Two of them are already teaching younger children how to play the recorder, and two are in the Goducate College Scholarship program.
The water hyacinth project is run by a Goducate volunteer, who dries, cleans and flattens the stalks and then sells the harvested material as woven sheets 16 inches by 16 inches in size. These sheets can be assembled into bags, slippers, coin purses, table mats, vases, and so on. The project organizer is also learning how to make these finished products. The aim is to be able to get these products made locally and create jobs for the villagers. By doing so, he also hopes he can increase the rate he pays those who harvest the stalks.
