82 of the alumni of the Goducate Training Center (GTC) in Iloilo returned to the Center on Dec 16-17, 2016. They came from all over the Philippines as well as from Singapore, China, Malaysia, Vietnam, and Indonesia.
The celebration officially started with a “boodle fight” for lunch, with everyone using their bare hands to eat traditional Filipino food served on banana leaves. Then one by one the alumni recounted their personal stories of how they have been positively impacted by the community development training received at GTC, as well as their heart-warming experiences in building up people and communities all over Asia.
The afternoon program concluded by the unveiling of the “Alumni Commitment Board”. The board challenged everyone to commit to helping communities throughout Asia by choosing their desired country and putting their thumb print on it.
The day ended with the Grand Alumni Ball and dinner. Faces lit up as graduates from batch 1 to batch 9 beheld each other in formal wear. Dr. Paul Choo, Goducate founder, encouraged the crowd with his heartfelt welcome address. The night also included batch presentations and the election of Alumni Officers.
The next morning started with tree planting along the path to the gazebo. Each batch was given a tree to plant as a lasting legacy to GTC. Next came fun games that allowed the alumni to relish the camaraderie of the group.
The two-day celebration concluded with a community visit. Each batch chose two to three poor families to help, families that they had cherished during their training days. As they sang Christmas carols and distributed gifts, the family spirit and spirit of volunteerism welled up again in them.
*Our guest writer is Joanna De Leon, a community development worker