Guest * – Page 33 – Goducate … Go And Educate!

2015-04-172015-04-16

Goducate runs “Recollection” event for Dalid National High School in Iloilo

March is graduation month for high-school students in the Philippines. Many schools hold “Recollection”events for their graduating class. These events are geared towards students’ character development. They allow the students to recall the wonderful memories and meaningful lessons of high-school life and to prepare them for the future.

Dalid National High School is in Alimodian, a third-class municipality in Iloilo province. The school’s principal, Ms Ma. Riza Lasquita, and the staff member in charge of the event, Mr Angel Sernadilla, invited Goducate to run the Recollection event. They know that one of the goals of Goducate is to educate children and see them reach their highest potentials. They believe that Goducate can motivate and inspire their students reach for their dreams.

The Recollection was held on March 12. 46 students participated in the whole-day event. The program included fun-filled team-building activities, life-enriching sessions, small-group mentoring of the students, and individual reflections of him/herself.

We hope we were able to give the students an encouraging and inspiring Recollection experience, and that they will treasure the lessons and the new friendships built with the Goducate community development workers.

*Our guest writer is Joanna De Leon

2015-03-062015-03-09

Goducate Training Center in Iloilo celebrates its 3rd anniversary

As Goducate founder Dr Paul Choo has reminded us, “Poverty continues in a world of plenty! Ignorance persists in spite of the explosion of knowledge! Goducate was started to address these disturbing trends. Goducate Training Center was established to train world-class Community Development Workers who will ‘Go and Educate’ Asians to help themselves.” It’s an aim that has guided the Goducate Training Center (GTC) in the training it has developed over its 3 years of existence.

The focus of the training for the different batches of students has varied according to how they were most likely to be deployed. For example, for some batches the focus was more on agricultural work, and for some it was more on teaching English as a second language. Another change that has taken place is the much greater emphasis now put on practical training in the community.

At first the community work was done in the handful of barangays (villages) around the training center, but it has now been extended to villages in four towns of Panay, and also to the island of Leyte. Leaders from the communities are raised and serve as our key contacts in the barangays. Our newly launched project for this year, called “CDWs for the Barangays” aims to help 400 new barangays, mainly with health education.

A third anniversary breakfast celebration was held on Feb 11, with trainees and trainers sharing experiences.

*Our guest writer is Joanna de Leon, a Goducate volunteer CDW.

2015-02-13

Goducate community development workers are now certified as ALS facilitators

Illiteracy in rural areas is one of the major concerns in the Philippines. Many Filipinos do not have a chance of going to school for their basic education, or they have to leave school early, because of poverty or lack of schools and teachers in their communities.

Goducate’s mission is to Go and Educate people who otherwise have no access to education, so that they can escape lives of hopelessness and uselessness. In Laguna Goducate has been helping people who have not finished their schooling to complete it through the Philippines Department of Education Alternative Learning System (ALS).

ALS is a parallel learning system in the Philippines that provides a practical option to the existing formal system of instruction. It includes both non-formal and formal sources of knowledge and skills. Through ALS, Filipinos have the chance to access complete basic education in a mode that fits their distinct situations and needs. Its programs are modular and flexible. Learning can take place anytime, anywhere, depending on the convenience and availability of the learner.

On Jan 20-22, the Goducate Training Center in Iloilo partnered with the Department of Education’s Bureau of Alternative Learning System (BALS) to run a three-day training on ALS. The training was attended by 69 participants composed of Goducate community development workers, the new batch of Goducate trainees, and some members of the San Miguel community whom Goducate has helped. The participants received a certificate of completion and are now officially recognized as ALS facilitators.

With our community development workers now certified as ALS facilitators, Goducate Training Center is hopeful that more poor rural communities in the Philippines will be reached and offered the gift of free and convenient access to education.

Newly qualified facilitators with their certificates

*Our guest writer is Joanna De Leon, a Goducate volunteer