Others – Page 13 – Goducate … Go And Educate!

2017-05-052017-05-24

Goducate workers from Philippines and Indonesia attend leadership training in Singapore

11 Goducate workers from the Philippines and 3 from Indonesia attended an intensive 5-day training course (April 25-30) in leadership at the Goducate headquarters in Singapore. They were joined by 7 Singaporean Goducate volunteers.

The trainer, Jerome Joseph, an experienced human resources consultant and coach, made the course very stimulating by spicing it up with many activities and exercises. Among the numerous topics that trainees learnt about were the characteristics of a good leader, how to understand their relationship with themselves and others, how to address tasks according to their urgency and/or importance, the difference between influence and persuasion in communicating with others, and the levels and principles of listening.

The Goducate workers not only lead teams in various projects. They also train others. For instance, the Philippines is made up of many small villages, and Goducate conducts leadership training for the village heads.

Goducate’s motto is helping others to help themselves. To help ourselves be self-sufficient in funding our work, Goducate also conducts, for a fee, leadership training to business corporations. The training our workers received in Singapore should enhance the type of training they can offer to others.

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Goducate in Laguna partners police to “Support Sports and Avoid Illegal Drugs”

In the middle of last year. Goducate in Laguna began to work with the police, training them to be basketball officials (see blog of Aug 14, 2015). The idea behind the partnership was to help the police to reach out to youth through sports. Keeping youth focused on a sport can help keep them out of trouble.

As part of this partnership, a friendly basketball league was held at the Goducate center in Laguna on April 6. One of the largest problems in the Philippines now among youths is drug addiction, so the theme for the event was “Support Sports and Avoid Illegal Drugs”. We agreed that building a strong relationship and trust between the community and the authorities could help prevent youths from being tempted by drugs, and one way of building such relationships is through sports, which is very popular in the Philippines.

Altogether 7 teams took part in the league, including the village chieftain’s team. In addition, Goducate’s sports coordinator also invited 2 Philippines Basketball Association (PBA) players to give their testimonies at the event. Both came from the leading teams in the PBA league, and both believe in the value of sports as a means of keeping youths out of trouble. The participants were much encouraged by hearing how these players managed to overcome their struggles to be successful PBA players. One of them told of how basketball enabled him to finish his studies and attain financial freedom.

The participants were also addressed by our Municipal Chief of Police, who encouraged them to avoid illegal vices. In particular, he talked about the adverse effects of drug addiction not only on the addicts but also on their families, and he warned them how hard it is to break the addiction.

Listening to the Municipal Chief of Police

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Goducate student volunteers earn pocket money by collecting water hyacinths

Seven of Goducate’s young volunteers in Laguna are collecting water hyacinths to earn money to cover some of their school or college expenses. They borrow a small fishing boat to paddle out to where water hyacinths grow wild in Tagumpay Village, near Laguna Lake. They are paid PhP 150 ($3.20) per 1000 pieces. Working in the mornings before class, or in the afternoons after class, each can earn an average of PhP300 a week, enough to cover expenses such as fares to school or costs of some school projects.

These students are part of Goducate’s music program. Two of them are already teaching younger children how to play the recorder, and two are in the Goducate College Scholarship program.

The water hyacinth project is run by a Goducate volunteer, who dries, cleans and flattens the stalks and then sells the harvested material as woven sheets 16 inches by 16 inches in size. These sheets can be assembled into bags, slippers, coin purses, table mats, vases, and so on. The project organizer is also learning how to make these finished products. The aim is to be able to get these products made locally and create jobs for the villagers. By doing so, he also hopes he can increase the rate he pays those who harvest the stalks.