Author: Joyous

Although the main focus of the training at the Goducate learning centers in Sabah is literacy, we try to give the children an all-round education, which includes character building, livelihood skills, sports, and the arts.

Three years ago the children at the main Goducate learning center in Sabah started to learn Pakiring, a traditional dance popular in the southern Philippines and Sabah. They were taught by one of the mothers, who had been a Pakiring dancer in the southern Philippines before she moved to Sabah several decades ago. Her classes were held at her house and attended by the students at our center and by some other children attending the government school. In 2011, 4 of this teacher’s teenage pupils won first prize in a Pakiring contest in town. This year, we plan to have Pakiring contests during Hari Raya Aidil Fitri at our learning centers, and the winners from the various centers will compete at our main center.

Pakiring is variant of Pangalay, a traditional dance of the Tausug tribe in Sulu Archipelago and the Badjao tribe in Zamboanga del Sur, Philippines. Pakiring is commonly performed at weddings and other festive gatherings. Dancing Pakiring emphasizes the agility of the upper body and rhythmic bounce of the shoulder with simultaneous alternating waving of arms. It also emphasizes the movement of the hips (Kiring- Kiring), and it requires flexibility of the shoulders, elbows and wrists, all of which make it a very distinctive Asian dance.

Dancing comes naturally for most children, and it can help them develop cognitive, social, and creative skills. Learning their traditional dance helps them to appreciate their own culture. It will also divert their attention from some of the unhealthy activities that youngsters at a loose end get into. Besides, it’s fun.

In the 4 years since the first Goducate Literacy Center was opened in Sabah, many students have learnt to read and write sufficiently well to find good jobs, in some cases as our assistant teachers. However, these adolescent youths are still exposed to the common social problems in their community, such as early marriage, drunkenness, drug addiction, gambling, gang robbery, and prostitution. We believe that the education that we gave them helps them greatly in facing these challenges, but supplementary activities would help to keep them focused, to develop good character traits, and to channel their youthful energies in good ways.

Last year, frisbee was introduced at the main center. Frisbee can be played in any backyard, and the only equipment needed is the disc. The teenagers have had much fun learning and mastering the rules, and in the process have learnt discipline, teamwork, and sportsmanship.

This year, the exciting feature was the introduction of team uniforms. The uniforms have added so much enthusiasm and a sort of formality to the two teams.

We believe that if we plant good seeds now, we can harvest good fruits in the future. As of now, we can spot the good team leaders—leaders who could help others help themselves.

The mothers and young people in who teach at the Goducate literacy centers in Sabah believe in the principle that learning is a process. This gives them the encouragement never to stop learning. Hence every time a training schedule is announced everyone, whether older teacher or new one, is ready and excited.

We have a waiting list of invitations from villages requesting us to open learning centers for them. They were asked to identify individuals in their community able and willing to be trained as teachers. This recent round of training conducted during the second and third week of December and the first week of January was attended by 54 people—-44 existing and 10 potential teachers. The training was facilitated by our head trainer and some of our pioneer teachers, as well as by the visiting trainer from the Goducate Training Center in Iloilo, Philippines, who has been coming every year to help with the training. For the training sessions, the teachers were broken up by their level of knowledge and experience.

Our visiting trainer commented on the big improvements she has seen in the performance of the teachers through the years. With the training of the new teachers, we will be opening a few more centers soon. These new teachers will be assisted by the more experienced teachers from other centers until such time as they are fit and confident to teach on their own.

Although this round of training has just been completed, all the teachers know that there will be more to come. Training sessions are held every quarter. Goducate believes that it is important to maintain the quality of the teachers’ performance through regular training.