Goducate starts GMorE initiatives in Indonesia

Because of the economic, nutritional, and medicinal benefits of Moringa oleifera, Goducate has recently launched the GMorE initiatives in Indonesia.  GMorE is an acronym for Goducate Moringa Explosion, which underscores the relevance of training and assisting needy Indonesians in the production, processing, and utilization of Moringa.

In the Philippines, Moringa is widely accepted as vegetable by all households.  The recent declaration of Moringa as the country’s national vegetable and November as the national Moringa month by the Philippine Congress has highlighted further its importance to the Filipino diet.

In Indonesia, however, a not insignificant percentage of the whole population still remains unaware of the vegetable although it has been promoted by the World Health Organization for the past 20 years as low-cost health enhancer in developing countries.

As strategy to encourage Indonesians to grow Moringa, Goducate is putting up a Moringa Demonstration and Training Center in Medan, North Sumatra.  It has also partnered with farming and business entities in Bandung, Jakarta, and Pekan Baru for Moringa production in areas ranging from two to five hectares.  The resource endowments will be provided by the partner-groups while the technical assistance will come from the Goducate agricultural team.

Through GMorE, Goducate envisions to impact the lives of Indonesians by teaching them about Moringa and the numerous socio-economic benefits that can be derived from it.

Planting the first Moringa seedling in GMorE demonstration and training site
Planting the first Moringa seedling in GMorE demonstration and training site
GMorE team in action
GMorE team in action

Goducate Indonesia holds Summit in Batam

On March 11-13, some 50 people, made up of the Goducate team in Indonesia, together with their working partners and members of the headquarters team in Singapore, gathered in Batam for a “summit”. With the theme of the summit being “United to Serve”, the community development workers were given reminders (a) of the purpose of their being in Indonesia, namely, to serve the Indonesians, (b) of how they had been trained at the Goducate Training Center in Iloilo to be servants, and (c) of how to remain united.

They were also reminded of Goducate’s “5 Ps”—-purpose, people, program, place, and provision. When Goducate starts on a project, it works through the 5 Ps in that order. It starts with an aim to be achieved, recruits the appropriate people for the project, plans the program, decides where best to start the project, and then seeks for resources. It does not accumulate resources first and then look around for ways of using those resources.

The Goducate workers in Indonesia are scattered in Indonesia—in Pekanbaru, Batam, Medan, and Bandung—mainly teaching English to adults and children or helping villagers in agricultural projects. The summit was a chance for the various teams to update each other on what they are doing, and for those working on specific projects to brainstorm on how they can take their projects further. For instance, the Sing Your English team discussed how videos can be used to facilitate teaching by this method. As a result a drama team was formed to take this idea further.

Listening attentively.
Listening attentively.
During informal session on taking SYE program further.
During informal session on taking SYE program further.
Letting their hair...........down?
Letting their hair………..down?

Goducate distributes Moringa seedlings to households in Lailara Sumba

In October last year, I went with another member of Goducate’s agriculture team in Indonesia to Lailara (population 1030), in Sumba, an island in eastern Indonesia. During our week there we taught the key leaders of the village about Moringa and its health benefits. They also involved the locals in planting 800 Moringa seeds in small polybags. The plan was for the raised seedlings to be transplanted some time in December 2013.

Typhoon Haiyan, however, devastated Central Philippines in November. Goducate shifted its focus to helping the typhoon victims, so I was not able to return to Sumba until late February.

Upon arrival in Lailara, the agriculture team immediately met with the new village chief, who expressed his unstinted support for the Backyard Moringa Project. Strategies were discussed, and the following day the key leaders were given hands-on demonstrations on how to dig the hole properly, add compost or complete fertilizer, transplant the seedlings, and construct a tree guard to protect the plant from stray animals.

There are 250 households in Lailara, and each household received two seedlings each. About 6-8 months from now, the village folk should be able to consume Moringa as vegetable. The next step will be to teach them how to process Moringa leaves into powder and other products.

The Moringa seedling bank
The Moringa seedling bank
A clan showing off the transplanted Moringa seedlings
A clan showing off the transplanted Moringa seedlings