Helping Asians Help Themselves
Five dentists volunteered their services and provided a free dental clinic to poor communities in Cambodia in mid-December 2013. One of the areas the dentists were invited to was a military camp in Kampung Spue Cambodia.
The camp is run by General Sok Rumduol, a commander of Samdeck Hun Sen Body Guard unit. The families of the soldiers were also invited to the free dental clinic. For more than 5 hours, the team together with volunteers, worked diligently to serve over 70 patients at the camp.
Goducate teachers in Sabah spent Jan 1-2 attending their 1st teacher-training camp. The teachers at the Goducate learning centers in Sabah are mostly the women who have had some education. Goducate sends teacher trainers over at least twice a year. In the past the teachers would turn each day for the sessions, but this time, they stayed over for a night. 42 teachers attended the camp.
Our regular trainer and curriculum developer went over to teach them how to improve their teaching skills and class management. She was accompanied by four others who taught the teachers team-building activities and various games, the principles of running an “English corner”, and how to produce visual aids for the classroom. In addition the teachers were given motivational talks.
During an English corner, students would be gathered round a teacher or facilitator to learn English by talking about a chosen topic. It would be a session during which the students rather than the teachers would do most of the talking.
One of the main types of relief that Goducate is offering to the victims of Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda) is teaching them how to use a chainsaw. The typhoon blew down so many trees, some of which flattened homes, schools, and other buildings, that being able to chop up the trees would allow access for rebuilding and provide material for construction work, not only of buildings but also of boats that were lost or destroyed in fishing villages.
Goducate is concentrating its efforts on Panay island, a place devastated by the typhoon that is nearest to the Goducate Training Center in Iloilo.
One of the first few villages on Panay Island that Goducate has started to work with is Bayas. On a recent re-visit to Bayas, Goducate held a Christmas party for the children of the primary school, while the men were taught how to use a chainsaw and the women learnt about nutrition.
