The first batch of Goducate community development workers to be trained at the Goducate Language Center in Batam has completed 6 months’ training in Bahasa Indonesia, the Indonesian language. To help the 8 trainees pick up conversational rather than formal Indonesian, part of their language training took the form of community work at an orphanage and in a poor village. The completion of their language training was marked by a “culmination” program at which the trainees were given a pep talk on what is expected of them when they go out to serve in the community, at which they demonstrated what they had learnt of Indonesian language and culture, and at which they received their certificates of completion of training. Two others, who did only part of the training, received certificates of attendance.
The community development workers will soon be on their way to their postings in different parts of
Indonesia. In fact, 2 have already started work. They have been in Medan for the past 3 weeks, teaching English.
The Goducate Language Center is open to students other than Goducate trainees. Since Goducate’s tag line is “helping the needy help themselves”, we believe that we ought to be helping ourselves be self-reliant. Hence the language center takes in paying students who want to learn either English or Bahasa Indonesia.
Goducate Language CenterPerformance by traineesTeaching English in Medan
In previous blogs, we have mentioned the nutritional and therapeutic properties of Moringa. The leaves are traditionally used by lactating mothers for making soup to improve their milk production. The possibility of making Moringa capsule and tea has widened options for the intake of this plant.
Recently Prof Hope Patricio, Goducate’s volunteer agricultural consultant, demonstrated to Indonesian farmers in Kg Gunung Tinggi in North Sumatra and in Kg Gedung Mulyo in Central Java how to make Moringa capsules and tea. Before the hands-on training, she highlighted the importance, production, and utilization aspects of Moringa.
Prof Patricio explained that only 3-4 green compound leaves should be placed inside a screen bag for drying under a shade, because direct sun drying can destroy the vitamin C packed in the leaves. After drying, the leaflets should be shaken off from the leaf petioles, then roasted over a low fire for 2-3 minutes only, with continuous stirring to reduce the moisture and sanitize the leaves. Roasting helps to preserve the leaves and improve the tea’s flavor.
The roasted Moringa leaves are powderized with a blender or mortar and pestle before being sifted to remove the larger particles. The powder is then poured into empty capsules that can be obtained from local drugstores. The Moringa capsules are stored in amber bottles or other airtight containers that keep out light, and these are stored in a dry place or in the refrigerator.
To make Moringa tea requires one cup of Moringa leaves, one cup of ginger, and one cup of lemon grass. These are placed in a pan containing four cups of water, brought to the boil and simmered under low flame for 2 mins. After the concoction is placed in a pitcher, the juice of an orange can be added to improve the flavor.
Most of the participants prepared their own Moringa capsules later on and experienced the simplicity of the procedure. They were reminded to always sanitize their hands with alcohol or else use disposable plastic gloves before handling the powder and capsule.
Their next request is for Goducate to teach them how to cook Philippine Chicken Tinola with Moringa leaves, green papaya, and lemon grass.
participant making her own Moringa capsuleMoringa tea demonstration
In Bandung, Indonesia, strawberry production mostly involves soil agriculture. One limitation with this production scheme is the long gestation period (generally 8 months) from planting of runners until harvesting of the initial fruits. With hydroponics, however, harvesting is possible 4 months after transferring the tissue-cultured plantlets into the hydropots and growing them in nutrient-rich water.
To highlight the advantages of hydroponics in producing strawberries, Goducate initiated a static prototype in Bandung in September 2012. Ten pieces of 10-mm diameter PVC pipes about 3.25 m long were each perforated with 20 holes to accommodate 20 hydropots. Three A-frames made of bamboo were used to support the three vertical layers of PVC pipes. Each pipe was then filled with about 28 liters of water containing 14 of the 17 macro- and micronutrients for optimum plant growth (the three other elements – carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen – are generally sourced by the plants from water and air). To eliminate the possibility of excessive dilution of nutrients from rain water, san improvised roofing using daylight plastic sheets was constructed.
By end of November 2012, the hydroponically grown strawberries were flowering profusely. Harvesting took place a month later.
Hydroponics offers several advantages in that there is no need for soil preparation. It also involves less fertilizer, water, area, labor, pest/disease incidence, energy/carbon footprint, and production risk. It enables the producer to have more cropping cycles. This technology is akin to using less to produce more.
Goducate has been teaching emerging technologies in agriculture like hydroponics to farmers in Indonesia during the past few months. Instead of dealing with popular and very expensive systems such as automated drip irrigation and nutrient-film technique, Goducate focuses on very affordable static hydroponics, which involves passive aeration, does not use electricity, and eliminates protective structures such as greenhouse and screenhouse.
In Bandung where the elevation varies from 700 to 1,800 meters above sea level, high-value vegetables such as lettuce, cauliflowers, cabbage, and broccoli are ideal for backyard production through hydroponics. Under an urban setting where much of the backyard spaces are concreted, household members will benefit greatly from this technology. Recyclable materials abound in various Indonesian towns and cities, and for an initial investment of only SGD0.80, one can produce vegetables worth SGD4.85.
We hope that in the very near future, the trainings on emerging agricultural technologies initiated by Goducate will help ensure food security among Indonesian households.
Hands-on training in hydroponicsStrawberry hydroponics prototypeNewly-harvested strawberries.
