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First Goducate Leaders Conference

Goducate will hold its first Project Leaders Training in Singapore from Jan 18 to 22. About 40 leaders and workers who are serving in 6 countries (Philippines, China, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore) will be attending the course.

The aim of the conference is to emphasize the Goducate vision of “helping poor Asians help themselves.” As many of our leaders have been so busy in their particular projects and somewhat isolated from the other Goducate workers, they may have lost sight of the bigger picture. Certainly it is needful for us all to realize the magnitude of the task that is before us. Half of the world’s population live in Asia! And half of them need help! And we do not intend our vision of “helping poor Asians help themselves” to be a frivolous slogan but a clear goal which we hope to achieve.

Another objective of the conference is to help our leaders to bond together and share ideas. Though the delegates come from 6 different countries and are involved in seemingly very different projects, they are all involved in “Education.” And whether they are involved with a children’s home in Cambodia, or a learning center in Sabah or a university in Indonesia, or a youth training camp in Philippines, or migrant workers in Kuala Lumpur, they will probably be teaching the same subjects of English and computers. Similarly, if they are teaching Filipinos to use earth worms to produce organic fertilizer, the same skills can be useful in Cambodia, Indonesia or India.

Outside experts will also share with us on how to utilize the internet and Youtube, how to think creatively, how to use computers to track our data and expenses, how to write interesting blog articles, how to take good photographs, how organize group tours to visit our projects, etc. Most importantly, we will learn how to build bridges of love into the lives of individuals and communities.

Goducate realizes that just providing English, computer and livelihood skills will not be sufficient. More importantly, we must provide hope for these neglected people. And the best way to do this is to show them that we care for them and love them.

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English – the key into every Asian country!

As I travel through the different countries in Asia, I realize that Asia is amazingly diverse. Yet there seems to be a common thread that runs through the different countries, in spite of their different cultures and levels of development. And that is the fact that in almost every Asian country there is a desire to learn English. This desire is both top-down and down-up, ie, it is a desire of the leaders for their people and a desire of the people to their leaders. In other words, it is a real desire that seems to be printed on the minds and hearts of this generation of Asians.

I grew up at a time when most Asian countries were determined to promote their national languages, at the expense of the language of their colonial masters. Today, even the most nationalist Asian country is determined to promote the use of English.

I grew up in a time when being a doctor meant that one would be welcome into almost any Asian country to serve the poor. Today, my medical degree will not allow me to practise medicine in almost every Asian country – thanks to Asian medical authorities protecting their professional “turf.” However, today an English teacher (especially one that is a “native-speaker”) will easily find a job in almost any Asian country. Thankfully, the term “native-speaker” is being expanded to sometimes include Singaporeans, Filipinos and Indians.

While most Asian countries include English as a subject (often a compulsory subject) into their national curricula, the reality is that almost every Asian country does not have enough competent teachers. In fact, in my experience most English teachers in Asia can hardly string a grammatical sentence together or carry out even a basic conversation. In other words, almost every Asian country needs help – and they know it and are not ashamed of it! More importantly, many Asians realize that the ability to speak English is often the passport to a better job.

Ironically, it is often the poor who need to learn English to survive rather than the rich because the poor often have to find work in factories owned by foreigners, or work in service industries serving foreigners or even work as domestic helpers where English is the “common” language. In fact, for many poor Asians knowing English is often the only way out of poverty because with their own people they might need “connections” to get a job but with foreigners all they need is an ability to speak English.

Goducate believes that teaching English is one of the best ways to help poor Asians help themselves.

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Wanted urgently!

Goducate is a new non-profit organization. It has yet to develop a culture. But it cannot develop the right culture until it has the right core-team. In any organization, its people are critical to its success. A new non-profit organization has no rich share-holders, large assets, valuable patents or brand-name products. Therefore, the quality of its people is even more critical.

Goducate urgently needs people who are PASSIONATE to help the helpless help themselves. Passion is what drives a non-profit organization.

Goducate wants to help poor Asians to help themselves. More than half of the world’s population live in Asia, and most of the poor people in the world live in Asia. Therefore Goducate needs PLENTY of people with a passion to help the helpless.

Unlike countries in other continents which share commonalities (“Christian” Europe, “Protestant” North America, “Hispanic” South America, “Black” Africa, “White” Australia), Asia is very diverse racially, linguistically, culturally, religiously, economically, politically, etc. Therefore, to help the helpless Asian help himself will require plenty of passionate people who are CREATIVE.

If you have a passion to help others help themselves, please contact me at paulchoo @ goducate . org

I look forward to sharing with you my passion – and who knows, this might be your first step to being a part of building bridges of love to Asia’s billions?