Author: Leo

A nursing school that came to know about Goducate’s community work has chosen the Goducate Learning Center in Mabakan, Calaun, to be a center for practical training for their students. Hence 10 nursing students spent January training the locals in basic health awareness and doing health screenings.

Some 30 people, mostly mothers, attended the training course, which was held daily for 2 hours at a time, and consisting of lectures and practical work. The course covered topics such as urinary tract infections, parasite infestation in children, high blood pressure.

The nursing school issued certificates of recognition to those who completed the training. The certificates were presented by the municipal mayor. Jonatan, a member of the Goducate team, was specially commended for his role in coordinating all the arrangements. The nursing school plans to return annually with their students.

At the end of the course, it was time for Goducate to show the nursing students what we do. They were brought to the Goducate Model Farm, where they picked and sampled our crops, and did health screening for the volunteers and workers at the farm.

Goducate has rented premises for a music studio in Laguna. Members of the Goducate Orchestra, especially those in college, have been helping to get the place ready for use by the end of this month.

This studio is where the Goducate Orchestra will hold its rehearsals. It is also where auditions will held every three months to see whether any of the newer musicians are ready to join the junior orchestra. On top of that, members of the orchestra can use this place to teach private students. The income they receive will help fund their own studies, and perhaps even help meet their families’ daily needs.

The Goducate Orchestra in Laguna, The Philippines, was invited to play at a shopping mall on Dec 22. It was good exposure for the orchestra. Shoppers stayed back not just to take photographs with the members of the orchestra, but also to invite the orchestra to play for private functions and also to enquire about possible tuition. We are in the process of trying to rent premises for a studio. When the studio is ready, the members of the orchestra will be able to use the place to give music lessons and thus earn some money for their living expenses and school allowances.

The mall gave the orchestra a grocery voucher worth PHP3000 ($68), which was used for a party to celebrate hitting the target of the fund-raising concert, Concert for a Cause, which was held earlier in December and which raised PHP33,700, sufficient to support 4 college students for a year.

The mall has also invited the orchestra to play again there in February.