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Goducate starts third center in the Philippines

Goducate Baguio was launched on March 2. Baguio is located in the Province of Benguet, a part of Luzon, which sits at the northern end of the Philippines. Although once the capital of Benguet, Baguio is now a chartered city in that it is administered independently from the province.

Present at the launch were Goducate founder Paul Choo from Singapore and teams from Goducate Iloilo and Goducate Laguna.

At the half-day conference attended by community leaders from Baguio and Benguet, Paul Choo explained the goal, mission, and vision of Goducate. Carmela Damaso from Goducate Laguna then described the platforms used there for reaching the community. Finally, Leo Decinal shared about the partnership between Goducate Laguna and the Regional Mobile Force Battalion (RMFB) Calabarzon. Calabarzon is an administrative region made up of five provinces, one of which is Laguna.

After the conference, courtesy calls were made on the Commander of the RMFB of Cordillera, which is an administrative region on Luzon, and on the Mayor of Baguio City. Both expressed their approval of Goducate’s goal of developing leaders, who then will help others.

Already community leaders in Baguio trained by Goducate have been helping the Philippine National Police with the Enhanced Revitalized Internal Cleansing Strategy (ERICS). ERICS is a re-training program for members of the police force who have erred in some way. The aim of the program is to have a clean, disciplined police force.

Leaders learning about Goducate from Paul Choo
Our Team with the team from RMFB-15 (Cordillera).

*Our guest writer is Cristine Joy Capsula, a staff member at Camp Goducate, Laguna.

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Resident at Goducate Children’s Home in Cambodia faces little choice

I have been living at the Goducate Children’s Home, Cambodia, for 14 years, since I was 6 years old. Apart from attending the school, like all the other residents, I have been helping with work needed around the Home. As I grew up, I joined the bigger boys helping out with maintenance and construction work.

Since October last year, I have been earning a little money by helping with the building of a church. I sent the money to my family.

At the beginning of this year, I was asked to help out in the learning center at the Home instead when the supervisor had to go abroad for a couple of weeks. For helping at the learning center, I was given the same allowance that I received for helping with the construction work.

I have continued to help out at the learning center. The many days helping the younger children with their schoolwork has enabled me to revise what I had learnt, especially mathematics. The work here has also made me think back about, and be grateful for, the effort and commitment the teachers put into helping us.

The Home has given me an education that is different from that which I would have obtained outside. It has also given me a different perspective on life and an understanding of what really matters in my life.

I love my family very much and so I have been studying hard so that some day I can earn enough to help them. My desire is to study computer programming. I would like to continue helping out at the learning center until such time as I get the opportunity to study computer programming. However, I fear I have to give in to the pressure my father is putting on me to go out to seek work.

Whatever I end up doing I will not forget this Home and the people whom I’ve grown up with and shared my life with there and who have become my family.

To those who have helped me, a big thank you. 

*Our guest writer is David Soon
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Goducate Laguna thanks schoolchildren for help at its farm

On January 20, Goducate Laguna held an appreciation day for the 16 students of Masaya Integrated National High School who spent 2 weeks in November last year helping out at the Goducate Farm. They were at the farm as part of the Philippines’ new education program requiring all Grade 12 students to undergo on-the-job training or work immersion. During their time at our farm they helped with mushroom production, vermiculture, and other aspects of farming.

At the appreciation day, they were divided into small groups and encouraged to tell us about their experience at the farm. It was also an opportunity for us to get feedback from their adviser about the training the students received at the farm. He is hoping to send another batch of students in the next school year.

As part of our thanks to the students, we gave them mushroom chicharon (a crispy mushroom preparation), some simple awards, and a certificate of completion.

  • Helping at the farm, Nov 2019
  • Preparing to water plants, Nov 2019
  • Games time during Appreciation Day, Jan 2020

*Our guest writer, Mae Diaz-Luceno, is a staff member at Goducate Training Center, Laguna.