One fear aroused by the COVID-19 pandemic was shortage of food due to disruption of the food-supply chain. Some people rushed to the shops to stock up on canned and packaged foods. At the Goducate Children’s Home, staff and the children got down to work, preparing the land to plant corn and green leafy vegetables and to breed more poultry. They also began to rear geese, turkeys and different breeds of chicken.
The Home has started to harvest the crops, and is also encouraging the children to eat more greens.
The first child to be taken into the Goducate Children’s Home in Cambodia was Samuel Chuck. He joined the Home in November 2005, several years before the Home became part of Goducate. Since August of 2016, he has been a student at the American University of Phnom Penh, where he is pursuing a 4-year course in Bachelor of Arts, with a major in Global Affairs and a minor in Law. His tuition fees are USD9000 per school year but he has been awarded a half scholarship, and he works in the university to earn the rest of his fees.
Samuel, front row second from left
Two others who have also started their tertiary education in Cambodia are the twins John and Jacob Phin . They are in a government vocational school doing 3-year courses, John in management, and Jacob in refrigeration and air-conditioning.
Two others from the Home went abroad. Joshua Kong completed his studies in a bible school in the Philippines, and returned to Cambodia in April this year to help in the Home and at a local church.
Adam in his new uniform
Adam Noo also went to the Philippines. He attended the Goducate Training Center in Iloilo from July 1 of 2017 until March of 2018. After his training at GTC, he transferred to Iligan City, a town in southern Philippines, and was able to complete two courses run by the Philippine Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA). One was on masonry from April 16 to May 7, 2018, and the other was on electrical installation and maintenance from May 22 to June 25, 2018. He is still in Iligan, doing a six-month TESDA course on gas acetylene welding. Adam has been fortunate in getting a scholarship for this course, as well as for his two other completed courses.
The children in the Goducate Children’s Home recently had an opportunity not only to attend a wedding, but also to take part in it. The occasion was staff member Ronnie’s marriage. Earlier, the children had had a part to play in Ronnie’s proposal of marriage.
Ronnie, a Filipino, has been helping at the Home for the past 5 years. His bride Joy, also a Filipino, has been teaching at a Korean school in Cambodia for the past 7 years. They first met when Joy and her friends came to the Home to help decorate our dormitories and learning center. Thus many of the children have witnessed the development of the romance.
During the wedding, the children provided the music, and served as flower girls, as ring and contract bearer, or as usherettes. They had also decorated the venue for the wedding.
