Guest * – Page 62 – Goducate … Go And Educate!

2012-02-102012-02-08

From illiteracy to employability in 2 years

Last week I went to Sabah to visit our Literacy Centers. It has been almost 6 months since I last visited.

It was good to hear that many of last year’s students have found jobs —not the usual manual jobs available to them (eg, in construction sties, in public markets) but “white-collar” jobs (in internet cafes, in mobile phone shops, in restaurants). Several of them, in their early teens, are earning more than what their parents get! Indeed, the literacy and numeracy that they learned in our Literacy Centers have given them the opportunity to get these jobs.

I was told that their ability to speak English and the good character that they had developed in our centers were also important factors in getting employment.

photo(6) — I will own a mobile-phone shop someday!

One day, as I was in the Goducate car passing a row of shop-houses, one our former students, who is now working in a mobile-phone shop, recognized the car and waved at us. I got out of the car to chat with her. She was so excited to tell me about her work at the shop. I remembered her as a shy little girl who had learned “phonics” and numeracy in a few months, then moved on to being an assistant teacher, and now she was ready to learn all about mobile-phones. In a mere 2 years, she had moved on from illiteracy and hopelessness to employability and hope.

As I returned to the car and waved goodbye to her, I felt a sense of “fatherly pride” as I watched another one of our students bravely entering an exciting new world that they had once never imagined they could penetrate.

Indeed, there are few things as satisfactory as helping a person help himself!

2012-02-072018-09-23

Wall at Goducate Children’s Home in Cambodia is reinforced

From the 11th to the 23rd of January, I ate, slept, worked, and chatted with the children at the Goducate Children’s Home in Preyop, Cambodia. A typical day for a child in the home would go along something like this—wake up at crack of dawn to do assigned tasks or chores, have breakfast, attend school (in English) and Khmer classes, then back to doing assigned tasks in various part of the home or pursue own leisure activities.

Many fruits, vegetables, and herbs and spices are grown in the grounds of the Home to feed its residents. Chickens and fish are also reared to provide food for the Home. Through their assigned tasks children are taught agricultural skills and poultry and fish rearing. With their team work, and with the older children helping and guiding the younger ones, the tasks are done effectively, and the children acquire leadership and mentoring skills.

The older ones also learn skills such as welding, repair work, and basic construction and electrical and mechanical skills. During my stay the boys were repairing and reinforcing a brick wall along the perimeter of the Home, to keep out intruders, not only human ones but also animal oness such as snakes. The bigger boys mixed the concrete, laid the bricks, and carried the heavy loads, while the younger ones learnt by occasionally having a go at the work and helping in any little ways they could.

My short stay gave me the impression that the various skills that the children are learning, and the constant moulding and guiding that they receive will stand them in good stead when they leave the Home, whether they head for village or city life, and that they will be able to make a difference in their community.

Guest writer Wei Jie, Volunteer from Singapore

2012-01-172012-01-18

Official opening of Goducate Training Centre

The official opening of Goducate Training Center (GTC) in Iloilo, Philippines, on Feb 11 is fast approaching and our team is working hard to get the place ready.

The Governor of Iloilo has accepted our invitation to be our Guest of Honor and the Secretary of the Department of Agriculture of the Philippines will be officiate at the opening of our Hydroponics and Container Gardening Center.

Goducate operates in Cambodia, Malaysia, China, Philippines, and Indonesia, and its country heads, project leaders, and the headquarters team will also be at the Opening. After the Opening, they will stay back for 3 days of meetings to plan for 2012. After this meeting, the new intake for 2012 will begin their training.

Many new facilities are being completed (we hope) in time for the opening — the Children’s Waterpark, the motor-pool and workshop, additional staff housing, etc.

The faculty housing has also been completed. This is a complex of 4 units that will house our faculty (full-time and visiting faculty) who will come from many different countries.

We hope that we will have not only an Official Opening but also the start of a whole new era for Goducate as our leaders from different countries dream BIG to help needy Asians help themselves.