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Goducate starts third center in the Philippines

Goducate Baguio was launched on March 2. Baguio is located in the Province of Benguet, a part of Luzon, which sits at the northern end of the Philippines. Although once the capital of Benguet, Baguio is now a chartered city in that it is administered independently from the province.

Present at the launch were Goducate founder Paul Choo from Singapore and teams from Goducate Iloilo and Goducate Laguna.

At the half-day conference attended by community leaders from Baguio and Benguet, Paul Choo explained the goal, mission, and vision of Goducate. Carmela Damaso from Goducate Laguna then described the platforms used there for reaching the community. Finally, Leo Decinal shared about the partnership between Goducate Laguna and the Regional Mobile Force Battalion (RMFB) Calabarzon. Calabarzon is an administrative region made up of five provinces, one of which is Laguna.

After the conference, courtesy calls were made on the Commander of the RMFB of Cordillera, which is an administrative region on Luzon, and on the Mayor of Baguio City. Both expressed their approval of Goducate’s goal of developing leaders, who then will help others.

Already community leaders in Baguio trained by Goducate have been helping the Philippine National Police with the Enhanced Revitalized Internal Cleansing Strategy (ERICS). ERICS is a re-training program for members of the police force who have erred in some way. The aim of the program is to have a clean, disciplined police force.

Leaders learning about Goducate from Paul Choo
Our Team with the team from RMFB-15 (Cordillera).

*Our guest writer is Cristine Joy Capsula, a staff member at Camp Goducate, Laguna.

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Goducate Laguna thanks schoolchildren for help at its farm

On January 20, Goducate Laguna held an appreciation day for the 16 students of Masaya Integrated National High School who spent 2 weeks in November last year helping out at the Goducate Farm. They were at the farm as part of the Philippines’ new education program requiring all Grade 12 students to undergo on-the-job training or work immersion. During their time at our farm they helped with mushroom production, vermiculture, and other aspects of farming.

At the appreciation day, they were divided into small groups and encouraged to tell us about their experience at the farm. It was also an opportunity for us to get feedback from their adviser about the training the students received at the farm. He is hoping to send another batch of students in the next school year.

As part of our thanks to the students, we gave them mushroom chicharon (a crispy mushroom preparation), some simple awards, and a certificate of completion.

  • Helping at the farm, Nov 2019
  • Preparing to water plants, Nov 2019
  • Games time during Appreciation Day, Jan 2020

*Our guest writer, Mae Diaz-Luceno, is a staff member at Goducate Training Center, Laguna.

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GoTeens Bukidnon hits its 10,000 student-mark for Student Leadership Program

Ten thousand students have participated in the GoTeens platform in Malaybalay City in Bukidnon Province in Mindanao (the second largest island group in the Philippines), in the year since the Student Leadership Program was introduced in Malaybalay City in September, 2018. GoTeens is a Goducate Philippines platform targeting high-schools, to educate the teenagers on the effects of premarital sex and illegal drug abuse. The platform’s tagline is “building the next generation of leaders”. The idea is to get youth leaders to educate their peers about pressing issues of teenage pregnancy and illegal drug abuse.

The GoTeens Malaybalay City team is composed of volunteers from different sectors, headed by Mr Daniel Asuncion and his wife, Dr. Ruth Asuncion. The milestone reached in Malaybalay City has been one of the long-term goals of Goducate as a whole in its efforts to get the more than 42,000 communities in the Philippines to mobilize more volunteers for the youth movement. Some of the volunteers are housewives, company drivers, doctors, and church leaders who aim to reduce the rising number of teenage pregnancies and illegal drug abusers in the country.

Goducate’s aim is to create movements with its existing platforms among various communities in the different parts of the Philippines. Trainings are offered to partners interested to collaborate in reaching their own communities.

Student Leadership Program in Managok National High School

Student Leadership Program in Bangkud National High School

Student Leadership Program in Can Ayan Integrated School

 

*Our guest writer is Carmela Damaso, a staff member of Goducate Laguna.