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Goducate Training Center staff undergo sports training

A 3-day mini sports course was held at the Goducate Training Center (GTC) in Iloilo, The Philippines, for staff of the center during the break that the GTC trainees were having. Those GTC trainees who stayed on at the center during their break also took part in the course. In addition, the mini course was open to community leaders. Altogether some 60 people took part in the course, which was divided into three parts—basketball, basketball refereeing, and lifeguard training. Training was conducted by Goducate sports director Boycie Zamar, George Magsino (an international basketball referee) and Jojo Rivera (a licensed basketball and swimming coach and a licensed lifeguard).

George Magsino lecturing on the theory of basketbal refereeing
Lifeguard participants preparing for actual pool rescue

These skills are useful for community development workers, so the first step is to train our staff in them. Basketball is a good way of engaging the communities we work with and instilling in them qualities such as discipline, teamwork, leadership etc. Basketball refereeing offers people, including our community development workers, a means of livelihood. Likewise, lifeguard training. Besides, there is a pool at GTC, so it is essential for GTC to have lifeguards on site.

Participants chose which of the three skills they wanted to learn. In the three days they could be trained only to basic level. Training at higher levels will be offered soon.

After the course, we received numerous requests for similar coaching to be held elsewhere, which we will be considering.

Presentation of certificates
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First Goducate musician to pass music examination does so with a merit

Goducate’s music program in The Philippines was started as a means of getting out-of-school youth off the streets and out of trouble. We started with recorder lessons, which were so popular that many children still in school or college also joined in. The youth were so musical they soon went on to other instruments and formed an orchestra that was engaged to play at local functions.

The trainers in the music program have had some music lessons but not at any high level. Thus when Channel News Asia brought some music trainers from Singapore to visit the orchestra in Laguna for a TV program called Once Upon a Village, the Singaporeans were surprised to find that the violinists knew nothing about tuning a violin.

Still, the Singaporean trainers were sufficiently impressed to invite 5 violinists to Singapore for about 10 days of training at the Wolfgang Music Studio in Oct/Nov 2011. The studio later invited one of these 5, Liezl, back on two more occasions, each time for a couple of months, to prepare for the Trinity College London grade 5 examination. She took the examination in June, and has passed with a merit.

She is now back in The Philippines passing on the skills she has learnt to the others in the music program. She has been invited to return to Wolfgang Music Studio later this year to prepare for the grade 6 examination.

Liezl, second from left, and Jayson, extreme right.

Jayson, another of the 5 who came to Singapore through the Channel News Asia program, was also invited back for a couple of months training recently. He too has been invited to return later this year to sit for exams. Meanwhile he, too, is passing on whatever skills he has learnt to other Goducate musicians.

Both Liezl and Jayson exemplify the Goducate philosophy that those who have been helped by Goducate should in turn help others.

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Liz Poey’s friends eat and laugh for Goducate

What nicer way to celebrate a birthday than to eat and laugh with family and friends. So that’s how Liz Poey decided to spend her 60th birthday. The thing with Liz is that she doesn’t always do things the conventional way. For this event she made her guests dig into their pockets for the pleasure of attending the dinner. And deep they had to dig, with places priced at $150 to $500 per person. Yet within a few weeks seats at all 29 tables were sold out. What Liz was doing was to raise awareness and support for Goducate again—for a couple of years ago she had channelled most of the proceeds from the sale of her autobiography to Goducate. Goducate is very grateful to her and her chums for their extreme generosity that went beyond the price of the seats.

Liz herself generated the laughter with her stand-up comedy show, inducing guests to laugh with and at her. She is no novice at being a stand-up comedian, the 60th birthday show (Endorphin Rush 2) being her second. For Endorphin Rush 2 most of the humorous stories were derived from her life as teacher, school principal, and cancer patient. Those who missed hearing the jokes live or want to share them with others can order a DVD of the event through Liz’s website.

A student at the National Junior College in Singapore when Liz was a teacher there, and who is now the chief executive officer of MHC Asia Group, decided to add to the interest of the evening in a novel way. He announced that for every “Like” received on the MHC Asia Group facebook page, his company would contribute $60 (up to a maximum of $20,000) to buy a van for Goducate projects in Laguna.

Liz Poey the comedian
"Queen Elizabeth Poey", who shares the same birthday with Queen Elizabeth II.

Liz is a marvelous example of what Goducate would like its recipients to be. Once they have helped themselves, we would like them to go on to help others, so that Goducate becomes a movement.

 

Liz Poey handing the contributions collected to Goducate founder, Paul Choo

Despite her cancer Liz has directed her energies to helping not only Goducate but also cancer patients and animal welfare. We wish Liz many more years of health and such worthy work.